The best new Sea-Gull movement to learn on is probably the ST3600/ST3601/ST36K. This is a close copy of the ETA 6497 pocket watch movement, and fits nicely into a Panerai style case which can also be bought from Chinese manufacturers. You can get it for maybe US $40 to $50 if you hunt around for it. Some versions have the perlage on the visible plate bridges while others do not. There is a version of the ST3600 which is decorated (perlage) and has a decorative non-fuctional swan neck regulator. It may be possible to modify it slightly so that the swan neck part of the regulator is functional, at least within a limited range (needs a longer screw, and the swan neck spring needs to be a slightly different shape). Similarly the ST3621 is a copy of the ETA 6498. It's also recommended as a practice piece but is a little more expensive. I'd be interested to know if there are any quality differences that people might have noticed given that the ST3621 is almost double the price. The correct name is in fact Sea-Gull. The late fifties of course it was just "Wuyi Watch Factory", which became "Tianjin Watch Factory" in 1962 when the factory was relocated. The name of the watch being proposed for export around 1973 was the "Dong Feng" which means 'east wind' This wasn't very politically sensitive at the time so the name of the export watch became Sea-Gull. The name Sea-Gull as a brand for the company didn't come into existence until 1992, when it became "Tianjin Sea-Gull Watch Group Co. Ltd" I think the hyphenation is one of those "lost in translation" things that will often confuse the English speaking world when they come across it, and of course many of them will insist on calling it just "Seagull". Some histories state this company came into existence in 1997, but the difference may just be when the Sea-Gull company was incorporated in different countries and different markets. Care is needed with the Sea-Gull copy of the incabloc spring as it sometimes has the tendency to fly off (it is a spring and may go far if this happens). It also becomes extremely difficult to replace it without losing it again. Don't ask me how I know this... It's also true that these movements are made by other factories in China, so there is some variability that can be found. Sea-Gull manufactured items are probably the most consistent but quality control can be variable as noted in this video. Generally speaking, Sea-Gull movements will have ST designators, while Tianjin Watch factory will use TY designators. eg ST1612 is also known as TY2806. These are my notes regarding currently available Sea-Gull movements for those that may want to delve into these affordable movements for learning and hobby purposes. Prices are mostly Sea-Gull RRP for export, you may see different prices depending on where you buy them. ST36 Mech ST3600 K = skeletonised ETA 6497 seconds at 9 US$53.99 ST1901 Mech Chronograph 31.3mm 21600 21 jewels Venus 175 US$139 ST1612 Automatic Similar to Miyota 8216 (0.4mm dia difference) TY2806 Tiangin 26mm, center seconds, date US$35.49 ST2130 Automatic ETA 2824-2 Tianjin 2100 25.6mm center seconds, date. US$109.99 ST8000 Tourbillon Automatic 30mm US$369 ST3621 Mech ETA 6498 seconds at 6 37.2mm US$110.52 ST2100 Automatic ETA2836-2 25.6mm US$115.00 ST1812 Automatic ETA2892 26.2mm US$149.95

I have a 1963 and I was shocked with its workmanship. It's one of my favorites.

Hello watch lovers, it seems the scammers are heavy at work in the comment field. Note that I will never ask you to message me on Telegram or similar shady services. Please report any scam attempts by clicking on their message and choose Report. Also, I have decided I'll ship the watch to the winner for free to avoid anyone paying anything to anyone :)

I absolutely love any of the mechanical watches. They are so fascinating and neat. The fact they were building these in the form of pocket watches in the early 18th century blows my mind.

Thank you for the excellent video, your ability to keep track of where all the different screws and little parts go is pure magic to me. The fact that China is able to produce, package and ship such a watch for $100 is amazing. If they would put in $50 more, the movement would be world class when it comes to finish.

Thanks for the breakdown. Never heard of Sea Gull watched or movements,but it's nice to learn from pros, who are also willing to pass on their knowledge, love and passion. Keep up the great vids!

Great review. I've had my eye on Seagull flywheel watches and it's so satisfying seeing them taken apart and assembled right back. Thanks for sharing Stian!

Really enjoying the restoration and review videos. Your explanations of how things work and highlighting the unique features of the different movements, insights into the company histories etc. are fascinating. Often wondered how the Chinese movements compare, good to see Seagull "coming out" and producing watches under it's own name. Can't beat the price, not all of us can afford the high end stuff.

