I picked up this watch last week while it was on a very decent Prime sale and I have not been disappointed. It is a watch that I have looked at for some time and one with a lot of history. There is no better value mechanical chronograph watch available today, and this has been the case with this model for many decades. It was originally developed in the 1960’s for the Chinese air force and through some iterations it is still available today.

You have to be a little careful about which version to buy, but the official watches from the SEA-GULL factory can take this watch to a much higher price point. There are many made by other factories, still using the original movement, and these are probably the ones to get because you will save a ton of money.

The one I picked up was £127 from Amazon which is a steal.

The packaging is neat and not overdone, and it does come on a green nato strap. I would suggest to dump the strap and swap with a leather band because it looks better, and it also reduced the height of the watch.

The finishing of the movement is not amazing, but it is decorated and it really does look quite special when you take a long hard look at it.

The dial should not work; stick hands alongside a combination of blue, red and gold sounds awful, but it looks great. The applied markers and simplistic artefacts make for a practical and minimalist object on your wrist that is more than a little different from almost every other watch.

Seriously, just pick one up if you want a simple and reliable timepiece that is different from the competition. It deserves the reputation it has.

Categories: Watch Reviews, Watches