# Oldish Chinese Sea-gull



## raketakat (Sep 24, 2003)

Back from Birstall after a new crystal and fettle is this Sea-gull manual wind







.

The photo does the aged dial no favours







.

All stainless steel including signed bracelet and crown







.










Movement pic. Marked "Seventeen Jewels" and 'engraved' Sea-Gull







. Marked "XN" under balance.

Steve thought it was Swiss







.


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## johnbaz (Jan 30, 2005)

hi ian

from the front, it looks very 70's seiko-ish, the movement looks to be a cut above the chinese that i've seen, very nice









john.


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## raketakat (Sep 24, 2003)

johnbaz said:


> from the front, it looks very 70's seiko-ish


It does indeed. Someone replied to me on another forum asking why not just buy a Seiko 5







.

Good point I suppose, but I'm a contrary bugger







.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

raketakat said:


> johnbaz said:
> 
> 
> > from the front, it looks very 70's seiko-ish
> ...


Well if it was your only watch maybe, otherwise, very nice and excellent watches though they are, 5`s are very common


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## Chascomm (Sep 9, 2005)

raketakat said:


> Back from Birstall after a new crystal and fettle is this Sea-gull manual wind
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a real mystery watch









The movement is a FHF design used in many 'generic Swiss' brands from the late 1950s to early 1970s, but the lack of Swiss crest under the balance suggests that it is probably _not_ Swiss (it should have the crest with 'FHF' and the calibre alongside it e.g. 68-4). I don't know what XN means, but I bet it's the clue that holds the answer to the origins of this watch.

Tianjin's own calibre ST5 had been in production for several years before the first Sea-Gull brand, so it's not an early pre-ST5 version. And the ST5 was eventually retired in favour of the 'Standard' movement, so it's not a post-ST5 model. It could be an interim model, but the FHF would have been obsolete for some time before the ST5 ceased production. Besides, the replacement Standard movement was engraved with the same distinctive 'Sea-Gull stripes' as the ST5, so why not this one?

I think the Seiko-style case and bracelet was introduced in the 1980s.


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