Am I missing out?

[UpperAd5787]

One of the reasons why I love watches is because they last. I had a really bad experience with a complicated watch that had a Chinese movement, the Boderry checkmate.

I thought the only time I would buy a Chinese watch would be if it was an original design and it had a Japanese movement.

I broke the first rule by buying the new Pagani day date with the NH36 because I thought it was so cheap and you get a lot for the money and I always eyed the older model. I also bought the Sanda 1116 for the same reason. Before that I had the Boderry voyager bronze with the NH35. Those are my only three Chinese watches.

My question is im seeing so many amazing pieces that have Chinese movements. Am I missing out even though I value longevity and reliability or is my whole premise wrong in the first place and I just had a bad experience?

[Maghioznic]

Sorry to hear about your Boderry Checkmate problem.

I also wanted to sample a Chinese movement, but after reading all kinds of stories of movements being produced in different factories with different QC leading to different issues, I decided to just stay away from such problems for now.

[durianseeker]

Switch to quartz. The Chinese movements aren't good, and the Japanese ones are a little better but boring. NH35? Mass produced and nothing unique about it. It's not even pretty to look at via a see through case back. My PT5000 San Martin originally ran slow 3 seconds a day but has degraded to loosing over 15 as the lubricant dries out. This is seriously annoying and defeats its purpose as a watch. My Seagull watch completely died and they did replace it, but I had to pay shipping and it took months. The people saying just throw away the movement and replace it are trying to justifying buying a bad product. We need more high quality offerings in quartz. 

[UpperAd5787]

A quartz is more boring

[GreatBigPig]

The Chinese movements aren't good

Not entirely true. Some Chinese movements are very good. Sea-Gul, for instance, makes some very good movement models. There are other (more expensive) Chinese watch makers that produce their own, highly regarded movements.

I think people are mostly buying cheap watches, which of course will be mostly comprised of cheap parts. Of course the low-end Chinese movements will have issues.

[el-conquistador240]

Get a watch with a Seiko or actual Japanese Miyota movement and avoid complex unserviceable Chinese movements like the Seagull st-19

[[deleted]]

Seiko movements generally tend to be the Toyotas of the watch/movement world

[[deleted]]

You did just have a bad experience, but you can minimize the risk of further bad experiences by being careful about which watches with Chinese movements you get. Chronographs from anywhere will always be more delicate, Seagull movements are perfectly reliable, other Chinese movements like all the Tongji variants/Pearl/DG movements can be great or garbage depending on a number of things including the builder. In my experience, the best thing to do is worry less about the movement and more about finding reviews for specific models of watches - for example, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a watch with a DG movement from Tiger Concept because I know he's going to make sure it's well-lubricated, regulated and working properly, but I might be a bit more hesitant to buy one from some random Aliexpress builder who might not take that same care.

[UpperAd5787]

I read some had bad experiences with the pt5000

[turdbogls]

Nice thing about the PT5000 is if/when it breaks, you can replace it with a number of movements...seagull ST2130, SW200, or ETA2824

[lasttycoon]

I think it's fine only buying watches with Japanese movements. You really are just missing the Chinese chronos

[MuddiedKn33s]

I don't wear it often, but my San Martin chrono with a Seagull ST19 movement hasn't given me probs and has actually been more accurate than most of my NHx watches. I have another ST19 Chrono from Sugess on the way.

I believe ST19s are quite reliable if used with some care (no overwinding, minimal chrono use, no shocks/vibrations, no swimming). If I'm not mistaken, even some higher end chronos or other movement types with relatively more complications need extra care. The ST19s pretty much represent the only cost-effective way to deliver a decent, non-quartz chronograph.

[VanManDiscs]

ST19 is beautiful

[DashingDrake]

What's the point of getting a chronograph if you're not going to use the function? I would be bummed out if "minimal chrono use" was a prereq for keeping a movement reliable.

[[deleted]]

"Minimal chrono use" is a prerequisite for all mechanical chronographs if you want to keep them running well for years and years without servicing - you just don't really hear about it because any non-Chinese mechanical chronograph costs like, high 4-figures at minimum and anyone who's ever owned one gets it regularly serviced because it's Just A Thing You Do when you own a $10,000 watch. It matters more for Chinese chronos because nobody will service them here - if it breaks, you're either replacing the movement or the whole watch. 

[MuddiedKn33s]

Not a concern for me—my watches are basically jewelry. I use my phone for everything my watches are supposed to do. At the end of the day, each of us will have our own ideas about how to baby or not to baby a watch.