About us
History of the Seagull 1963 watch:
It was the year 1962 when the Tianjin Wristwatch Factory, the first Chinese watch manufacturer, was commissioned by the People's Liberation Army to manufacture a wrist chronograph to supply its aviators. The Chinese watch manufacturer, which would be renamed Seagull shortly after, got down to work and in 1963 they managed to complete the first test units, baptized as Seagull 1963,
The watch was based on the Swiss-made Venus 175 movement, which was improved by the Chinese to add 2 rubies and accelerate to 21,600 bph. They also reinforced it with an anti-shock system.
After various tests of precision and resistance to temperature, water, impacts and magnetism, the watch was approved by the Chinese government in 1965, given its good quality.
This is how the Seagull 1963 began to be mass produced, becoming the first wrist chronograph manufactured in the land of the rising sun.
After the initial 1,400 units, the factory would not make the Seagull again for 40 years, at which point the legendary watch was reissued with modern materials, such as stainless steel and sapphire crystal on some models.
Seagull 1963 Reissue Watches:
All of the watches in our store are the most authentic reissue version of the seagull 1963 watch. As we had focus on the manufacturing of this series watches with over 17 years!
We are proud of our craftsmanship and expertise in the manufacturing of these historic, high quality, fine vintage, and classic pilot chronograph mechanical watches.
The watch equipped with a hand winding chronograph movement, with 19 or 21 jewels and power reserve of 30 to 40 hours. Depending on the model the dial says "19 ZUAN" or "21 ZUAN", Chinese for "19" or "21 jewels". "19 ZUAN" is used on Acrylic glass crystal version, "21 ZUAN" is used on Sapphire glass crystal version. The symbols on the lower half spell "Made in China".
The first thing that strikes you about the 1963 Seagull is how surprisingly elegant it is for a military watch.
The blue hands that indicate the time contrast perfectly with the red chronograph hand, while the hour markers and gold numerals on the cream dial give it that classic 60s touch.
Both numbers and markers are raised rather than printed, which not only reinforces that classic touch, but also makes the dial easier to read.
Another aspect to highlight is the triangular shape of the markers, which seem to point to the inside of the clock, where the small historical details are found: the red star that reveals its military origin and the name of the factory where the first units were manufactured.
