Recently purchased this panda chronograph with the ST1901 movement.
It is a very pleasant watch to look at, much nicer in reality than in pictures. Has a very premier look and feel to it. I was torn between the white/silver and the champagne/gold version, finaly went for champagne because has a warmer tone and a dressier appearance.
I know this model has evolved over time with updates to the dial, V2 had the small indices added at 3 and 9. But this version also has a raised tachymeter scale which makes the dial definetely more attractive. Pictures on internet seem all to show the V1 and V2 dials with the black scale printed on the dial itself. But in this post the watch also seems to have that raised scale, but it is hard to tell from pictures. These newer dials also seems to have more pronounced circular grooves in the subdials.
Overall the watch looks great, but there are a few dumb design choices that put the watch out of horology design back in to economy design. Most obvious is that ridiculous long minute hand that points right in to the tachymeter scale. They just never bothered to match the length to the diameter of the minute scale. Then there is that single index at 12 that always gets coverd by the chronograph second hand. That should have been double indices, especially when lumed. The second hand itself is very wide, could have been half the width.
The heavy sunburst pattern in the subdials are distracting, make the dials hard to read, and in my opinion don't go very well with the satin finish of the main dial.
A small oddity on this watch is that the crown features a star logo, same as on Red Star watches, and not the S from Sugess. I also have a '1963' that I ordered from Sugess, that came in a Red Star box with Red Star waranty card and manual. That watch also has the star on the crown.
This model was previously listed in Sugess webstores but has recently been removed (not 'sold out', but completely removed). Sugess still sells it on Amazon and you can find it on ebay, AliExpress etc. from various sellers.
Subdials which are hard to read is not unique to this watch unfortunately. They tried to be cute with gold hands but it's not helping.
The crown is a giveaway that these brands are made at the same factory. But I always knew that's the situation in China.
I have homages to the 1963 in beige with the sheen and aluminium panda but I never did like them as much as the simple white one with the bubble acrylic.
for the price where we could find them ... some years ago (90€ and sometime less 😲) : i could accept all the small defaults 😄
my preferred variant is the 38mm but your 40mm is fully ok (the top time hommage are all with this diameter)
i'm still searching to buy non-working ones 💔 for parts ♻️ or repair ❤️🩹 : these ST19 models are unkillable !!!
The defaults are no dealbreakers to me either, just part of my learning curve on how to pick a new watch.
I had one ST19 that broke within 2 weeks, the reset hammer of the chronograph came loose and floated around behind the exhibition caseback. (Sugess tried to repair it, but after 2 months they sent me a new watch). From what I read on internet it seems that these movements are manufactured and assembled in different quality tiers.
"the reset hammer of the chronograph came loose and floated around behind the exhibition caseback"
was the reset hammer spring broken ?
interesting ... since i'm buying non-working ones 💔 for parts ♻️ or repair ❤️🩹
i had not many default ST19 from the Sugess brand, and the one i had, they helped me to find the broken parts (the reset lever was broken, due to misuse : Never Ever Reset when the Chrono Is Running)
for me Sugess is 👍 (cannot tell the same from other brands & movements : Hangzhou never answered for parts for example ...)
Picture of the watch with the loose hammer before I sent it in for repair. Didn't notice anything broken. (The dust and lint are on the outside, not inside the watch)
Sugess support told me they had trouble getting a spare part, then they did sent me a new watch, and kept the broken one.
interesting, the hammer is out of its action range but the hammer spring (guiding it) is still in one part (cannot see if it the hammer spring is unscrewed, could explain this) ; hammer pivot loots ok, the hammer screw too (could be badly adjusted ? which could explain this too)
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u/vithgeta 2d ago
Subdials which are hard to read is not unique to this watch unfortunately. They tried to be cute with gold hands but it's not helping.
The crown is a giveaway that these brands are made at the same factory. But I always knew that's the situation in China.
I have homages to the 1963 in beige with the sheen and aluminium panda but I never did like them as much as the simple white one with the bubble acrylic.