In minds of western people, Chinese prefer copying top-class watches
made in Switzerland and other regions of the world than building up its
own watch brands. It is true that 90% replica watches in the world are
made in China. And it is not a secret in watch circles that many
watch-makers(including not a few high-end watch manufacturers) equip
their watches with parts of Chinese origin. Take Tianjin Seagull (a
Chinese watch company established in 1995) for example, it is well known
within watch industry as it is one of the world's leading mechanical
movement manufacturers.
As
know to all, adult Chinese people attach great importance to "face".
They wear foreign-made watches if possible or they adorn their wrists
with replica watches inspired by famous brands, otherwise they will wear
jewelry or nothing on the wrists. However, in a world that has endless
desire for watches (especially high-end watches), some Chinese find that
there is a space between the long-established luxury watches from
Europe and high-tech watches made in Japan. They devote themselves to
making whole watches of relatively low prices and try to make this
industry mature.
Here introduces some excellent Chinese-made
watches. First comes two newest tourbillon watches (SG3824 and SG3826)
from Longio, a Chinese watch company specializes in manufacturing dive
watches and tourbillon watches. Obviously, they both are greatly
influenced by Chinese art and Architectural style. They may bring
something different to people are familiar with European-made watches.
For me, I really love the look of SG3826.
I have never seen
similar case design on European watches. It is good to have their own
features rather than following suits blindly. The overall finishing is
not half bad, though I feel it has a certain gap from European watches.
Compared with European movements(in terms of performance, construction
and accuracy), there is still some way to go for the used tourbillon
movements. Though they are much cheaper than European tourbillon
watches, they are not actually cheap pieces. The SG3826, in particular,
asks for about 9500 US dollars.
And here is the newest diver
chronograph watch(SG3762) presented also by Longio. This dive watch
looks quite contemporary. And we can see some trace of world-class diver
watch features on it either from the bezel design and the the layout of
the dial. The watch crown and pusher buttons are very interesting, so
are the central links of bracelet. And Longio seems to be little
customized: the glass offers choices of sapphire crystal and mineral
crystal; the dial is available in white, blue and black. The same, this
watch is not as refined as European watches in surface treatment and
detailed cuts. However, it is the understated looking that appeals some
western customers. The dive watch is water resistant to 100 meters.
It
is hard for Chinese to catch up with European watch-making(as least it
will take quite a long time) as European watch brands keep growing and
making breakthroughs at the same time. But it is important to take the
first step. Chinese watch-makers will take mid-priced market and
relatively low-priced markets as their targeted markets in a long term.
It
seems that Chinese watch-makers (including Longio) ignore Chinese
market and sell their products overseas. However, there is a constant
rise of watch demands in mainland China. In my poor opinion, it is
stupid to ignore a market of 1.3 billion on its motherland though
Chinese do love foreign-made watches. In this case, Chinese watch-makers
should firstly create a awareness that it is matter of pride to wear a
Chinese-made watch and conquer the hearts of Chinese consumers with
novel designs, high quality and competitive prices. Secondly, Chinese
watch-maker should attach great importance to branding which has long
been a soft spot of many Chinese companies. Thirdly, it is time for
Chinese watches to begin a marketing campaign all over the world. Make
themselves heard, known and sought after.
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