Got my Seagull 1963 after returning from China
What could possibly be a better prop for the 1963 than my Mao statue?
For the last 3 months I have been in China and among my souvenirs was this Mao statue. Once I got back to Finland, I got this Sea-Gull 1963 from my father who bought it, but found it too small despite his wrist being equally tiny to mine (he likes huge watches for some reason).
Now I have this amazing combination.
Backstory on the watch
This was not bought new. It was bought used with the original date of purchase back in 2019, so we'll see how much life it has left in it now.
What makes this one particularly interesting is that it's not one of those clones that sell for cheaper. As far as I am aware, this is from Sea-Gull itself as the box is a Sea-Gull one, the paperwork points to an authorized dealer and the watch doesn't fully match any of the clones that I know of.
But the interesting part is that it doesn't match any of the official Sea-Gull ones that I have been able to find either. This one has an exhibition caseback. Regardless, the dial and caseback say Tianjin Watch factory, so I guess it is authentic, which is quite fascinating.
First thoughts
Wears damn big for its size. My Khaki Field Mechanical wears smaller. The 1963 is just so thick and the lugs are high up. Putting it on the leather strap instead of the stock strap helps, but despite being a 38mm watch, it wears comparatively to my 40mm divers, which is imo a bit too big for this style of watch.
The movement indeed looks cool, but it's a pity that they have a seconds subdial on the left that is utterly useless thanks to being non-hacking. Could have used that second dial for anything else and it would be more useful.
I don't know what the 30-10-20 notation on the chrono minute subdial refers to either, so I'll need to look that up when I feel like it.
The actual quality of the casing and such is fine. Finishing of the gloss is meh, but the thing feels solid and the pushers and crown feel great.
There is also minor misalignments with the chronograph's second hand and minute subdial, but guess a mechanical chrono that is cheaper than most others isn't perfect.
Dunno. Guess I like watches. Check out my Instagram for some extra watch pics (@op_watch_pics).
Man, I had my phone tipped at a funny angle and I'd have sworn that was a statue of MF DOOM
I love the picture with Mao, very cool 😎
If you have box and papers then it's probably a Seagull FKJB, the dial looks good for that. Here's my authentic FKJB on the left:
Some were sold with an extra exhibition caseback, or you could buy them afterwards, possibly still can. What's written on the exhibition caseback doesn't prove or disprove authenticity. But the original caseback would have the limited edition number stamped on it and would have been good to have. Maybe it's in the box?
On the movement, if there is engraving on the bridge it should have the "star trek" logo, a number, then the first two characters will match the dial, then two further characters not on the dial ("Air Force") and then the bottom five characters match the dial.
The lack of hacking and the running seconds subdial could have been updated of course, but then it wouldn't have been a true representation of the original 63 prototypes. The 30-10-20 is simply the number of minutes. There shouldn't be any misalignment on the hands, but maybe it's had a bump at some point. This could be corrected by a watchmaker.
I love the picture with Mao, very cool 😎
If you have box and papers then it's probably a Seagull FKJB, the dial looks good for that. Here's my authentic FKJB on the left:
Some were sold with an extra exhibition caseback, or you could buy them afterwards, possibly still can. What's written on the exhibition caseback doesn't prove or disprove authenticity. But the original caseback would have the limited edition number stamped on it and would have been good to have. Maybe it's in the box?
On the movement, if there is engraving on the bridge it should have the "star trek" logo, a number, then the first two characters will match the dial, then two further characters not on the dial ("Air Force") and then the bottom five characters match the dial.
The lack of hacking and the running seconds subdial could have been updated of course, but then it wouldn't have been a true representation of the original 63 prototypes. The 30-10-20 is simply the number of minutes. There shouldn't be any misalignment on the hands, but maybe it's had a bump at some point. This could be corrected by a watchmaker.
Thanks for all the info. It doesn't have the closed caseback in the box, but it is quite possible that the previous owner got rid of it or that the AD sold it with the exhbition one rather than the closed one.
I love the picture with Mao, very cool 😎
If you have box and papers then it's probably a Seagull FKJB, the dial looks good for that. Here's my authentic FKJB on the left:
Some were sold with an extra exhibition caseback, or you could buy them afterwards, possibly still can. What's written on the exhibition caseback doesn't prove or disprove authenticity. But the original caseback would have the limited edition number stamped on it and would have been good to have. Maybe it's in the box?
On the movement, if there is engraving on the bridge it should have the "star trek" logo, a number, then the first two characters will match the dial, then two further characters not on the dial ("Air Force") and then the bottom five characters match the dial.
The lack of hacking and the running seconds subdial could have been updated of course, but then it wouldn't have been a true representation of the original 63 prototypes. The 30-10-20 is simply the number of minutes. There shouldn't be any misalignment on the hands, but maybe it's had a bump at some point. This could be corrected by a watchmaker.
I love that Seagull 1963 on the right. I have limited monies and I love the default one too. Gah!