I love that you got these two watches from this company and we’re still completely honest with the issues with this watch. Appreciate the giveaway!

Great video, Stian. I always look forward to your informative and entertaining videos. The macro shots of this movement were very interesting.

I have a Segull model 1963. It was a gift from my wife since I was born on that year. It's pretty decent and looks great on me. Very happy with it. Nice video. I always have in mind that China is an ancient country and are pioneers in many aspect of technology. Peace.

Hello Stian, I am enjoying your videos! The Seagull ST36 (6497) movement was a good movement to start learning for me. It was inexpensive and the larger size made it easier for a beginner to work on. I found a total lack of oil and debris/hair in the movement. Once cleaned and oiled, it will probably be a good movement. The incabloc springs do not hinge back and stay as well as the Swiss movements do and tend to come (fly) out of the holder. The solution for me was to add a tiny ball of rodico for the spring to rest on when hinging back.

Great video and discussion, Stian. As a hobbyist I've had my eye on the Sea-Gull chronographs as a good entry into working on chronograph watches. Glad to see they have your endorsement!

As there are not many comments, let me start with an honnest thank for your "subterranean" humor, great to hear you Stian, be well mate, cheers.

This watch caught my eye some time ago. It's always nice to see a watch which has a clear back so you can see the workings inside. It's a shame the manufacturers don't go that little bit extra distance to lubricate it properly. After you gave it a service the readings on the timegrapher were very impressive. It's a shame they weren't as good straight out of the box.

I knew that your quality control would be better than the factory. You vastly improve every watch you touch! Thank you.

I love your videos! The watch with the white dial is a handsome looking timepiece. I have bought a few Chinese watches and they are getting better in quality although one I bought recently had a number of production issues. Thanks for the video - it was something different and I am always impressed with your professionalism and extensive knowledge!

Your closeup shots are great. They give so much detail about the watch quality and function. Also it would be nice to see a teardown of a superclone watch.

My favorite part as always is seeing the hairspring spring to life. Great job.

Really enjoy your videos, the part I like best are your commentaries on both the good points and bad points of the watch in your opinion. I liked that this time this was a watch anyone could own, seeing the rare or expensive movements is great as well but I'd personally like to see some more of the older but still common.

Interesting video as usual. Nice change of focus. Amazing that, quality and finishing notwithstanding, such a mechanical product can be made and assembled for such a price. That is the selling price, and includes the profit margin for the manufacturer and others in the distribution chain.

I'm fascinated by Sea-Gull and I think they have great technical and market potential. I sincerely hope they keep focus and bring it to the highest level. Would surely love to own one.

Great video Stian! I enjoy that many of the watches from seagull have an exhibition back. It's always a real buzz for me, being able to see the components working together. Art and a convenient way to know what time it is. :-)

Stain, another great video. Many thanks for your continued hard work producing them for us all to enjoy.

Very interesting Stian. I have one watch with a Sea-gull movement: a Merkur chronograph. Incredible value for a column wheel movement with Swan neck regulator. Thanks for the great photography as per usual. Cheers, Howard

That's an awesome giveaway! Now as for Chinese watches, you're 100% correct about the QC. I purchased a HKED 1963 (ST19), and it came in running between COSC numbers and I had it for close to two years without any issues... A friend of mine purchased one for him from the same seller and his was a complete dud... I felt bad for him, but that's QC issues like you said.

Stian--excellent video as always. I think your assessment of Chinese watches hits the mark pretty well. I have several of them, including an ST-19-powered 1963 PLAAF "reissue," and I agree it's a great value and a cool watch. I put the decoration in the "looks glittery with the naked eye" category--a 10x loupe exposes a multitude of sins that one might not see in a far more expensive Swiss watch. The Geneva stripes on mine seem to be cut with a flycutter rather than a polishing wheel, but that's not that inconsistent with the original Dong Feng with the original ST-5 movement, from the time before the brand name "Seagull" emerged. Those had hand-cut decorations designed to catch the light, with grooves much bigger than would normally be the case with polish. I have several of those original Dong Feng-era ST-5 movements, and each are different from the others because of that hand work. Of course, there is very little hand work now, except to deposit dust, puddles of oil, tiny hairs, lint, and fingerprints. 🤭The Seiko aesthetic of minimal decoration but high functionality is not so much in evidence here. Still, a lot of fun for a hundred-dollar watch.

