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Curator: Ron Good / "AlbertaTime"
A while ago, a friend on the
internet made a joking reference to my collection of (mostly vintage) Chinese
mechanical and automatic watches, calling it "The Alberta Museum of Chinese
Horology"...
His inspiration. My madness.
With many thanks to
Joel Chan, "Soviet", "Chascomm", "Gigfy",
"Alpha-Getty", "Lysanderiii", "Alfanator" and other
vintage Chinese mechanical wristwatch
fans whose research and efforts (before I ever started) have helped me greatly with this project.
Very very special thanks to Mr. Cameron Ma
(Mr. Ma Rong) of Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China. His early and continuing friendship
and trust--and passion for
Chinese watches--was instrumental in developing my sincere love of these vintage
Chinese mechanical and automatic
timepieces ( Thank you, Xiaoma, my brother ).
How I acquire historic Chinese
watches:
here
English/Chinese Watch-Related Search Term Translations here
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The
People's Republic of China (PRC) has a significant history of domestic
watch-making that goes back well over 50 years, starting about 1955 and entering
mass-market domestic production by 1958 with, for example, the Shanghai A-581
model.
While there are other terrific sites (listed below on this page) that go into
much more detail regarding the history and technical background of Chinese (PRC)
horology, this site is intended to provide "tip of the iceberg" history during an enjoyable layman's tour of only
*some* of China's beautiful watches.
The hope is to
ensure that
the
excellent efforts of hard-working and highly skilled Chinese designers,
watchmakers and factory line workers are recognized for their well-earned place
in the world's horological (watch-making) tradition and history.
All the vintage
wristwatches
in this collection were built in China and--with only a
few (generally very early) exceptions--are fully Chinese designed with
the movements manufactured "in house" as well. The early
(mid-late 1950s) exceptions used
designs and tooling legally purchased from other countries like Switzerland
(or the Soviet Union in one case). The two more modern watches noted as "homage/lookalike"
are included to provide some historic perspective.
For sure don't
miss:
Joel Chan's
Micmicmor Vintage Chinese Watch Site
and
The
Chinese Watch Industry Wiki
and
Kevin Ma's ChineseWristwatch.Com
They're the most
detailed and informative English language
vintage Chinese watch sites on the
Internet.
...or join me at
WatchuSeek or
The Asian
Watch Forum or
TheWatchForum (UK)
or XMT Extreme Mean Time or
WatchTalkWorld
or
BDWF or
Watchtalk Forums or Watchlords
or DeskDivers or
Watchfreeks or
TZ-UK
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