In minds of western people, Chinese prefer copying top-class watches made in Europe and other regions of the world than building up its own watch brands. It is true that 90%+ replica watches are made in China. And it is not a secret in watch circles that many watch makers(including not a few high-end watch manufactures) equip their watches with some parts of Chinese origin. Take Tianjin Seagull (a watch company established in 1995) for example, it is well known within watch industry as it is one of the world’s leading mechanical movement manufacturers.
Longio Tourbillon Watches – SG3826 (Left) and SG3824-1 (Right)
As know to all, adult Chinese people attach great importance to “face”. So they wear foreign-made watches if possible or they adorn their wrists with replica watches( of course, famous brands), otherwise they will wear jewelry or nothing on the wrists. Cellphone can work as a watch, they have excuse for not wearing a watch. However, in a world that has endless desire for watches, especially high end watches, some Chinese aware of that there is a space between the long-established luxury watches from Europe and high-tech watches made in Japan. They devote themselves to making whole watches and try to make the industry mature.
Here introduces some excellent Chinese-made watches. First comes two newest tourbillon watches (SG3824 and SG3826) from Longio(At this moment, Longio offers 27 different tourbillon watches for choosing ), a Chinese watch company specialize in manufacturing dive & tourbillon watches. Obviously, they both are greatly influenced by Chinese art and Architectural style. They may bring something different and special to people are spoiled with European-made watches. For me, I really love the look of SG3826. I have never seen similar case design on European watches. It is good to have their own features rather than following suits blindly. The overall finishing is not half bad, though I feel it has a certain gap from European watches. Compared to European movements(in terms of performance, construction and accuracy), there is still some way to go for the used tourbillion movements. Though they are much cheaper than European tourbillon watches, they are not actually cheap pieces. The SG3826, in particularly, asks for about 9500 US dollars(remember, the average price for European-made Tourbillon watch is between US$ 50, 000 and US $100,000).
Longio Dive Chronograph – SG3762-1
And here is the newest diver chronograph watch(SG3762) presented also by Longio( Now, there are 6 dive watch models listed on longio website). This dive watch look quite contemporary. And we can see some track of world-class diver watch design feature on it either from the bezel design and the the layout of the dial. The watch crown and pusher buttons are very interesting so are the central links of bracelet. And Longio seems to be little customized: the glass offers choice of sapphire crystal and mineral crystal; the dial is available in white, blue and black. The same, this watch is not as refined as European watches in surface treatment and detailed cuts( the bezel edge for example). However, it is the understated looking appeals some western customers. The dive watch is water resistant to 100 meters.
It is hard for Chinese to catch up with European watch-making as least it will take quite a long time because European watch brands keep growing and making something new at the same. But it is important to take the first step. Chinese watch makers will take mid or relatively low priced markets as targeted markets in a long term. It seems that Chinese watch-makers (including Longio) ignore Chinese market and sell their products overseas. However, there is a constant rise of watch demands in mainland China. In my poor opinion, it is stupid to ignore a market of 1.3 billion on motherland though Chinese do love foreign-made watches(As stated before). In this case, Chinese watch makers should firstly create a sense that it is matter of pride to wear a Chinese-made watch and conquer the hearts of Chinese consumers with novel designs, high quality and competitive prices. Secondly, Chinese watch-makers should attach great importance to branding which has been of soft spot of many Chinese companies. Thirdly, it is time for Chinese watches to begin a marketing campaign all over the world. Make themselves heard, known and sought after. Last but not least, Chinese watch websites(Take longio website for example) are poor designed and give people an impression of low-quality. For the sake of brand image, Chinese watch makers pls improve website quality while improving watch quality. Witnessed Chinese-made car being sold in US dealers, we hope Chinese-made watches find their place in watch industry. It is a matter of time and it is not only a matter a time.
You can have may have more info about Longio Watches here
