# Seagulls 1963 owner's



## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

On the point of ordering one of these. I have decided to buy from Europe, solely on the seller's feedback and reputation, even though they are cheaper elsewhere. Are these watches durable or fragile, and also serviceable within the U.K. if need be? Thank you.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

I`ve owned this fine pair for a few years now and, although admittedly I don`t wear them every day, I`ve had no problems with either watch...

*Seagull `1963 Chinese Airforce` cal.ST19*

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*Seagull Model 0437, `19 Zuan` cal.ST19 21 jewels?*

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(Photos obviously not to same scale)

I`ve just found this Worn & Wound review on the tinternet :teethsmile:


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

mach 0.0013137 said:


> I`ve owned this fine pair for a few years now and, although admittedly I don`t wear them every day, I`ve had no problems with either watch...
> 
> *Seagull `1963 Chinese Airforce` cal.ST19*
> 
> ...


 Thank you. Much appreciated.


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I have a Sea-Gull 1963 and, whilst I love the style and am impressed by the excellent timekeeping, I wouldn't describe it as being particularly robust. It's certainly not fragile and I've had no problems with mine whatsoever, but it has a somewhat lightweight/flimsy feel about it that's detectable whether just handling the watch, winding the crown or operating the chropnograph buttons. It lacks the solidity of an expensive Swiss watch for example. But then it's not Swiss and it's not expensive, so in my book that's OK 

UK service is an interesting point. I'm not aware of anyone that services these in the UK. On the general subject of Sea-Gull, The Rodina I bought last week, whilst keeping excellent time as you suggested it might, has an amusing fault; it doesn't auto wind. You can manually wind it and it'll run perfectly for a couple of days but, even with continuous wear, it will then just stop and require winding up again. For the price I can't really be bothered sending it back to Germany and will take this one on the chin, but if anyone knows of someone in the UK that can fix these relatively easily/swiftly for a modest fee, I'd be interested. Other than that I have a unique manual wind version :laugh:


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## Padders (Oct 21, 2008)

I think the man wind chrono movement used in these is a copy of a Venus something or other so it is likely any competent watchmaker could attempt a service. I should think the likes of Genesis or Thewatchbloke could do it justice.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

rhaythorne said:


> I have a Sea-Gull 1963 and, whilst I love the style and am impressed by the excellent timekeeping, I wouldn't describe it as being particularly robust. It's certainly not fragile and I've had no problems with mine whatsoever, but it has a somewhat lightweight/flimsy feel about it that's detectable whether just handling the watch, winding the crown or operating the chropnograph buttons. It lacks the solidity of an expensive Swiss watch for example. But then it's not Swiss and it's not expensive, so in my book that's OK


 Strange, I don`t find mine to be "lightweight/flimsy" in anyway including when winding the crown or operating the chrono buttons :huh:


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## Krispy (Nov 7, 2010)

I have the larger model which I bought from Julian at poljot24. Not the cheapest but one of the best sellers I've ever dealt with.

It's no tool watch but it won't fall apart on your wrist. Plexiglass too so no worries should you scratch it.

The chrono second hand has become a bit loose on mine when stopped...shifts a few seconds if you give it a wobble. Everything functions correctly though and hopefully an easy fix.

On that point, I did ask Steve at Ryte Time if he would mend it and his response was 'I don't service replica movements'


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

mach 0.0013137 said:


> Strange, I don`t find mine to be "lightweight/flimsy" in anyway including when winding the crown or operating the chrono buttons :huh:


 It depends what you're comparing it with.

I'm not suggesting it's going to fall apart after a couple of weeks of wear, I'm just saying that it lacks the sturdiness of similar but more expensive and better made Swiss/German watches in the same way that a Russian Poljot Aviator doesn't feel anything like as sturdy as a Fortis Pilot or (ignoring the fault I described earlier) the Rodina R005GB is not as well made or finished as my Stowa Marine Auto. When you handle the two side by side the difference is quite apparent.


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## Pob (May 28, 2010)

I had one for a few years. It seemed just as sturdy as any other watch I've owned... Reliable too...


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

Perhaps not as sturdy as some of those giant lumpy watches, but suited for normal human activities.










Later,
William


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## mcb2007 (Dec 12, 2013)

Did you ever get one Wrench , I've had both sizes of the 63 still have the 38mm as it feels and sits nicely on the wrist . The 42mm on the Great Wall ,thick pic that made me buy it .










N the lil one


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

mcb2007 said:


> Did you ever get one Wrench , I've had both sizes of the 63 still have the 38mm as it feels and sits nicely on the wrist . The 42mm on the Great Wall ,thick pic that made me buy it .
> 
> 
> 
> N the lil one


 I did but moved it on. Nothing wrong with it, just wasn't for me. My friend who picked it up for me loved it, so he is now the proud owner. Still happy with my 3133, super accurate and 48hrs+ reserve.


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