Budong The Collector

Chinese watches are getting better. With the advent of social media, more and more people are being informed and convinced that Chinese watches are not at all as bad as we think. Of course in buying anything, one must take some risk and I would say much more so for these relatively new and sometimes very generic Chinese watches. One Chinese brand that caught my attention is Guanqin. I first saw this brand on Aliexpress and I got a bit curious about it. Thanks to Youtubers who have reviewed watches from this brand, I have also pulled the trigger and bought myself a Guanqin watch. Here it is! The Gaunqin GQ008815 Automatic Watch. Specifications Case diameter: 39 mm Case thickness: 12 mm Lug width: 19 mm Lug tip to lug tip: 48 mm Crystal: Sapphire Movement: Unknown Chinese movement Hacking: Yes Manual Wind: Yes Complications: Date only Price: Php 2,300 (Approx USD 44) Purchased Online:  https://www.lazada.com.ph/-i135106104-s151282258.html?urlFlag=true&mp=...

Before I share to you my highly opinionated and very personal review, let me get a few things out of the way. I am not a watch critic. I am a watch enthusiast. I have little experience in reviewing watches and what I write in this post is not the "law". I have little technical knowledge about watches. If I happen to mention or mislabel some parts in the watch, please be kind. I am not recommending any brands nor is this blog backed by any watch brand or manufacturer. Let's start. I purchased a watch online back in March, 2018. It's a mechanical dress watch that is made in, you guessed it, China. A very affordable, manual wind, mechanical watch that caught my eye mostly because it didn't look half bad, with the skeleton movement and display back, and mainly because it was a manual wind and not an automatic. This one was not my first choice, but it turned out to be for the best since I now realize my first choice was not very coherent in terms of its colo...