Looking closely at the watch there’s a little more going on than is seen at first glance. In a list dominated by black dialled designs, it’s nice to see a green dial, particularly as it is complemented with a green canvas strap. This time housing Sea-Gull’s own ST2553 automatic movement in the 44m case. Like other Sea-Gull watches I have ( see the 1963 Chronograph here), this is a well-made watch. If there was any doubt, it literally tells you on the dial that it’s a Chinese Military Watch. The D813.581 pays homage to Sea-Gulls first field watch which they produced for the Chinese military in 1964. By volume, the Tianjin factory is the largest watch manufacturer in China, having produced only mechanical watches since the crash of 1997. The brand traces its roots back to the creation of those first factories in the 1950s and is one of the ‘big three’. The full name for the factory that produces this brand is Tianjin Sea-Gull Watch Group. A reliable mechanical watch at a bargain price. No sapphire crystal or GTLS illumination. (See our favourite Vostok Amphibia’s here). Stylistically, it has that unsubtle quality that we’ve come to expect from the brand. The main appeal for watch fans, aside from the history, is the inclusion of a Vostok in-house automatic movement - designed to only need to be serviced once a decade. Again, it’s a lot of watch for the modest price. The K-35 is a modern take on the classic Komandirskie. This is an iconic military timepiece that has its own unique story and fans. ![]() It was also in the same year that the factory, now using the Vostok name, released the Komandirskie or Commanders watch. ![]() It was then that the Chistopol Watch Factory became the official supplier of watches for the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. 1965 is really where the story gets interesting for watch fans. However, wristwatch production didn’t begin until after the end of the war. By April 1942 the factory was up and running and producing its first items for the military. From there the story goes, the equipment, workers and their families covered the final 100KM to the city of Chistopol in a convoy of three thousand carts pulled by horses. At the tail end of 1941, one of the Moscow watch plants was evacuated, in 150 railway carriages, to Kazan in South-West Russia. The company that became Vostok can be traced back to WWII and Russia’s involvement in the conflict. Smith’s originally released a military watch, used by the British army, in 1967, with production continuing until 1970. Regular readers will be aware that we’re fans of watch manufacturers mining their own back catalogue to bring back iconic watch models. Smith's fine heritage came to an end in the 1980s, only for the name to be revived by Timefactors, a modern British based company. ![]() But ultimately the Smith’s story is a one of a successful British manufacturer producing large quantities of watches before retreating from that market during the quartz revolution of the 1970s. Given its history, there’s a number of interesting stories about the company - from it importing Longines movements to recruiting Swiss technicians from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Founded in 1880 as a manufacturer of pocket watches the company would go on to produce wristwatches and clocks and other instruments for the motor and aviation industries. ![]() Smith’s was one of the bigger names in British watchmaking history.
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