Seagull
- Founded
- 1955
- Based in
- Tianjin, China
- In our catalog
- 1 watch from $300 to $400
Seagull is probably the most important watch company most people have never heard of. The Tianjin factory makes huge numbers of mechanical movements, and its ST19 chronograph caliber powers watches from microbrands around the world. Its own best-known watch is the 1963, a reissue of a chronograph made for the Chinese Air Force.
History
In 1955 four watchmakers at a Tianjin workshop made China's first wristwatch, the Five Star. The factory grew into the Tianjin Watch Factory. In the early 1960s China bought the tooling for the Venus 175, a Swiss column-wheel chronograph movement, and the factory used it to build a chronograph for the Air Force in 1963. That movement became the ST19.
The company is now the Tianjin Seagull Watch Group, and it makes everything from simple automatics to tourbillons, for its own brand and for others.
Signature models
- 1963 Chronograph: A faithful reissue of the 1963 Air Force chronograph, with a hand-wound column-wheel movement visible through the caseback, a domed crystal and, on many versions, a red star on the dial.
What it's known for
The ST19 is one of the cheapest column-wheel chronographs available, a type of movement that usually costs much more. Quality control can vary, but the 1963 is a lot of watch for the money.
Price and positioning
Seagull watches mostly cost $150 to $500. If you like the idea of a non-Swiss mechanical watch with history, Raketa and Vostok are the alternatives, and Studio Underd0g puts the same ST19 movement into more playful designs.
Seagull watches in our library
- Seagull 1963 Chronograph ($300 to $400)