Men's Mechanical Wristwatch, Seagull 1963 Aviation Chronograph Pilot Mechanical Watch, Manual Winding, GD 1963 International Edition, ST1901

This is probably the best value for a mechanical chronograph you're going to find, and as a bonus it's a great version of the famous 1963 watch, which MAY actually be an official product of Sea-Gull. (More on that in a second.) The movement is beautiful, and is definitely an authentic ST1901 movement, though it's not the high-end version of it that you'll find in the more expensive versions of the 1963 on the Sea-Gull official site. For one, there is no engraving on the top bridge, and the regulation isn't the upgraded "goose neck" version that you'll see on nice version. The latter difference may be why THIS version of the watch doesn't keep time terribly well: about 14 seconds a day by my timing runs. That's decent, but not great, even by Chinese watch standards (I have watches that cost less than $100 from China that consistently do better than 5 seconds a day.) The other difference from nicer version is that the window is acrylic, not sapphire. So, is this an authentic version? I think it is, but oddly enough Sea-Gull won't own up to it on their main website, omitting this downgraded "International Version" on their website's list of official releases. I don't know why this is, but everything else about the watch appear legit, down to the proper manufacturer logo, the movement, and the very nice real leather band with Sea-Gull imprints. (For those of you that know Chinese watches, it's the fact that both sides are real leather that is the giveaway, not the logo!) This listing is also shown under Sea-Gull's official Amazon page, so I suspect it's really from them, but on their main website they are focusing on selling the more expensive versions, so they exclude this. Some people have complained about the size. It's true that coming from your typical pilot's watch this feels small. But it's really relative. After wearing this a while it doesn't look small, it actually looks fairly elegant. In no way will it be mistaken for a woman's watch, as one person worried. It's about 38 mm, which is well within standard size for a men's watch, and more importantly, from my research this is actually the size of the original PLAF version of the watch. I kinda like the fact that it's the "right size" even though bigger might be arguably better from a readability standpoint. So, should you get this? Heck, yeah! It's beautiful, well-made and an insanely good value for a watch, probably the best I've ever found in my short career of being obsessed with mechanical watches. And if you really want to collect a 1963, get this for daily wear AND buy the $800 version that Sea-Gull sells that includes a sapphire crystal and better regulation for your collection. This is too good a watch for the price to pass up, regardless of the question of whether or not it qualifies as an "official" 1963. It's officially a damn good watch, not matter what.

This is a beautiful, well-made retro style watch. It's also the best value mechanical chronograph available. I've kept it wound for a week now, and it has been keeping great time. The chronograph function works as it should, though I'm reluctant to use it very often. The movement as seen through the display caseback is simply mesmerizing. Unless you're used to wearing hockey puck-sized Invicta-like monstrosities, this watch will fit you just fine. It's a bit in the thick side thanks mainly to the beautiful domed crystal. The only size aspect that bothers me is the lug width. I think 20mm straps would look better on it.

The cream dial, blue hands, and red star give it timeless character, while the chronograph action feels crisp and mechanical. A great value for collectors who appreciate authentic design and honest mechanics over branding.

I love this watch! It gives vintage style and looks that is so different from other watches I own. Ive had it only a couple of days and I've already gotten a few compliments on how cool it is! I initially bought the Black leather band, which looks great, but I switched it for this mess style band and I think it looks awesome!