Hi Stian, many thanks for all your videos. Putting this movement under the scope reveals quite a few shortcuts in the making (noticed how the escape wheel’s club teeth were raw?), however the overall value is excellent. Keep up the great, inspirational work ! Bonsoir from France 🇫🇷

Cool video - nice comfortable pace. It still amazes me how quickly watch makers memorize where everything goes.

Never had a Seagull on my wrist, I like the way it looks, this kind of watches allows people to enjoy a classy-complication style without spending a lot. I hope Chinese watches industry would invest more money in making this watches (instead of bad fakes), because they have a lot of potential. Maybe I would appreciate a little more finishing (more accurate) on the movement. Thank you to let us know about this type of watches and learn how they look inside!

Thank you for yet another interesting video! I have used chineses automatic watches as edc for a few years now since I’m working in a pretty bad environment for any fine mechanics. They last about as long as a battery in a quartz watch and cost less than an annual service so I see it as a sound practise from an economic perspective to keep replacing them when they stop working. Sure, they aren’t the prettiest thing you ever saw in terms of finish but they keep time resonably well and that is of course their intended purpose as far as I’m concearned.

To be honest, I’m pretty fond of the Chinese made movements, I only have two of the Tongji (Chinese standard) type movements. It’s amazing how much aware they are, they all have provisions for automatic Bridges of which both of mine are equipped with, and also room to allow for date complication, of which one of mine is also equipped with. Also it’s insane how many bots have ended up in the air channels comment section, they must’ve detected the word “giveaway” and are going absolutely berserk in the comments! KZfaq decided to put my comment in the wrong video, hopefully this is still valid. Also, props to you for keeping your audience vigilant about all the stupid spam bots!

I think it's fantastic to improve their manufacturing skills, I love your honesty and your steady hands!

I always enjoy watching you work on these watches. I have been amazed by the things you explain about movements.

These are interesting movements but I would think it’s difficult to keep track of which screws go where. This is especially difficult during cleaning, unless you want to run multiple cleaning cycles. In any case, these are great videos!

Love the channel - watch looks interesting too! Great to see the cheaper watches show up as a comparison. I am a computer screw-turner, and learned on 1995-2015 Apple products. The 2003ish PowerBook G4 12” is similar: 6 layers of 30 parts, ~90 screws of all varying lengths - I can’t imagine trying to do that assembly inside of something smaller than a jam jar! This is why I love your videos. With so many screws, I used packing tape as a sticky tray, laid the screws out on them as I disassembled the units, usually in a meaningful position to where they went on the specific part. Used a marker to circle make notes and delineations on the tape to separate them. Re-assembly was easy when you knew where every screw went. A ~5 hour job the fist time turned into 45 minutes with practice. Good luck to you with your new video schedule.

Its very nice to get a good review on a Chinese watch. Usually watchmakers don’t deal with those watches at all. Video is well made and I learned a lot from it! Thanks

Nice looking watch. I'm always amazed by the skill of watch repair. Respect!

Thanks for the giving us an insight of the watch with the professions view. An eye opener to have learnt a bit more about Chinese watch movements. I have a sea gull given to me from by grandpa who used to wear it as a daily watch for at least 20 years. It sat in a drawer for the other 20 years or so and it still runs losing just around 2 mins a day!

Another great video, amazing how something so complex can be produced for the price. I would like to see inside the factory.

Thanks for your review and strip down - very interesting and I’m now considering my first seagull watch

One of only a very few channels that I watch every time a new vid is released. Keep them coming and I'll keep on watching!

Thank you Stian. I appreciate your take on Sea Gull.. I've been repairing and/or servicing this brand for about 6-7 years now and overall, I'm impressed with a number of their calibers, especially the copies of the ETA based movements (St3600, ST2130 in particular). They're fairly reliable and I've come to expect a fair level of performance. However, like you mentioned, QC is an issue.

Great Stuff as usual Stian. I have 2 watches with the ST19 movement, Red Star and 1963. Love them both but both have had to have the backs off to sort issues. Luckily i am able to do that and as you say its just poor quality control in the assembly. Love them both and they get plenty of wrist time. Would be nice if they sent you the tourbion next time for a play 😁

Great teardown as always... I love how you make the watches run even better after you tear them down... thanks for the video Stian!!

Stian, thankyou for this video. Finally a teardown video featuring a watch that I can actually afford to own. Great work and verry informative as usual.

I'm in my 70's. As a young man the worse thing you wanted to find on your newest prized gadget was the "Made in Japan" mark of junk. Hard to believe today, but post-War Japanese products were widely regarded as trash. I wonder if Chinese products are not going through the same phases now.

