The 15 Best Chinese Watch Brands: A Complete Guide

At this point it’s a cliché to even mention how outdated and prehistoric a universally negative or condescending view of “Made in China” is in the world of watchmaking. Some of the most interesting new watch brands, and a consistently growing roster of some of the most talented and resourceful living watchmakers, are establishing reputations matching, or indeed exceeding, those out of Switzerland, Germany, and Japan.

In this article I have assembled just 15 of these names, some of which have been around for decades and some of which are just coming on the scene. For your reading ease, I’ve broken these down into three categories: the established brands; the watchmakers; and the upstarts. Let’s start with the Chinese watch brand most of you already know…

The Established Brands

Seagull

Tianjin Seagull Watch Group, aka Seagull, recently celebrated its 70th anniversary, and it’s not hard to see why this giant is the most well known and prolific Chinese mechanical-watch producer. The brand made China’s first Air Force Chronograph, which has been reissued as the iconic Seagull 1963 chronograph, a watch that still represents tremendous value at around $300. But it’s not just all affordable stuff these days. Last year, I wrote about the Seagull Split-Second Chronograph, calling it one of the best values in watchmaking at $3,200. Beyond the basic chronograph and this rattrapante, Seagull has added tourbillons, perpetual calendars, and minute repeaters to its repertoire. By far the most mainstream and well known Chinese watch brand, Seagull has made impressive gains in its 70 years and the future looks just as promising.

Peacock

Peacock was founded back in 1973 and more recently has made its mark on the landscape of Chinese watches with its relatively affordable tourbillons. While it’s not hard to see the Plumage Gaze guilloché-dial watch as a take on the Chopard Alpine Eagle, the brand's other offerings, like the Black Hole Central Tourbillon, are really standouts. You really don’t see many central tourbillons out there and this is certainly the most affordable I’ve seen. The in-house movement offers a substantial 120-hour power reserve and has really excellent finishing. Chinese tourbillons have been coming for the Swiss for some time now and Peacock might be doing it better than almost anyone else. Priced at $3,750, this isn’t an impulse purchase by any means but it still represents one of the best values out there for a tourbillon, central or otherwise.

Shanghai

Shanghai made the "status watch" in China between the mid-1950s and the 1980s. Sometimes referred to as the “Rolex of China” back in the day, these were worn by the likes of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaopeng. The brand slipped in reputation and output after the 1980s but made moves to reassert itself in the market in 2008 when it debuted a fresh logo designed by Tommy Li and dials designed by none other than Eric Giroud. The brand has not made quite the splash overseas, as it may have hoped, but the sheer historical provenance and importance of models like the A581 and A623 (worn by China’s first Premier Zhou Enlai) underscore a legacy that demands acknowledgment, if not respect.

The Watchmakers

Kiu Tai Yu

Where Seagull pushed the envelope of mainstream Chinese watch production, Kiu Tai Yu did so for real Chinese watchmaking. Kiu Tai Yu sadly passed away in 2020 but his legacy is nothing short of iconic. He was the first Asian watchmaker to make a tourbillon, the first Chinese watchmaker to join the Académie Horlogère des Créateurs Indépendants (AHCI), and created the wondrous “mystery tourbillon” that operated without a cage or bridge. While not a household name, Kiu Tai Yu was one of the finest and most talented watchmakers of his generation. Every now and then, pieces come up for auction, the most recent being a “Millennium” watch that was auctioned by Phillips for HK$635,000, which comes out to just over $80,000. 

