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

I'd call it one of the most underrated watches on the planet, but then again this watch has received plenty of accolades from YouTubers in the watch community. And the praise is well deserved. It is a comfortable mechanical (!) chronograph with a visibly pretty movement, and looks good on a variety of strap types, weather leather or nato. Phenomenal value for the price

So happy to finally have this sweet looking chronograph on my wrist. Cheers!

I was truly impressed with this chronometer automatic watch. The chronometer function is essentially a stopwatch, with the second hand running the time. The actual second hand is the subdial at the 9 o'clock position. Being an automatic, give it a good 14 to 15 winds and the watch will run all day. Give it a good 10 winds the next morning and you're good to go. The crystal is such that it rises up, giving a slight magnification to the dial. The watch band is sufficiently long for my 9 1/2 inch wrist. The watch itself is small, and the band is narrow and slides behind the back of the watch in one piece instead of two. The cream dial and olive green band compliment each other well. The combination makes this a perfect everyday watch for work or to wear in a casual setting. This 22-jewel chronometric movement is an excellent value on Amazon, selling for more on other sites.

The media could not be loaded. 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.

Initial thoughts: Received it 3 days ago. Bought the 37mm, 22 jewel, domed crystal model. Beautiful watch! Mine works perfectly. If want an unusual mechanical watch, I highly recommend this one.I'm a big guy, and I like smaller, vintage looking watches. Be aware that the 37mm is relatively small, and it has an 18mm strap which is very narrow. I like it. But if you prefer big watches, think about the 40 or 44mm 1963 models.I bought it with this Berfine strap. It's a really great leather strap for the price. Perfect value. I've already got compliments on it. "Quick Release Retro Leather Watch Band,Vintage Oil-tanned Pull-up Leather Strap." ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07MYNDS81Shipping took 8 days, which is fast compared to the original 14 day estimate.

Good quality at a good price. Mechanical and good. Prefer this size than the over sized watch nowadays. Surprisingly accurate. Would be nice if it comes with a leather watch band which i bought separately.

I really like this. I just wish I noticed the size. I got the 38mm and should have gotten a 40mm+ version instead. If I did I could see it being a daily wearer.