# Cheap Chinese Mechanicals: The Pearl Connection



## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Well, I am back on my well-trodden road researching what I lovingly call "Chinese cheapies," in the hope of shedding yet more light on the complex and irresistible subject of cheap Chinese watches and the companies that produce them. Today I am going to deal with what I have called the "Pearl Connection", a Hong Kong based group that manufactures and produces both mechanical and quartz watches. The flagship brand name and watch company within the Pearl Group is Time100, and it was through examining this brand that I came to know of the Pearl Group, and another of its vital relatives, Sunon. More about Sunon and Time100 later, but first I will discuss the Pearl Group.

The Pearl Group has its origins in Guangzhou Panyu Pearl Watch & Clock Factory, a clock and watch manufacturer which was founded in 1989. A Mr. Liu Jincheng subsequently founded the Pearl Group in 1996 from these beginnings, and he is credited with having the vision and skill to enable Pearl to become one of the largest manufacturers of quartz watches in China. Liu Jincheng is a major figure within the Chinese watch industry. He graduated in Law from Wuhan University in 1988, and went on to study business and economics at Tsinghua University, obtaining a masters degree of MBA and adding economics to his entrepreneurial skill set. He is currently Executive Director of China Watch and Clock Association and Vice President of Guangdong Watch and Clock Association.

Liu Jincheng would appear to be the vital link between the three concerns I am trying to unravel in this topic. Firstly, we have the Pearl Group, and then, closely associated with Pearl, we have Time100, a watch brand/company that was established in 2011, with majority share of investment (totalling $1,000,000) coming from Pearl Group. Finally, we have Sunon International Group Limited, once again founded by Liu Jincheng, and becoming an important provider of movements for Chinese watches. Jincheng is also responsible for other Pearl Group companies, including Hiconics Drive technology Company Limited, which is now listed on the Shenzen Stock exchange, and has Liu Jincheng as its chairman. Liu Jincheng is also board chairman at Time100.

Although I am anxious to look at the Pearl Group's Time100 watch brand, I must firstly move to the foundation and progress of Sunon International, partly because this company was founded prior to Time100, and partly because the presence of Sunon was vital to the speed at which Time100 became a viable and active watch company.

Sunon International Group Limited was founded in 2004, and like Time100, the prime investment for its creation came from the Pearl Group, under the guidance of Liu Jincheng. Sunon is a "professional manufacturer of quality watch movements in China" according to the Pearl Group and is headquartered in Hong Kong. The company has set up no less than seven quartz movement factories in different parts of China and in terms of production capacity and product variety, it holds the number one position in China.

Sunon launched its first quartz movement, the calibre SL 68, in its first year of production, and it then launched the caliber SL 28 calendar movement in 2006, increasing its output at the Guangzhou factory to twenty million pieces a month. In the same year, the Wuhan factory was established, followed in 2007 by a factory at Guizhou. Sunon International continued to expand, with the completion of a new factory at Enshi in 2008, followed by a Sunon industrial park at Wuhan and two important R & D centres in Hong Kong and Wuhan in 2009.

The Hong Kong R & D centre came on stream in 2010, and yet more factories were established, in Chonquig and Meizhou. Also in 2010, Sunon launched caliber SL25, a calendar movement for ladies' watches, as well as other new movements, and calibre SL68 had reached a staggering production figure of 35 million pieces per month. In 2011, the same year that Time100 was founded, Sunon International launched a high-end movement, PE21, with considerable improvements being made in quality. From 2011 onwards, Sunon has been engaged in developing and launching a number of high-end products, and in 2012 established a mechanical movement R & D centre in Biel, Switzerland.

2013 marked the launch by Sunon of more than 30 items, including the PE70, PE80 and PE90 movements, and new features included multi-function and slimline movements, as well as two-hand plus seconds subdial movements. As a crowning achievement, Sunon attended the Basel watch expo in 2014 at the same time as it became number one in China for sales volume. Sunon International had become a truly global company in the world of watch movements.

