I Bought a Chinese Automatic Watch

If you ever browse certain online retail sites with a somewhat… watchmaking slant, and whose headquarters tend to be somewhere to the East, you have almost certainly already come face to face with Chinese automatic watches.

Chronographs, moon phases, perpetual calendars and even tourbillons—Chinese factories are brimming with watches featuring the most advanced complications (?)… at least on paper.

But what is it really like? At the risk of being tarred and feathered in the public square, I took the plunge and ordered a Chinese automatic watch.

I obviously avoided sites offering replica watches with their famous triple-A rating meant to vouch for their quality—as if there were a Fitch or a Moody’s for counterfeits. Let’s remember that this business is illegal and unfair to brands with genuine know-how, which invest in research and development and are therefore plundered by these unscrupulous people.

So I turned to a brand that comes from an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), which makes watches for companies that will sell them under their own brand. That is apparently the case with Eyki. Let’s be honest: the models from this brand and these OEMs are not the result of intense aesthetic research by seasoned designers, but rather a heavy dose of inspiration taken from the models of real brands.

I opted for a skeleton watch so I could observe the mechanics without having to open the caseback, as I doubt that would be advisable on this type of watch. The dizzying price of €23 for the EYKI 8560 wouldn’t leave me too disappointed.

At this stage, the question remains: how is it possible to produce an automatic watch so cheaply?

A few weeks after my purchase, the watch arrived, luxuriously packaged in its precious case: a plastic bag.

The watch is surprisingly light despite a 43 mm metal case (which remains to be proven!).

The overall look is very satisfying; I have to concede it—the watch is pretty.

The strap gives off a smell of glue rather than the scent of leather—which I also suspect is made from tanned rat skin (to be clear, that’s tongue-in-cheek).

The caseback offers good visibility of the movement and the rotor decorated with Côtes de Genève, if you please! The oscillating weight works well, which suggests the watch will at least deliver some power reserve if worn beforehand. The crown is also functional.

The smoked crystal is made of Hardlex. This material has impact resistance close to that of plexiglass, but is less prone to scratches than plexiglass. On the other hand, it will scratch more easily than sapphire.

Domed, it seems that only the upper surface has been cut, hence the magnifying-glass effect when you look at the watch from a certain angle.

The spring bars holding the strap between the lugs really don’t look very sturdy and will certainly give way before long.

After a quick look under a watchmaker’s loupe, it seems that some elements of the movement serve no purpose and are present purely for aesthetics. A shame for enthusiasts who want to use a Chinese automatic watch to familiarise themselves with automatic mechanics.

Let’s now check the movement’s accuracy using a Witschi chronoscope, which will record the ticking sounds.

The result is certainly not on a par with a well-regulated ETA movement, but it is nonetheless accurate and consistent, as evidenced by the smooth curve on the diagram. A pleasant surprise—but for how long?

In conclusion, while the quality is in no way comparable to the know-how of Swiss brands, one still has to salute (or worry about) the feat of selling such an automatic watch at such a modest price. There is no doubt that these watches will not lure away enthusiasts—buyers looking for quality, design, technical prowess or after-sales service—from Swiss brands. They might even help democratise automatic watches among consumers who later move on to real brands—who knows?

On forums, owners of models from this brand report oscillating weights that don’t move, crowns that break at the first use… Yes, it is unlikely that watches under €30 benefit from quality control. So choose the quality of a legitimate brand instead.