The cult classic was first produced in 1955.
The Shanghai watch company has the distinction of being China’s very first watch factory, and over 60 years ago, produced the country’s first mechanical watch.
Compared with Swiss counterparts, the first Shanghai watch was inexpensive, at just 120 yuan, or $295 in today’s dollars.
But against the country’s average monthly income of 36 yuan, the watch was largely an aspirational luxury item for the masses.
And from the 1950s up until the ’70s, everyone in China wanted one, because the late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was famously a devoted fan.
Zhou wore the factory’s first calendar function model, the A623, until his death. It was removed from his wrist on the day he died in 1976.
About a decade ago, the Shanghai Watch company tried to reinvent itself into a luxury brand to compete with European rivals. It produced a couple of bedazzled pieces with complex tourbillon movements.
But it never quite managed to turn itself into a Rolex competitor in the rapidly developing economy, where people were starting to actually be able to afford Rolexes in the last couple of decades.
So other than several high-end models, most of the Shanghai line today remains in the $100 to $200 mark.
If you’re picking out a retro model, you'll see the company’s original logo was an angular stylized block of the Chinese characters for Shanghai. This was replaced with a calligraphic logo in the ’70s.
But in a nostalgic throwback, the company resurrected the block logo for its 50th anniversary, so you’ll still find that on select models today.
