This is a very fine watch from China. I've mostly been exposed to low quality Chinese watches that I think have skewed my perception of what the country in capable of. Don't let the mass amount of not so great Chinese watches overshadow the good stuff that is available.
It makes sense that China produces decent watches. Wealthy Chinese people are voracious watch lovers. Hong Kong alone is one of the largest watch markets in the world and it is but one city. For a few years now, major Swiss watch makers have been eying the impressive economic growth of China. Watch stores are opening up faster than anywhere else. But before Chinese people were buying nice watches, they were making nice watches. A hidden little secret of European watch makers is that much that goes into their "Swiss Made" watches is actually made in China. This has to do with the rules around the term " Swiss Made" and what that means. It mostly refers to the movement, and where the movement was assembled. Cases to clasps, and crystals to cogs are all to be found from reputable Chinese suppliers. Even parts that go into Swiss Made watches often have Chinese origin. There is nothing wrong with this, as quality must always be high. Over the last decade or so, China has really learned how to make some nice watches.
At some point they just decided, "hey, we will make our own watches, with our own name." As opposed to making watches for other people, China still is lacking in the communication and marketing side of things. In that department, Europeans and Americans will always do better. That still should not mean that nice Asian watches should be overlooked. In addition to the newer Longio, a popular Chinese watch maker is Sea-Gull. You can find a review of a Sea-Gull watch here on aBlogtoRead.com. Longio is different than Sea-Gull, and this Automatic SG3842E watch is a different, and more luxurious beast.
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