This has me intrigued about older seagull watches. I'd like to see you do a video on a 50s or 60s seagull. based on the tear down, and seeing the level of quality, I'd wear it. I like the look of a lot fo their watches; the dial in particular has a good combination of retro throwback modern interpretation quality to it.

Great teardown and review. I have been wondering about Seagull for a long time

Enjoyed the review and the calm methodical approach to dismantling and rebuilding,. Very informative.

I still find it amazing that they are able to produce such an intricate mechanical watch at that price. Copy or no copy, that's still a hard thing to pull off.

I find seagull watches particularly interesting... Small pricetag for a watch that is absolutely fine! Great video as always! :)))

Thank you for this fascinating video. Like many others have commented, I am impressed by your ability to remember where all the screws go! But seriously, your skill, dexterity and patience are astounding. Keep up the good work.

Excellent Video. Finally some in depth information about these movements. Thanks

Enjoying this Stian, interesting when it's a watch that hasn't been taken apart and filmed much, they do work, and suppose they look nice through the display back, for just over £$€ 100 it is ok, i just got myself a set of 10 mainspring winders from ebay, and they are really quite good steel in all the right places, they used to be all brass glad that changed. Cheers Stian.

Thanks Stian, This is just what I wanted to see! As much as I love seeing the beautiful, rare (and expensive) watches, watching you work on and explain more accessible watches now and again is fascinating. Keep it up!

Thanks for the advice regarding whether it’s a good movement to learn on. I’m looking to get one to try my hand at disassembly and reassembly.

Really good fun seeing these watches taken apart, I’m sure many are surprised by the quality-Seagull are certainly the real deal. Thanks for the giveaway!

Dear Stian: thank you for this wonderful video. I also bought a Seagull watch, though the one with the tourbillon. And while the watch was way more expensive - $700+ - I am happy with it, since a Swiss made tourbillon is not affordable for me. The cool thing about my rosé colored watch is that there is no name on the dial, which is kind of a starry night blue. The bad thing is that the hands look very cheap. Still, it is an eye-catcher and a lot of people have commented on it. And, except for the minute repeater - I now have all of the major complications in my collection: chronograph, perpetual calendar, tourbillon.

As always, great job! I had no idea that a Chinese watch could be made into a working timepiece... I once bought similar equipment, I liked it very much, but it turned out to be very "Chinese" 😉

Terrific work. Really enjoyable video as always.

Always a pleasure to watch you . Imagine owning a watch that you’ve handled

I have one of the SeaGull watches that are a copy of the Venus chronograph movements you mention and actually like it a lot. A column wheel chronograph for around $100 USD is actually a pretty remarkable achievement, even if they didn't create the original design.

A lot of people see Seagull as an Ali Express brand, and true their watches are for sale on the platform, but the brand itself has a history that most Swiss brands would love to have. I have been surprised by how good the finishing of these in house movements are (unless under high macro), a lot of watch for not a lot of money in many cases. Thankyou for sharing this video and your thoughts.

Great video and very informative as always, keep them coming!

Brilliant video as usual. I agree with your assessment of the quality of the Chinese movements. They fill a niche in the industry and its definitely volume over quality. Many thanks Andy

I've owned a couple Sea-gull watches, and I've been generally pleased with them, so long as they're simple dress watches. There are some designs that I even really love, but yeah, the finishing isn't great, and in one case, I got a watch that was advertised to have a Sapphire crystal and it was very clearly mineral. I brought it up to Sea-Gull and they replaced it for free, but like, come on.

ive always found seagulls to be very good value for money, they're an actual brand that has decent quality control, its a shame people mark off seaguls as cheap inauthentic watches just because its Chinese.

Thank you for the video. I enjoy watching you make these watches perform.

The black watch looks great but that round window showing the balance is kind of cool. Great video and I have been binging your content for the past month. Great videos to watch right before bed.

Great video! I noticed that for these movements, before removing the crown you need to pull it out completely to the hour setting position. I also find it best to but the wire springs of the calendar work through the opening on the cover plate. Although these movements are cheap, because of their simplicity for cost reduction purposes, they tend to be difficult to work with. Many wheels under a thick bridge/cover plate, thin floating wheels, etc. And, very surprisingly, it is not easy to find spare parts for it. One of these movements was actually my first movement to disassemble and assemble. I would not recommend them for first movement.