I've had this watch for a while now and I like it a lot, but I've held off on reviewing it because there's just a lot of weirdness surrounding this watch and the company that makes it. I'll try to explain as well as I can. Ultimately, though, I am glad I bought the watch and it is really amazing to see a mechanical chronograph for this price. So, the "1963" watch has become pretty well known in the west over the years. I'm sure the real history of it is completely different than what's told in the marketing and commonly believed by western watch enthusiasts. This isn't unique to Sea-gull or China; a lot of western watchmakers make tributes or "reissues" of military watches from their countries' past as well, and they often fudge a lot of the details of the story to make it seem like they're more connected to the original watch than they really are, and/or that the original watch was more historically important than it was. It's a pretty common marketing tactic with these military-style watches. The point I'm making is that this is a Chinese "military style" watch; it's not necessarily the same watch actually worn by anyone in the Chinese military, and you see a *lot* of this same style of watch all over the internet, some with slight differences, some looking entirely identical. They do generally all contain the same Seagull ST19 movement, which is a manual-wind mechanical movement that's very old but is still reliable and nice to look at when it's running. This version of the watch comes with an exhibition case back so you can see the movement, which I always like. But you can bet that the Chinese military is not wearing watches with exhibition case backs; that's just for us. Now, if you go search for this watch on YouTube or around the net, you're going to see a lot of people talking about "real" vs. "fake" 1963's, and about whether "Seagull" or "Sea-gull" is the real company or a knockoff. It can be tough to sift through it all because many of these people outright contradict each other, or show one watch as real and another fake while someone else shows the exact opposite watch as real and the other fake. I will say that while the brand shown on the product page here was originally listed as "Seagull", which some say denotes the knockoff company, when I had a problem with the first watch I received, customer service asked me to contact them through the "Sea-gull" web page for a resolution, and the email I received came from a "Sea-gull" address. So I don't think the presence or absence of that hyphen reliably tells anybody anything. I see that the brand is now actually listed as Sea-gull, and the Sea-gull store on Amazon uses their official logos, etc. On Sea-gull's web site, for what it's worth, you can buy this same watch for much more than what it costs here. That would at least suggest that this could be a knockoff. However, you can also go to Sugess' web site, which is one of Sea-gull's known brands, and also buy this exact same watch for the *same* price as is being charged here. So that suggests to me that there's something else going on. Complicating things a little further is that there have been some updates and variations to this watch over the years, as is common for modern military reissues and tributes. Just look at how many models Hamilton has in its Khaki Field line right now - that all started out as literally one watch. Here's my educated guess of how this all actually works. I don't think there is such a thing as a "real" or "fake" Sea-gull 1963. I think they all come from the same factory, and we know they all use the same movement. I think they are just sold at different prices on different web sites based on whatever the company (and I think Seagull and Sea-gull are the same company) thinks they can get. And of course the newer versions probably cost more, generally, as do the larger versions. There are now two versions on this product page, which are slightly different. One is not real and the other fake; they are just different variations. Mine is the "yellow" color, which it isn't really... the main difference here seems to be the included strap. I probably would have gone for the leather version if it was on this page originally; it only came with a nylon NATO strap when I got mine. Part of the price difference on different web sites seems to be the packaging and what's included. Some versions include both the nylon and leather strap; mine only came with nylon. Some come in a nice Sea-gull box; mine came in a plain plastic watch box but otherwise had all the wrapping and literature (so it wasn't used or anything; they just didn't waste a nice box at this lower price). This page also only has the 38mm versions; there are now 40mm variations as well. I feel that the watch wears big for its size (long lug to lug for its size) but *looks* small, so consider that when buying. For me with a 7.6" wrist, a 40mm would probably look better. The 38mm looks a little toy-like on my wrist. There are also variations with an acrylic crystal vs. a "glass" crystal (I'm guessing mineral glass, but their own site does say sapphire so maybe that's yet another variant), and the outer bezel on them is different as well. When I ordered mine, it was the acrylic crystal; it looks like they've updated the page now and these now come with glass. The acrylic is still being produced, though; if you want it you can probably find it elsewhere (or maybe another page on Amazon). They do look different, with different doming on the crystal and one having a larger bezel than the other. Generally I actually like the look of the acrylic one better, and it's probably more accurate to what the Chinese military actually used. Now that I've got all that out of the way, let me review the watch itself a little bit. I mentioned that I had to contact Sea-gull about my "first" watch. That watch just didn't run, and the chronograph would not engage. It felt like the movement itself was flopping around inside the watch case a bit, and something seemed misaligned. It wasn't the easiest process returning it and getting a new watch - I'm used to just clicking the return button and Amazon just sending out another one. Sea-gull wanted me to actually send them a video of what was happening to prove that it was defective. That's basically why I'm taking a star off; the overall quality of the watch outside of the dial isn't really the best (I didn't expect it to be for the price, honestly) and then when I did get a defective one, the customer service experience was more difficult than it should have been. The second one they sent me does work, and I wear it sometimes, although unfortunately given the current geopolitical situation you have to be a little careful these days where you wear it. It is an unabashedly Chinese watch, and I love that about it, but not everyone does. I quickly changed the strap on mine to a basic brown leather strap because, as everyone says, basically anything is better than the terrible nylon strap they ship with it. Again, at least they are offering a leather upgrade on this same page now. It does look small, as mentioned. If you have large wrists like mine, consider looking up the newer 40mm version. It is true that militaries around the world historically just wore smaller watches, so if you're trying to be faithful to that, get the 38. But 40mm is more of a modern size that works on most (mens') wrists. For most women, the 38mm would probably be just about perfect. The best thing about the watch is the dial, which is much more beautiful than you'd expect given this price point. It has a really nice, soft color that doesn't come through well in photos - it's kind of a metallic beige with a subtle sheen, and it has a very slight texture to it as well. The digits and markers are slightly raised so it has a 3D effect too, and they're shiny gold, which goes really well with the metallic beige of the dial itself but also gives it a distinctly Chinese feel. Of course, the Chinese text and gold-outlined red star below the "12" kind of give that away too. A normal leather strap is going to better enable you to appreciate the exhibition case back as well. The movement does have some finishing details on it, also unexpected given the price, but I will say it does have a generally cheaper overall look to it compared to some of the higher-end mechanical movements I own. But for the price, it's very attractive and fun to look at. I do think that, if you get a good one, these watches are very good value and visually appealing. I am happy to have mine; I just wish that the 40mm version was available (with the leather strap) when I had ordered.

