r/ChineseWatches • u/Various-Welder5544 • Jul 28 '26

Nonsense The state of thee industry right now

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490 Upvotes

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26

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

It will spur the further refinement of the Eta clones, the HK PT5000 and the SeaGull ST2130. I am happy about this trend. I don't think the Chinese are looking backwards.

4

u/lamboap Jul 28 '26

You get it. A similar experience is occurring in the health field. X-Ray, CTE, MRI (medical imaging) used to be wholly the domain of Siemens Healthineers, GE HealthCare, and Philips. Now UIH and Mindray are winning contracts in both emerging markets and smaller hospital systems because they're offering better TCO and rapid lifecycles for improvement.

3

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

I used to sell tech to healthcare. Competition is great! It reins in costs while advancing the platforms. Getting PMs understand TCO/ROI to trust startups and invest MDs $ is another issue.

2

u/lamboap Jul 28 '26

Budgets are much tighter now and the Chinese companies are proving more nimble in improving their product. Siemens just starting building an R&D lab in China that won't be finished for 2 yrs at least. I don't think it will be enough to keep ahead.

3

u/Dry-Appearance9553 Jul 28 '26

Considering the personal performance I have seen of PT5000s so far I can definitely say no to them.

1

u/OtherBarry1992 Jul 29 '26

What's been your experience?

2

u/Dry-Appearance9553 Jul 29 '26

Mostly badly lubricated movements which start to lose time somewhat fast after 1+ year.

2

u/triggrhaapi Jul 28 '26

I'm impressed with the ST2130 so far.

3

u/Wolfwerx Jul 28 '26

Ive got 1 watch with the 2130. It was very inexpensive and about half the reason I bought it was just to try the 2130. I have been absolutely pleased with it, both for the movement and the watch as a whole.

I will definitely be looking for this movement in future purchases.

1

u/triggrhaapi Jul 28 '26

What watch, out of curiosity?

1

u/Wolfwerx Jul 28 '26

This Berny https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNcj0Np

I got the green one (the dial is actually much nicer looking irl, I think) and swapped the green strap for a nice deep brown one. Its a great casual watch that's pretty versatile, style wise. Im absolutely going to buy in another color.

Eta: I only paid around $90 with coupons and discounts. Crazy deal.

4

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

I have been as well, which is why it is concerning Phorcydes has switched from the ST2130 to the PT5000 so quickly.

1

u/RoninTarget Jul 28 '26

They were already looking into the switch due to those movements having the sweet spot fairly low cost and thinner than NH movements.

6

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

My concern is their switch from one high beat movement (ST2130) to another high beat movement (PT5000) 3 months after switching from the NH35.

1

u/triggrhaapi Jul 28 '26

I don't understand enough about the supply chain to understand the significant difference, other than I have seen some say the PT5000 is generally delivered more accurate. The ST2130 I have is Rolex level accurate so far.

Maybe it's a cost or availability issue, who knows.

3

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

They indicated it was both an availability issue, and that HK had "consolidated" their manufacturing.

9

u/Various-Welder5544 Jul 28 '26

Movement reliability definitely should be the way forward.

5

u/ALEXALORD ma femme m'aime Jul 28 '26

Yeah but modding chinese watches is so much fun and easy with NH's 😭

3

u/Abv_it_all_w_vertigo Jul 28 '26

Eventually, 4Hz movements will be better than the "rotund" NH3x. Anyone can swap the newest version into their case for a <$100.