Before leaving the subject of Sunon International Group Limited, I must just mention that Sunon itself has subsidiaries, and to complicate matters further, as is so often the case when chasing information on Chinese watches, four of these subsidiaries are watch companies. These companies, about which I currently know little, are Chonqing Chenlong Precision Timepieces Limited, Wuhua Aishida Watch Ltd., Changshun Chenlong Precision Timepieces Ltd., and Tongzhi Chenlong Precision Timepieces Ltd.. I have a sneaking suspicion that these subsidiaries may be responsible for manufacturing the mechanical movements that appear in the cheaper Time100 mechanical watches, although that is just a hunch.

In comparison with Pearl group and Sunon International, Time100 is a smallish fish within the Pearl Group family of companies. Nevertheless, with predicted annual sales (2014) worth at least US13,000,000 sales, it is an important player in the world of cheaper Chinese watches, and within its portfolio are a number of watch brand names including Survan (licensed in Switzerland), and Barbie (licensed in China). Time 100 was founded in Beijing with financial assistance from Pearl and with assistance in terms of its watch movements from its big brother, Sunon International. Since its creation in 2011 and launch in 2012, Time100 has expanded and now has offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, and the US. The primary business of Time100 is the manufacture and sale of watches and clocks, as well as various gifts and accessories, and it lists its product/services range as, "High Quality Mechanical watch, High Quality Alloy Multi-functional watch, Ladies' Watch, Sports watch, Digital watch, Kid's watch, Promotional Watch". A stated ambition of Time100 is to become "the pioneer in selling internet branded watches and to create a youthfully styled, modern watch brand."

Gold plated Time100 automatic gents watch with leather strap, plated alloy case, strengthened mineral crystal, 30 metre WR and 45mm diameter case (pic from goldwatches4men.com):










Time100 employs between 101 and 200 persons, and while the main contact location for the company is Hong Kong TIME100 Co., Ltd., the office address is at Dashi Street Panyu, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 511430 China. The CEO of Time100 is a Mr. Lei Chifeng, while Mr. Edward Ding, sales manager, is the contact person to go to if you are thinking of starting a watch brand yourself using the production facilities of Time100. The eponymous Time100 brand is itself licensed globally, and it has been positioned at the lower end of the market. As a watch collector writing for a watch forum, I must declare that my prime interest lies in the mechanical Time100 watches, and in the case of these timepieces, the Time100 brand is carefully positioned just above the cheapest Chinese mechanical watches. What this means in the UK, is that you will need between £40 and £75 to have a wide choice of Time100 mechanical watches, as opposed to £15 to £40 for the cheapest Chinese brands.

At the top of the Time100 tree is the Survan brand, which has exhibited at Baselworld and has apparently gained some recognition in Europe and the US. The Time100 brand is, as has already been stated, situated at the lower end of the price range, and Time100 as a company has clearly tried to cover different market sectors with its various brand names, using the mighty power of Sunon as a source of its watch movements.

An award-winning (in Hong Kong) and relatively expensive Time100 world time automatic watch with 50 metre WR, and 40/56mm case. Price when ordered in small wholesale numbers from Time100 is US$109, with a RRP of US$205 (pic from hktdc.images,com):










As a watch collector, I have tried to in discover the source of mechanical movements used in Time100 mechanical watches, and here there is a dilemma as is so frequent in pursuing the trail of cheaper Chinese mechanical watches and movements. This dilemma, in the context of Time100, is that although it is stated that Sunon has provided considerable "movement support" for the quartz Time100 watches, it is not clear where the mechanical movements for Time100 brand watches are sourced. When it comes to the higher end of Time100 mechanical watches, not generally branded Time100, the situation is clearer because Time100 has been developing mechanical watch movements that are made in Switzerland. This would dovetail in with the continued expansion and development of the Sunon range of movements, and it is very likely that Sunon International Group Limited is involved in Swiss made movements for Time100. In the case of cheaper mechanical Time100 watches, the exact source or sources of movements is unclear but, as I have stated above, it may be that the subsidiary watch companies under the Sunon umbrella are responsible for making these movements. It certainly seems likely that the three related companies discussed in this topic - Pearl Group, Sunon International Group and Time100 - will have a symbiotic relationship with each other.