A true original factory Sea-Gull 1963 is a must have for any collector, and this is it. Correct 2 line factory identification. Function is all as expected and an amazing view of the beautiful movement that gives the appearance of a much more expensive watch. Bundled with a Sea-Gull mesh SS bracelet that makes for a more compact height and a touch of elegance.

If you want a Sea-Gull 1963 and are concerned about low-quality copies, the safest choice is to buy the official version from Sea-Gull, China’s largest and most reputable watch manufacturer: SEA-GULL Men’s Mechanical Wristwatch – 1963 Aviation Chronograph. The export model sold here uses Sea-Gull’s 3-star (* ) grade movement**. For context: = basic movement sold for repairs ** = movements supplied to microbrands *** = Sea-Gull’s own highest QC grade All three are mechanically identical — the difference is how they perform during quality control, where they’re sorted by accuracy and finishing. Also worth noting: the movement is not a clone. Sea-Gull legally purchased the Venus 175 design, rights, and tooling from Venus in Switzerland in the early 1960s, when Venus needed capital. China acquired the entire production line “lock, stock, and barrel.” The original Venus 175 was used by several top Swiss brands, including Breitling, which speaks to the pedigree behind this mechanism.

I am taking my time writing this review in the hope that potential future buyers of this beautiful watch will take the time to read it. Let's start with the watch itself. It is a piece of rare beauty, perfectly in line with the current trend of reducing case size, with an unusual mix of colors - steel, gold, silver and blue and red hands - that work together perfectly and make it a timepiece unique in its beauty and fabulous pedigree. It is one of my few watches that has elicited benevolent comments from "non-experts", even in comparison to other watches of mine that cost twenty or thirty times more. As for its fabulous history, it has been more or less correctly repeated in a thousand ways, so that I will not repeat it here. The Seagull 1963 is powered by a movement, the ST19, which has an interesting history that roots in 1950s Switzerland, but on which Chinese watchmakers introduced numerous significant improvements over the years. However, anyone who buys a Seagull 1963 must be clear that they are buying a watch powered by a manual movement created over seventy years ago and that, despite the improvements introduced since then, continues to be an "old", even though respected, caliber. I say this because, to fully enjoy a Seagull 1963, you have to be willing to live with the small - or big - idiosyncrasies of this movement. The winding crown is small, and because of this, it is easy to reach the maximum winding point and exceed it, damaging the crown's ratchet mechanism. All the movements I have owned, including the Limited Edition, advance at a rate that in my case varies from 7-8 to 12-13 seconds per day; better that than being slow... The pusher that starts the chronometer movement has not a sharp start, and in most of y samples seems to work with a consecutive double click. If you press the start button without the proper pressure, activating it only at the first click, the chronograph hand will not advance, and I have read responses from Seagull engineers indicating that this "hesitation" when pressing the start button could damage the movement. From personal experience, I can say that this involuntary hesitation occurs frequently, and it is common to notice after a few seconds that the chronograph has not started, which is certainly not a good thing. If you let the chronograph hand run for an extended period of time - for example four or five of hours consecutively - it can happen (it happens regularly with three of my watches) that the movement freezes completely, until you manage to 'stop' the chronograph and reactivate it, so that the movement comes out of its freeze and starts working again. Now, so that you can understand me, I consider these to be "imperfections" of an old movement, with which I have lived and live with without major problems. The case of my ST19 movement with serial number 20445 (number engraved on the bridge) is different. In this case, just seven months after purchasing it on the AliExpress platform, the chronograph start button started to "work" completely randomly, requiring you to press it three, four, five times for the hand to start moving. Similarly, to stop the chronograph, you had to press the button a dozen times or more. At that point, the second pusher did not work and did not reset the movement. The last time I was able to reset it, the start button stopped working altogether. Even though the watch was under guarantee, I was asked to send photos of the malfunction (photos showing a dead chronograph???), but apparently the photos I provided were considered insufficient/invalid Evidence of the malfunction, and the case was CONSIDERED CLOSED. For a customer like me, who has purchased five International Editions of 1963, three of which are not in perfect working order, who owns one of their expensive 1963 Limited Editions of 5500 pieces, and who has never complained about the small imperfections – which do exist –, the response of customer service to a request for information on a watch under warranty is simultaneously grotesque, rude and commercially disastrous. This long review, which is ultimately an act of love for this uniquely beautiful watch, is also intended as a WARNING. There is a good chance (statistics based on my purchases say more than 50%) that when you buy a new Seagull 1963 International Edition watch (original Seagull), the watch will have some malfunction. It can happen and probably any decent watchmaker can fix it, but you can't count on your guarantee. Potential customers warned…