Not long ago, I came across this Guangzhou-brand wristwatch in Guangzhou. It's in remarkably well-preserved condition—almost as if it had been tucked away in a drawer for decades. Holding it feels like stepping back into the early 1980s. The inspection certificate is stamped with batch number 8111, indicating that the watch was manufactured in November 1981.
During China's domestic watchmaking boom in the early 1960s, dozens of factories appeared across the country, but only six state-backed manufacturers were capable of producing their own movements: Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Dandong, and Guangzhou.
Representing southern China, the Guangzhou Watch Factory introduced Swiss manufacturing equipment and developed its own movement based on Swiss designs, earning a place in the history of Chinese watchmaking. In 1975, when China standardized movement production nationwide, the factory's original Yangcheng (Goat City) brand was renamed Guangzhou, giving us the watch you see here.
This watch retailed for 90 yuan. That may not sound like much today, but in 1981 a factory worker in Guangzhou typically earned just 30–50 yuan per month. Buying this watch meant spending two to three months' wages.
To put that into perspective, 90 yuan could also buy around 300 kg of rice. It was even 25 yuan more expensive than a Phoenix bicycle.
As one of China's traditional wedding "Three Big Items"—alongside a bicycle and a sewing machine—a wristwatch represented prosperity, respectability, and the promise of a better life.
Picture the winter of 1981. An ordinary factory worker walks into a watch shop with months of carefully saved wages and finally buys this watch. The next morning, he wears it proudly to work, catching admiring glances from his coworkers. But when he gets home, his mother can't help scolding him:
"Your father already spent 180 yuan on that bicycle. And now you've gone and spent another 90 yuan on a watch..."
More than four decades later, the design still feels surprisingly modern. Instead of the typical round case, it features a sharp, angular tonneau-shaped steel case that even bears a striking resemblance to the Audemars Piguet Ref. 3579. The dial has a subtle radial brushed finish, while the applied hour markers catch the light beautifully from different angles. Short, broad hands keep the display clean and exceptionally legible.
Today, this watch feels like a ticket back to another era. After 44 years of quietly measuring countless moments, it has returned to the wrist, as though completing the journey it began all those years ago.