Qin Gan

Forget about China, Qin Gan is one of the great independent watchmakers out there, period. Based in Chongqing, Qin began his career by creating a dragonfly automaton back in 2014, after which he worked in restoration. He later went off on his own and made some one-off complicated prototypes like a striking watch and tourbillon, but he truly came into his own with a simple dress watch: the Pastorale. First introduced in 2021 as a time-only watch in a steel case with hand-finishing, priced at under $10,000, the Pastorale evolved in 2024. This watch, the Pastorale II, improved on every single aspect of the original and came with a price tag that was unafraid to reflect its craftsmanship while embracing it’s uniquely Chinese identity. The $46,000 gold watch is capped at 15 pieces per year and uses a overhauled vintage Longines movement that is rebranded as the in-house Caliber 1810, boasting hand-finished beveling, interior angles, and Qin Gan's take on Geneva Stripes. The 38.5mm wide and 9.5mm thick case is also hand-finished, while the dial is done in enamel with heat-blued hands. You can learn more about Qin Gan on his Instagram here.

LYH (Lin Yong Hua)

A member of the AHCI, Lin Yong Hua is one of the most important living Chinese watchmakers. His own brand, LYH, is a small-production outfit that has the affordable LYH Voyager, with sea turtle-shaped case, available for around $3,500, but everything else starts at five figures and goes up from there. Lin Yong Hua is a creative force with a knack for the avant-garde that can handily compete against the finest Swiss watchmakers. Fortunately his work will not exclusively be the domain of a few collectors, as another brand in this article will show.

Tan Zehua

Another one of the great living Chinese watchmakers, Tan Zehua is another member of the AHCI. A true watchmaker by trade, Tan Zehua does everything himself, including making his own tools. He is in rarefied company as a movement maker who has built his own escapement, called the Di-Axial, which strays from the Co-Axial by having locking jewels and the impulse jewel on different components. It also requires less power to run and operates with less friction.  Frankly, the Di-Axial Escapement is a topic of its own that requires some in-depth reading - which can fortunately be found here on its GPHG page from 2018. I believe only two models of the Di-Axial Escapement watch were produced, though there are some other watches featuring guilloché or enamel dials outfitted with his in-house movements priced between $10-$35,000.

Logan Kuan Rao

One of the young upstarts of Chinese watchmaking, Logan Kuan Rao is an engineer-turned-watchmaker who has patented his own escapement before the age of 30. The Equal-Push escapement is interesting because it adds a joint lever to the co-axial escapement. Before doing this, Rao had completed two prototypes of his debut Orca watch by the time he was 20 years old in 2017. This watch was named the Orca because of the novel whale-shaped bridge done with anglage and frosted surfaces. It appeared to be jumping out of the sea of Geneva stripes and put him on the radar of aficionados.

The Wuwei is his latest creation that has made the rounds on social media and watch blogs with its quirky, triple "Iceberg" movement. It is hugely impressive that he makes all the parts himself with the exception of the rubies, hairspring, mainspring, and shock absorber. Logan Kuan Rao is an inevitable force to be reckoned with in the watchmaking world, and you can follow his progress on his Instagram here.

Qian GuoBiao

A small-production watchmaker who also specializes in niche haute horlogerie watch repairs, Qian GuoBiao is an exceptional talent in the field. His AB-01 Double Balance Wheel watch and AB-02 Small Seconds watches are renowned for their aesthetics and finishing, not to mention rarity. His most recent release is the 12-piece “Facing the Sky 2.0” watch, which embraces a more minimalist take on finishing techniques. Priced at $30,000, there is no “Made in China” discount here for the collector with the taste and means for such a special watch. Frankly, these are pieces most of us can only dream to even see in person. You can see more of his work on his Instagram here. 

Neo Kung

The former Chief Product Officer at Seagull and Shanghai watches, Neo Kung struck out on his own and last year debuted his Orienta chronograph. What may appear to be a Seagull 1963 at a passing glance is, in fact, a platinum watch done in a 39.8mm wide and 10.6mm thick case. The simple, clean silver dial is matched with hand-applied gold indices and numerals as well as gold hour, minutes, and small seconds hands while the chronograph hands are done in a red lacquer. And then there is the NK-01 movement which is based on the architecture of the Venus 175 movement.

