Why The MASSIVE Price Difference? $149 Seagull 1963 v $549 Sea-Gull 1963

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FINALLY! After a build up of several years, I get to compare the 'Official' Sea-Gull 1963 with the 'Unnoficial' Seagull 1963. How can one possibly be worth so much more than the other? Watch on, my friends. Cheers, Jody

[thomrobs]

Less text on the dial, display case back, and the option for sapphire? I think I prefer the cheaper option!

[quinninstrumets]

Thanks for this video, I’ve often wondered the exact same thing as I went to buy my 63 two months ago. I bought through Red Star the apparent non-official, 42mm, sapphire, display case back, and I love it, took off the green nato and put on the leather strap. It’s one of the few mechanicals I bought that I’ve never opened to regulate, it keeps crazy excellent time.

[WristwatchAddiction]

I just picked up the “unofficial” version and really like the display back & that’s what caused me to go “unofficial”. Cheaper with more features & still the same movement, case and dial? Yea. It was a no brainer for picking up another fun military inspired timepiece

[David-osfb]

I have wondered about QC differences between the two. I have two unofficial ones and both required work within 6 months which I was able to do myself. (One was a loose screw preventing chrono running and the other was the chrono reset in the movement broke and I bought a spare movement for parts to fix it).

[belmany]

The official store now also has a sapphire crystal and display case version

[harcotelindert]

I bought the Sea-gull when I was living in China around 2018 for around $250. Love it.

[unclekerry]

Proud to say I just purchased my first Seagull I will get it appraised @ 4:05 he mentioned he did not know what the text meant; well using snap pic of my own and google translate top text is CHINA or zhong guo and bottom text is Tianjin watch factory.. my model is the Panda which doesnt look the same the numbers are Bars not Numerical Digits not sure if that makes a difference ... the back cover also is engraved with CLASSIC EDITION .... any one that as information please reply back to help the rest of the community ... this is my first investment watch and turns out its muddy waters to start but I am not detoured from future purchases I will only buy watches I am willing to wear so even if its a waste of money its really not because I still have a watch style I enjoy. Congrats to all whom start and good luck to you all.

[ИгорьЛис-бр]

Hi Jody! Year ago I had conversations with man from channel "Sea Gull 1963" and he wrote me: "Tomas from the Red Star is the original designer from this homage (!!) watch in the yearly 2000's when he was working for Tianjin Watch Group Honkong (back then Sea Gull was split up in different sisters companis over different locations). All watches you see on line use genius Sea Gull ST 1901 movements from Tianjin but since Tomas never registered intellectual propertys of this watch design wich has based on the watch 1963 but looks completely different, in theory everyone could produce this piece :) The discussion between fake and real is s funny one since Red Star is the original producer of this homage watch but use a Sea Gull movement!" So, I hope this information will be useful to you!

[cooltrades]

Meccaniche Veneziane, Redentore, use the same colour combination:)Blue hands, etc.

[casperswift]

I love my 1963 whether it's real or not it's a great little watch. My 63 is not the official version but it runs pretty good an I like the less text, the included straps sucked but I don't believe I payed 150 I believe it was more.

[matthewclina]

Does anyone see the irony in a Chinese watch company pushing for folks to buy the ‘official’ version of something over a copy?

I’ve had the copy for several years. My only regret is that I bought the 42mm, which I do think is too big. It fits me fine, but I think I would prefer a smaller case. And seeing the movement through the case back is my favorite part of the watch. A solid case back would kill it.

[Allwillberevealed]

Purple Reign Purple Reign . I wana know have you ever seen the Reign coming down sunny day.

[CLaw-tbgg]

As a general point, what I really like about it as well as a few similar watches (e.g. the Red Star chronograph) is the fact that it’s openly, proudly Chinese. It’s not trying to knock something else off or trying to hide what it is.

Even if Chinese watches are (massively) less desirable than Swiss or Japanese watches, the mere fact that it’s something authentic makes it desirable in its own right.

[cagataycakmak]

Sea-gull are shooting themselves in the foot by overpricing these and making them limited. If they made these 200 dolars and regular production, they would effectively kill the market for other variants.

[impsire]

I own two of these. A 40mm Chrono Heritage M1963/X - SEA-GULL ST1901 bought directly from Sugess Watch in China and a 40mm limited edition Red Star bronze Seagull 1963 that came from the official Seagull 1963 store in Belgium. The Seagull is a watch that is hard to fault and I‘m quite fond of both of mine but my customer experience with both companies was hardly satisfactory. In sum I was swindled twice. The Sugess was supposed to come with the Swan Neck movement but didn‘t and unfortunately too much time had elapsed before I found out for me to be able to do anything about it. As for the Belgian Seagull 1963, it was only after I had received it that I found out that they do not individually number their limited edition watches (instead all 300 are numbered 1/300) and that it was missing it‘s tag, manual and registration QR code. It was also shipped about two months past it‘s preassigned shipping date. The company in Belgium casually dismissed my concerns and when I asked to return it they informed me that the 14 day return policy had expired. Be very careful who you buy from. The Seagull 1963 company in Belgium seems rotten to the core. I wouldn’t deal with them again if they paid me. BEWARE.

[markadams]

I own the unofficial one. Seeing them compared side by side. I prefer the warmer look and the larger bezel of the unofficial one, it gives it a more vintage feel. Last time I checked it's accuracy was within +-2 seconds

[syzygy]

Thanks for the video Jody! For the bottom Chinese text, the unofficial version says "China, Tianjin", while official version says "China" on the top, and "Tianjin watch factory" on the bottom.

Another interesting thing is that if you do a bit of digging around, some Aliexpress stores also list an unofficial version that is advertised to have a modified movement with a gooseneck regulator for about $10 extra - I don't have that version, or know if they are as advertised, but it's something people might want to look into.

[WatchAddictionReviews]

id opt for the aliexpress $150 option 🎉😂

[morgan.enfield]

Thank you Jody for this video. For a good interpretation it would have been even more explicit to compare two versions with the same acrylic glass. For information, since 2 or 3 years the unofficial versions have a transparent back with a larger opening than the one in the video. It would also have been nice to open the official version to see if the finish is better as claimed by some people. I think that the official version benefits from selected movements, the standard movements being intended for the other suppliers but nothing imho that justifies such a huge price difference.

[chrisburn]

Bought an unofficial one recently and I'm very happy. The sapphire is worth it even though the bezel is a bit chunky and the display back is nice. A good watch.