I must admire the patience necessary needed to work on these mechanical timepieces. I would go crazy in about a few hours if I had to work on these mechanical watches.

Amazing skills and well presented. Keep up the good stuff!

I loved this video. I want to get into watch working myself but I’m gonna start with a simple dial and hand swaps first. Love the watch working videos.

How in the world do you put that watch back together? I’m impressed.

Hey Stian! Great bit of insight into the inner workings of the Seagull line. From what I've experienced, they can be hit or miss but at the price point, they're OK for every day use where you're not worried about beating the watch up a bit. Tune in for the content, stay for the dry humor!

Thanks Stian for taking the time to go though one of these which is a movement I've look at before to get some experienced with automatic movements but in my watch making learning have yet to do. I have had experienced with Seagull watch movements 6497/6498 which is the ones you start with when starting this hobby and like you I found there quality control a bit lacking, one I remember didn't even have any lubrication.

Thank you for another very informative video. I love how your sense of humour stops the videos from becoming too dry.

I notice you never seem to work on Cartier watches.Is there a reason for this? Really enjoy everything you are doing.Thanks

Again, an informative video. Thank you! As far as it concerns QC in China: from my experience in working with Chinese software development: the workload for the women and men is high. E.g. I was surprised to learn my team had to also work an extra 20 hours a week on another project while they were assigned 40 hours on my projects. So I think I know where the sometimes less than acceptable quality comes from... Nevertheless, good QC can be organised, but needs commitments from all parties involved.

Great review and love the Seagull movements to practice on. Nice watch. Thanks!

As always, very informative. I always enjoy watching your videos.

I have a pretty nice watch collection at quite a few different price points. I find it amazing that a movement like this Seagull can be placed in a handsome case and sold for $100 retail. I have a Chinese watch with a different Seagull movement and it keeps time as well as my Longines and Vacheron Constantin watches. What I find distressing are the very many “fake” luxury watch companies springing up all over the internet. Many of them are selling watches with inexpensive quartz or mechanical movements in the $600- $1,200 range. I particularly detest their use of FOMO or scarcity by saying the watch is a limited edition. Beginning collectors and others looking to give a lavish gift can easily fall for these scams. But $100 for this Seagull watch is definitely a bargain as far as I’m concerned.

The Sea-Gulls do seem to be pretty good value, for the price they ask they deliver quite a lot. It was nice to actually see how much they pack into their movements.

Just stumbled upon your channel! After having tried taking apart some cheap, nonfunctional movements just to tinker, I really appreciate watching it done properly!

Its always exciting to see a professional working on a watch. Here comes a verdict I would trust a 100%. Thank you.

Well you’ve certainly increased the reliability and longevity of that watch just by working on it.

I'm glad that you brought up that you can't expect from a $100 watch what you do with a luxury watch. So many watch people try to hold a budget watch to the same high standards as a luxury watch and it makes not sense.

Thanks for bringing this brand to my attention. I'm just getting into Chinese mechanical watches over the last 4 months.

I love your commentary. informative and humorous.

An interesting change of pace, as you say Stian. I’ve always wondered what the inside of one of these Sea-Gull movements was like as the outside is respectable . In particular, the 1963 chronographs peaked my interest. It’s hard to believe that one could get a very good version of a column wheel Venus movement for the asking price and after watching this, I think I’ll pass. Thanks for your efforts and ingenuity in coming up with interesting content.

In my experience, Chinese watches are quite good and they do deserve a lot of respect. I own a bunch of them and, after a bit of regulating, I could easily get them to 0.0ms beat error and +- 0-2sec/day. That's Rolex standard for almost no money. The casings and lume could use a bit of upgrading, but, for the price, they are unbeatable. Even my worst one is still ticking like a champ and it has been through a lot

Another Great video Stian!, you made it look easy as I think it's a difficult movement to work on. Well done, I would love this watch as it was serviced by you!. Take care Adrian

Great, honest commentary. Enjoyed the video a ton.

Always nice to relax and watch your videos. Thank you Stian. Love the look of this watch, seems good value at the price.

Really enjoyed your constructive discussion of the issues, since the brand is generally considered higher quality tier. Thanks!

Great tutorial! Love the education and the watch is pretty cool.

Nice work. I’m definitely going to go through you catalog and watch more. Thanks.

Appreciate the videos... Glad that there is content I can watch with my family...

I can't get enough of the videos you post. Keep up the great work.