‘For me the red star seagull 1963 Chinese air force chronograph is a watch that tells a story, it’s a real conversation starter. I remember I laid my eyes on this watch for the first time while traveling through China for a week, but bought mine (the Seagull 1963 21 zuan version, more on that soon) from Seagull1963.com. Vincent helped me further understand the historical importance of the Seagull 1963 and where it originally came from.
The red star seagull 1963 19 or 21 jewels (both are found online) comes from the first Chinese chronographic watch, of which the production started around 1955. The Seagull st1901 movement is actually just the same movement as the Swiss Venus 175, since the Tianjing Watch factory back then bought the patents and machinery to start producing the watch for the Chinese Liberation army. Since it’s a Swiss movement, produced in China, the Seagull 1963 reliability is something that really impressed me.
The movement itself is a pleasure to look at through the Seagull 1963 caseback.
Decades later, Seagull came out with a remake, currently known under the community as the Red Star 1963.
Today, lots of versions are sold online: the classical chrono 38mm diameter Seagull 1963, the Seagull 1963 with a green dial, the Seagull 1963 panda, Seagull 1963 black dial panda version, the black Seagull, the 40mm dial Seagull 1963, the 42mm Seagull, and the list goes on and on.
All these chronograph Seagull watches have the beautifully finished st1901 movement.In my opinion, the first Seagull 1963 to buy (that’s why I did) is the 21 Zuan Acrylic Seagull 1963 since it’s the closest to the original Seagull d304 prototype.
A lot of my friends in the watch community started showing interest in the watch due to the unique design, history, variations etc.
This is something I can only see growing in the future as well.I personally really recommend checking out more history about this watch, it’s an inspiring story worth sharing.’