barkhorn
Milpostista
Sin verificar
¿Realmente los movimientos chinos son tan malos? ¿Valen lo que pagamos por ellos? ¿Se pueden comparar con los suizos? ¿Montan los fabricantes de relojes suizos calibres fabricados por empresas chinas? ¿Se justifica la minusvaloración de estos relojes? ¿Tiene historia la industria relojera china? ¿Cuáles son los planes de ésta industria a medio plazo?
He encontrado alguna información bastante interesante para tratar de responder a estas preguntas utilizando Google e invirtiendo algo de tiempo. Sólo he podido encontrar datos en inglés. He cortado los extractos que me han parecido más interesantes y más abajo los he pegado tal cual estaban en los originales. Adjunto también varios enlaces en los que se desmontan varios calibres chinos y se da una valoración de los mismos.
Aviso: desconozco la fiabilidad y la exactitud de las fuentes, tampoco soy relojero; pero de todos modos me parece una información útil.
1.- Tianjin Sea-Gull. From Chinese Watch Industry Wiki.
Tianjin Sea-Gull produces a quarter of the world's mechanical watch
movements, and has been manufacturing watches and movements since 1955.
In January 1955, on the basis of a Chinese government order to establish a watch industry in the north of the country, four men in a small workshop with limited tools set out to build China's first wristwatch. Starting with a Swiss Sindaco 5 jewel pin-lever design, they successfully completed the
prototype on 24 March. This first watch was called WuXing (5 Stars). This low-grade watch went nto very limited production, each unit virtually hand-made. From this humble beginning began what is now one of the world's biggest mechanical watch enterprises.
Venus Watch Company, Switzerland, were wanting to offload the calibre 175 chronograph tooling to raise capital for development of their calibre 188. The USSR were not interested, but the Chinese were.
The 175 was purchased for Project 304. By October 1965, the third test batch were completed and submitted to the Ministry and Air Force for approval, which was passed in December. By May the following year, 1400 chronograph watches had been delivered to pilots of the PLAAF.
In 1966, the factory successfully developed the first 100% Chinese designed and built wristwatch, the Dong Feng (East Wind). The calibre ST5 was modern, thin, accurate and of high quality. It had 19 jewels, including jewels for the mainspring barrel. A somewhat bulky automatic version was later developed but was produced in only limited numbers
In the early 1970s, the factory successfully developed an electronic tuning-fork watch based on the Bulova Accutron.
Also in the 1970s, Tianjin Watch Factory developed a watch of a higher grade than the ST5. This was the Sea-Gull ST7 day/date automatic. The movement design showed some ETA/Eterna inspiration, and the micrometer regulator suggests the kind of accuracy that was expected of it.
All-purpose base calibre was developed in 1997. The calibre ST16 drew extensively upon the design of the popular Japanese Miyota 8200 series, but incorporating a high-efficiency auto-winding system inspired by
Seiko. This provided Sea-Gull with a modern, simple and efficient full-sized wristwatch calibre that served as the basis of a myriad of complicated variants.
Responding to the shortage of ETA-type automatics, Sea-Gull are now offering their own version of the ETA 2824 and 2892, in direct competition with Swiss company Sellita. Continuing their push into Swiss territory, Sea-Gull are also supplying ebauches to Swiss movement finisher Claro Semag.
Precista uses the Seagull 1901 movement in the new version of the PRS-5, these are cased by Fricker, in Germany, and have a very low failure rate, which is on par with their Swiss movement watches.
By 2005, Sea-Gull were making more than 25% of all the world's mechanical movements.
However, higher brand recognition and success for Sea-Gull in Europe, might also help strengthen the Sea-Gull brand in China, which is currently the single most attractive watch market in the world.
2.- Enlaces con despieces y valoraciones de varios calibres chinos.
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/an-st18-and-an-eta-2892-2-a-review.257999/#post-1877875
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/another-inside-look-the-seagull-1901.225110/
He encontrado alguna información bastante interesante para tratar de responder a estas preguntas utilizando Google e invirtiendo algo de tiempo. Sólo he podido encontrar datos en inglés. He cortado los extractos que me han parecido más interesantes y más abajo los he pegado tal cual estaban en los originales. Adjunto también varios enlaces en los que se desmontan varios calibres chinos y se da una valoración de los mismos.
Aviso: desconozco la fiabilidad y la exactitud de las fuentes, tampoco soy relojero; pero de todos modos me parece una información útil.
1.- Tianjin Sea-Gull. From Chinese Watch Industry Wiki.
Tianjin Sea-Gull produces a quarter of the world's mechanical watch
movements, and has been manufacturing watches and movements since 1955.
In January 1955, on the basis of a Chinese government order to establish a watch industry in the north of the country, four men in a small workshop with limited tools set out to build China's first wristwatch. Starting with a Swiss Sindaco 5 jewel pin-lever design, they successfully completed the
prototype on 24 March. This first watch was called WuXing (5 Stars). This low-grade watch went nto very limited production, each unit virtually hand-made. From this humble beginning began what is now one of the world's biggest mechanical watch enterprises.
Venus Watch Company, Switzerland, were wanting to offload the calibre 175 chronograph tooling to raise capital for development of their calibre 188. The USSR were not interested, but the Chinese were.
The 175 was purchased for Project 304. By October 1965, the third test batch were completed and submitted to the Ministry and Air Force for approval, which was passed in December. By May the following year, 1400 chronograph watches had been delivered to pilots of the PLAAF.
In 1966, the factory successfully developed the first 100% Chinese designed and built wristwatch, the Dong Feng (East Wind). The calibre ST5 was modern, thin, accurate and of high quality. It had 19 jewels, including jewels for the mainspring barrel. A somewhat bulky automatic version was later developed but was produced in only limited numbers
In the early 1970s, the factory successfully developed an electronic tuning-fork watch based on the Bulova Accutron.
Also in the 1970s, Tianjin Watch Factory developed a watch of a higher grade than the ST5. This was the Sea-Gull ST7 day/date automatic. The movement design showed some ETA/Eterna inspiration, and the micrometer regulator suggests the kind of accuracy that was expected of it.
All-purpose base calibre was developed in 1997. The calibre ST16 drew extensively upon the design of the popular Japanese Miyota 8200 series, but incorporating a high-efficiency auto-winding system inspired by
Seiko. This provided Sea-Gull with a modern, simple and efficient full-sized wristwatch calibre that served as the basis of a myriad of complicated variants.
Responding to the shortage of ETA-type automatics, Sea-Gull are now offering their own version of the ETA 2824 and 2892, in direct competition with Swiss company Sellita. Continuing their push into Swiss territory, Sea-Gull are also supplying ebauches to Swiss movement finisher Claro Semag.
Precista uses the Seagull 1901 movement in the new version of the PRS-5, these are cased by Fricker, in Germany, and have a very low failure rate, which is on par with their Swiss movement watches.
By 2005, Sea-Gull were making more than 25% of all the world's mechanical movements.
However, higher brand recognition and success for Sea-Gull in Europe, might also help strengthen the Sea-Gull brand in China, which is currently the single most attractive watch market in the world.
2.- Enlaces con despieces y valoraciones de varios calibres chinos.
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/an-st18-and-an-eta-2892-2-a-review.257999/#post-1877875
https://www.watchuseek.com/threads/another-inside-look-the-seagull-1901.225110/