Chinese watchmakers won't stop ticking

"Although our capacity is tops among Chinese watchmakers, it is not outstanding in comparison with Swiss brands," said Liu Ke, vice director of Sea-Gull's general management office.

Sea-Gull now operates 31 franchised stores across China, as well as sells watches in 12 southeast Asian countries and regions.

Chinese watches, though not as advanced as their Swiss counterparts, have seen some innovation in recent years. In 2006, Beijing Watch Factory Co Ltd, one of China's oldest watchmakers, produced its own tourbillion watch.

"Tourbillion" refers to a type of watch machinery that aims to counter the effects of gravity on the watch by allowing parts of the watch to be mounted inside a tiny rotating cage located inside the watch.

In 2010, Sea-Gull produced a watch that blends three types of watch technology, including tourbillion machinery.

"Crafting such watches is hard even for Swiss brands," said Lu Jun, Sea-Gull's director and general manager.

Chinese watches were symbols of trendiness in the 1960s and 1970s, when people would save their salaries for months to buy a new watch.

"If a young person could afford a watch, it would be similar to holding an iPhone 5 these days," said Miao Hongbo, general manager of the Beijing Watch Factory.

To fulfill market demand, watchmaking degrees were even offered at Tianjin University and Harbin Institute of Technology.