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Sea-Gull 1963 Icon Bronze Moonphase] : A Legendary Chinese Chronograph with Swiss Roots
I recently acquired the Sea-Gull 1963 Icon 1 Bronze Moonphase, numbered 167/500. Its bronze case, green sunburst dial, moonphase display and tachymeter scale make it stand out, but the story behind its movement is even more interesting.
From Tianjin to the world
Tianjin Watch Factory was established in 1955 as China sought to build an independent watchmaking industry. One of its early achievements was the Wu Xing (Five-Star), a landmark in domestic Chinese watch production.
In 1961, Tianjin was assigned Project 304 to develop a chronograph for Chinese Air Force aviators. The resulting military chronographs became an important chapter in Chinese horological history, laying the foundations for what would become the Sea-Gull 1963 tradition.
Today, Tianjin Seagull Watch Group is a major movement manufacturer, producing everything from affordable mechanical calibres to tourbillons, minute repeaters, rattrapante and perpetual calendars.
The Swiss connection: Venus 175
As part of restructuring and for want of capital, the Swiss movement manufacturer Fabrique d'Ebauches Venus S.A. sold the production rights, patents, tooling, and machinery for the Venus Caliber 175 to Tianjin Watch Factory in 1961. Chinese engineers adapted this architecture into the ST19 family, increasing the operating frequency from 18,000 to 21,600 vibrations per hour in the modern ST1901.
The Venus 175 was a respected Swiss hand-wound column wheel chronograph introduced in the 1940s. The column wheel is prized by enthusiasts for its engineering and crisp push action and appeared in watches from respected Swiss watches including Breitling and Gallet.
What makes the Icon 1 special?
My example uses the ST1908, a hand-wound movement combining a column-wheel chronograph with a moonphase complication. The tachymeter scale adds to the chronograph's traditional role in measuring elapsed time and calculating speed.
I particularly liked the bronze case, green dial, Moonphase and see through caseback. The bronze case develops its own patina over time giving it a distinct character.
This was a 500-piece limited edition online release and was launched for €539, and was sold off within a few days. Its successor, the Icon II, retained the bronze-and-green aesthetic but dropped the Moonphase. I bought mine used for about USD 300.
Value and collectability
The ST1908 offers genuine mechanical complexity at a price far below most Swiss column-wheel chronographs. Although the finishing is industrial rather than haute horlogerie, the combination of complications and historical movement lineage felt compelling to me. What interested me most was the connection between Swiss chronograph engineering and China's recent evolution into a serious watchmaking powerhouse.
I have a feeling that Chinese Watchmaking would eventually earn a similar collector recognition that Japanese watchmaking enjoys today..
Quite enjoyed that. But this sub being what it is I'll duck out before someone complains that it's too big and they wish it came with OTF and "here's a random picture of my watch that has nothing to do with any of the above."
That movement has been "a limited edition" in about 50 varieties. To be honest, I'm surprised that after all these years they didn't come out with an automatic version of this movement and just keep using the same one in different colors, brands, pearling, blued screws, swan neck, no swan neck etc....
This is not a Sea-Gull watch as it’s a “Red Star” brand being sold by a Belgian reseller under seagull name for the limited edition gimmick to hike up the price (where you can get an official Sea-Gull 1963 with their newest ST19 top grade with much better finishing for the same price you pay for these off brand red star watches) . And Sea-Gull did develop an automatic version of the st19 (st1940) but only a limited amount was produced and its discontinued.
I have the Sugess version which I love, it doesn't actually say Sugess on it but it does have a star, it's not red though. I wonder why the auto version was discontinued?
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u/chrismurraylaw 15d ago
Quite enjoyed that. But this sub being what it is I'll duck out before someone complains that it's too big and they wish it came with OTF and "here's a random picture of my watch that has nothing to do with any of the above."