there was a popular saying in 1960s
china
if you were a single man and looking for
a wife
no one would marry you if you didn't
have a watch
and that watch had to be a shanghai
watch
this was the rolex of china
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this is fungi min he's been making
shanghai watches
for over 40 years
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watching
during the 1960s and 70s it was a status
symbol for china's communist party
elites
it was said that one out of every four
chinese people
who wore a watch in the 1960s wore a
shanghai watch
before a man could get married he needed
to own a bicycle
a sewing machine a radio and a watch
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superhero
the watch was coveted because it was
china's first mechanical watch
which very few people knew how to make
back then
it was a challenge because technicians
at the time only knew how to repair
imported watches
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for decades the shanghai watch enjoyed
an unparalleled
reputation in china
but when the chinese economy opened up
in the 80s foreign brands like casio
orient swatch and longine entered the
market
the shanghai watch company couldn't
compete and eventually
fell into obscurity 2006 was the first
time we came
to shanghai we're doing a lot of design
toys we're doing a lot of sneaker
culture
lynn is a designer and was partly
responsible for shanghai watches revival
i was drawn to it because i was
thinking that why is this such a
famous historical name
i call them and ask them and tell them
that i want to
make some watches the company invited
her to a factory tour
but when she went she just saw people
milling about
the first time i went i didn't see any
great watches
i don't see craftsman i somewhat found
the
factory manager i asked him to bring out
some old watches
and he showed me some of the models i
said why don't you produce this this is
amazing
he said the machine are all when nobody
used them
and then we have to convince them to fix
the machines
once the factory was on board and the
machines were dusted off
lynn and her team went to work on new
designs so we did five designs
very limited i think it was only 500
watches
one of the design is based on the
calligraphy of
the word lolu the local dialect
shanghainese dialect and means like
really cool
and the other one was calligraphy from 1
to 12 on the third one which is based on
hand signs
what i wanted to do is to create some
stir
to show them that when this design
went oversea and when we told the story
people will look at china a little bit
differently
it quickly sold out the project renewed
interest
in shanghai watch and the brand unveiled
a new marketing structure
a new logo and a new dial designed by a
renowned swiss watchmaker
they produce a couple of high-end pieces
complete with a tourbillon mechanism
you might find on a rolex mission
whether the brand can compete in china
where people can afford actual rolexes
now
remains to be seen but one thing is
clear a
shanghai watch is no longer the status
symbol it once was in china
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you