Take note that while the architecture of this manual-wind chronograph is based on the Venus 175, the parts are sourced by Kung and finished by hand. Neo Kung is a brand that I will keep a close eye on in the future as the $40,000+ price tag on one of these 12 Orienta watches will certainly need to be justified. You can learn more at his Instagram here.

The Upstarts

Atelier Wen

The Chinese watch brand founded by a pair of Frenchmen, Atelier Wen is one of the more well regarded brands that got its start with Kickstarter. The brand began with the dressy Porcelain Odyssey watch but it was the integrated bracelet Perception watch that put it on the map. The appealing design and quite well done guilloché dial by master craftsman Cheng Yucai have made the Perception a hit at the ~$3,400 price point. A unique riff on the ubiquitous Genta-inspired integrated-bracelet sport watches of the 1970’s, Atelier Wen seems to have found a winning formula wrapped in its Franco-Chinese fusion identity. Right now the Perception is the only watch Atelier Wen produces, but we’ve got an eye on them, along with some pretty high expectations.

CIGA Design

CIGA Design made its mark on the industry in 2021 when its Blue Planet watch took the Challenge Award at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, making it the first brand ever to do so. The design-forward brand has a pretty prolific range of products, some of which are more appealing than others. Still, it’s the Blue Planet and its follow-up Blue Planet II that capture one’s imagination with that three-dimensional globe dial that tells the time using a novel asynchronous-follow movement that simulates the movement of the earth. Having gotten the chance to see one of these in person, it really is a standout value proposition at $1,200 in steel and $1,400 in titanium.

Behrens

Behrens was founded in 2012 and has steadily produced a fairly impressive roster of watches, but it was the brand’s 2022 collaboration with Konstantin Chaykin that put it on the radar of many watch enthusiasts. Behrens’ strength lies in creating more accessible complicated watches but don’t mistake that with affordable. Rather, a watch like the Behrens x Konstantin Chaykin Joker Limited Edition takes the whimsical and otherwise incredibly time-intensive and low-production piece like the Joker and makes it just a little more within reach. Whereas a new Joker retails for just under $20,000, one has to consider the 100-piece annual production and relatively long waiting time that is reflected in the secondary market prices that start in the $30,000 range. The Behrens collaboration was priced at $9,200 and sold out pretty fast, but it is a potent demonstration of what the brand has to offer. There are also other watches like the Ultra-Light, which weights just 11g with a stunning in-house, double retrograde movement displayed on the dial for $11,800. Unsurprisingly, this one is also sold out. That said, Behrens is a brand that an aspiring enthusiast who is otherwise priced out of some of the more interesting high horology pieces out there should keep an eye on.

Celadon

I’m quite familiar with Celadon watches, owned by Benjamin Chee, who wears the term “Made in China With Pride” as a badge of honor. A few years ago I spent some time with the Celadon Century watch collection with cloisonné enamel dials and a movement made by the aforementioned Lin Yong Hua. Rather than outsourcing the notoriously complicated and difficult task of creating these enamel dials, Chee hired Grandmaster Xiong Songtao, who is the best (and possibly only) cloisonné enamel artisan in China. Songtao is a third-generation enamel artisan who has done uncredited work for some of the biggest Swiss and German watch brands. Priced just around $13,000 these are some of the best-value cloisonné enamel dial watches you’ll ever find. I also want to note Celadon’s CH5 collection which introduced  Lin Yong Hua’s stunning CH5 Phoenix movement and a cloisonné enamel dial for $29,900. Of course, there are more affordable pieces in the Celadon CL collection, namely the Cosmos dial models, which have enamel with silver paillonné that creates a wondrous celestial aesthetic for the much more accessible price of $3,900.

Huasuo

Huasuo might not be a name many of you are familiar with, but the brand offers some of the most affordable lacquer-dial watches anywhere. Done using simple steel cases and Sellita movements, these watches have textured lacquer dials that can hold their own against some of the best work coming out of Japan. The Forest green and Fire red dials look lovely and pack a ton of value for $450.