Some of the Time100 branded mechanical watches are attractive within their typical Chinese styling. It is to be hoped that their quality and reliability is somewhat better than their cheaper counterparts, and if Sunon is responsible - even indirectly - for the movements in these watches then it may be that quality control is more rigorous than in the cheapest Chinese mechanicals. As yet, I do not have a Time100 mechanical watch in my possession and I therefore cannot verify the nature of the relative quality of Time100 watches when compared to their cheaper rivals. I hope that some members of the forum may have personal experience of Time100 products and can post an opinion of them on this thread.

In conclusion to this topic, I will now illustrate and caption a few more Time100 mechanical watches available to purchase, and I can only hope that more information will be forthcoming about the companies discussed here, their products. and cheap mechanical Chinese watches generally.

Time100 Sun & Moon Phase Taichi Pattern Black Leather Strap Mechanical Watch - we are informed in additional text beneath the listing that the watch is really only a semi-automatic and has an alloy case. Stated specs include hardlex crystal, leather strap, stainless steel case and 30 metres WR, and 38.5mm case diameter. Pic from ecx.images-amazon.com, and the watch is priced on Amazon UK at £52.81:










Time100 skeleton automatic wristwatch with metal tin, once again provided with contradicting details. Hardlex crystal, alloy OR stainless steel case, 30mm water resistance, leather strap, and is powered by a "domestic 3203" automatic movement, Pic from g02.a.alicdn.com, and priced at US$52.28 on aliexpress.com:










Rear view of a Time100 Automatic skeleton ladies' mechanical watch. Part of the attractive Apparent Space Collection. This watch is priced at about £75 on this site but watches in this collection can be obtained at about £40 elsewhere. (pic from watches.driffye.uk):










Front view of this basic model (pic from time100.watch.com):










Rather attractive Time100 automatic gents watch from the Apparent Space Collection. Strengthened mineral crystal, leather strap, 30 metres WR, atainless steel case (pic from ecx.images-amazon.com/images, and priced on Amazon.com at US$58.96.


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## xellos99 (Dec 17, 2015)

The thing with Chinese companies and products is :

A: do you trust them ?

B: are they high quality, reliable etc ?

C: can you send them back easily under warranty ?

I answer all of these with no at the moment.


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

You have a point there xellos, but if I am buying a cheap Chinese mechanical watch, I categorize that purchase as being just that - a mechanical watch made and sold down to a very low price, with no expectations of that purchase being any better than that. With this categorization in place, I am rarely disappointed and sometimes very pleasantly surprised.

In the case of Time100 watches, I might be a little bit more aware of the price and have a greater degree of expectation because the company has deliberately placed its products just above the Chinese cheapy baseline price bracket. It would be interesting to know if there is any validity, in terms of improved quality, in so positioning the company's lower priced watches.

You mention the question of whether Chinese watch companies who are producing and/or selling cheap Chinese mechanical watches have any conscience when it comes to replacing or giving refunds for faulty watches. You conclude that this question has a negative answer but I have to disagree on that one. In my experience, the companies I have dealt with, including Infantry and MapofBeauty, have been exemplary in this regard. When goods did not appear, the companies have sent replacements immediately, and when faulty, the companies have replaced the goods without me having to return the original purchase. I usually purchase my cheap Chinese watches through Amazon, and this gives an additional level of security when buying, and I have never had to regard the actual purchase of a Chinese watch as being a difficult ot aggravating experience.

Cheap Chinese mechanical watches are a fun buy. But more seriously, they are a fascinating sector of the watch industry, and one that I greatly enjoy exploring. For me, the cheap Chinese sector is like a complex detective story in which I am the sleuth, making hunches, picking up on leads and exploring all avenues - all to make some headway of knowledge in the murky mass that is the historical and contemporary Chinese watch industry.


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## RWP (Nov 8, 2015)

A good read Honour, but after my experience of Chinese watches in my solo cheapskate challenge I don't think I would buy one. A lot of research Honour :thumbsup:


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

You may be interested in reading this interesting blog from Watch Repair Guy - a very knowledgeable repairer. The main thing that appears to come out of the article is the comparatively poor hygiene used in the putting together of the Chinese "clone" movements - skin scales, hair/fibre, dirt in the works. This doesn't help the cruder machining used in the chinese factories. They may, of course, improve.

http://watchguy.co.uk/comparison-sea-gull-st2130-eta-2824-2-peacock-sl3000/


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