Chinese manufacturing gets a bad rep due to us pumping massive amounts of cheap product, but that's bc there is a demand for it, that doesn't mean China isn't capable of producing great quality. a quick search would tell you that China's manufacturing are getting better, some products exceeds western standards by lot, watches however are a big hit-and-miss. A big problem I've had with Chinese watches is their design, its rarely original and not that interesting, even big established brands like seagull have generic designs. Culturally watches are not a huge thing in China, however with the growing middle and upper class, people have a much higher chance of affording a watch around 3-8k USD(longines master series is deemed THE watch if you work in the Chinese government since its not obnoxious but also relatively expensive), and lets be honest, Swiss brands absolutely dominates that category. In other words there's not much incentive for local established brands such as Seagull to innovate or even try to compete with Swiss brands in terms of design.
for the price of under 300usd, Chinese homages (some original design from seagull falls under this too)are prbly the best in terms of pure value(excluding casio) but lets be honest, watches are pieces of jewelries and ppl hardly care about value lol, that unreliable movement also poses a risk factor many wouldn't take.
I'm Chinese and I haven't bought a single Chinese watch despite being in this hobby for quite a while now, I hope we get better at designing and actually pump out some products that are memorable and unique
Chinese manufacturing gets a bad rep due to us pumping massive amounts of cheap product, but that's bc there is a demand for it, that doesn't mean China isn't capable of producing great quality. a quick search would tell you that China's manufacturing are getting better, some products exceeds western standards by lot, watches however are a big hit-and-miss. A big problem I've had with Chinese watches is their design, its rarely original and not that interesting, even big established brands like seagull have generic designs. Culturally watches are not a huge thing in China, however with the growing middle and upper class, people have a much higher chance of affording a watch around 3-8k USD(longines master series is deemed THE watch if you work in the Chinese government since its not obnoxious but also relatively expensive), and lets be honest, Swiss brands absolutely dominates that category. In other words there's not much incentive for local established brands such as Seagull to innovate or even try to compete with Swiss brands in terms of design.
for the price of under 300usd, Chinese homages (some original design from seagull falls under this too)are prbly the best in terms of pure value(excluding casio) but lets be honest, watches are pieces of jewelries and ppl hardly care about value lol, that unreliable movement also poses a risk factor many wouldn't take.
I'm Chinese and I haven't bought a single Chinese watch despite being in this hobby for quite a while now, I hope we get better at designing and actually pump out some products that are memorable and unique