Cheap Chinese Watch Review #4: Megir 3206 w/Sea-Gull ST2525 Automatic

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
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This is my fourth review of a budget-minded Chinese watch, the Megir M3206 Automatic. This watch is in my current EDC rotation of between 2-3 timepieces. The Megir M3206 is available in four color options:

1) Rose Gold SS Case/Coffee Dial/Coffee Leather Strap.
2) SS Case/Black Dial/Coffee Leather Strap.
3) SS Case/White Dial/Khaki Leather Strap.
4) Black SS Case/Black Dial/Khaki Leather Strap (The version I tested).

The Megir M3206 was supplied by TomTop.



TomTop Pics

Here is TomTop’s website, the Megir website, and Sea-Gull (movement mfr.) websites site, as well as one of their watches using same movement:

http://bit.ly/23N1YXQ (TomTop’s M3206 listing)
http://megir-watch.com/ (Note: Model M3206 is not on their site).
http://www.seagullwatchstore.com/Default.asp. (Sea-Gull’s Main Store)
http://www.seagullwatchstore.com/SeaGull-219-328-Automatic-Mechanical-Men-s-Watch-p/219.328.htm (Appears to be same movement, ST2525, that is used on Sea-Gull’s M/N 219.328 that sells for $255)

Before I get started, the specs as they appear verbatim from TomTop’s website, opener included, where they are apparently saving the environment, one watch at a time :wink: :

We have always called for protecting our environment nowadays. What can we do? Of course, there are many things we can do. Including wearing a watch that isn’t driven by battery. Unlike most other watches, this is a self-winding one, really an environmental friendly product.

Features:
Luminous hands.
Unique hollow out at 6 o’clock.
Genuine leather watch strap, soft and snug for daily wear.
, months and weeks displays at 12, 9 and 3 hour mark.
The watch is a self-winding one, which do not need to worry about changing battery to keep it running.
Do not worry about water, this wristwatch is 3ATM daily life water resistant (but not for showering, swimming and diving).

Specifications:
Brand: MEGIR
Item Type: Wristwatch
Style: Fashion & Casual
Gender: Man
Close Type: Pin buckle
Color: Brown+black / Brown+white / Coffee+black / Coffee (Optional)
Dial Display: Analog
Dial Shape: Round
Band Material: Genuine leather
Surface Material: Minerals wear-resisting crystal glass
Watchcase Material: Alloy
Movement Type: Self-winding
Water-resistant Level: 3ATM daily life water-resistant
Dial Diameter: Approx. 4.3cm / 1.69in
Dial Thickness: Approx. 1.8cm / 0.71in
Unfolded Length: Approx. 26cm / 10.24in
Watchband Width: Approx. 2.3cm / 0.91in
Item Weight: Approx. 117g / 4.13oz
Package Weight: Approx. 118g / 4.16oz

Package List:
1 * Watch

KronoReview:

TomTop’s website pictures feature an attractive product. The Megir M3206G is a cushion shape, Panerai style homage watch. TomTop’s normal price is in the $90 range, which I informed them that was not a competitive price. It is now at featured at $69.99.

Here is how the watch was packaged. The Megir M3206G came in a padded/bubble-wrap envelope sans box, wrapped fairly securely and decently protected (Note: It came shipped with another watch, the Shenhua 9584 Auto w/linear movement, which I will review later):


2 watches shipped together (Shenhua on right to be reviewed later).


The Megir inside was cellophane-wrapped around the case/crystal and included a Megir tag.

Like the M3406 watch I previously reviewed, this watch is very attractive in person. This Megir looks just as good as the nice pictures on the TomTop website. The size of the watch is perfect for this cushion style…not too big…and not too small. The crown protector does protrude a bit at the 3 O’clock side of the watch, but I never noticed it unless I bent my wrist back in an extreme position. Nevertheless, discomfort was mostly a non-issue. It is a khaki colored, nubuck leather, and quite comfortable. There are two loops/strap keepers…one static and one loose. If you have a very large wrist, you might have to get a larger strap. My wrist is 7-5/8”, and the second strap keeper covers the end of the strap on my wrist. That can be easily resolved by cutting it off. The pin/buckle is stainless steel and coated in a satin-black with the Megir logo in an off-white that matches the dial numbers.

The 2 subdials and 1 pusher at the 4 O’clock position do function. There are also two hidden silver pushers on the left-hand side of the case. They are recessed into the case and have a center dimple that is easy to activate with a pin/pen/toothpick, etc. The top one changes the date, and the bottom changes the month. Sub-dials are located at 3 O’clock (day of the week), and 9 O’clock (month), and date is at the 12 O’clock position. Open heart/balance wheel is at the 6 O’clock hour.

The dial is satin-black, and has large, easy to see off-white, Arabic numeral hour-markers, with even larger numerals at 12, 3 and 9. They look as though they are ‘cut-out’ of the dial (like a stencil), which give it a nice military, multi-level effect. There is a simple line/hour marker at 6 O’Clock to make room for the open-heart feature. The gray hour and minute hands are sword-shaped with center lume. The minute hand is also gray and thin, with a sword shape on the back-end. The easy-to-read, double-pane date window is at 12 O’Clock. ‘MEGIR’ appears directly under the 12 and over the date, and “AUTOMATIC” appears under the date.

The case is supposedly Stainless Steel, and finished with a lustrous, glossy black coating. This appears to be the same case as the Megir M3406, but with only the bottom pusher below the crown, and the two hidden pushers added on the left side of the case. The lugs extend in an attractive, curved arc towards the strap. However, like the M2002 and M3406 I previously reviewed, there could be more curvature to them to make the case wrap more comfortably around the top portion of the wrist. It should be noted that on the Panerai that this watch mimics, the lugs are not curved enough…IMHO.


(Edit: The above two, open-caseback movement photos added)


Sea-Gull’s drawing of the ST2525

The case-back is a pop-off (somewhat disappointing), SS ring with a see-through (sounds acrylic) window. I would have preferred a screw-down version instead. Inside is what appears to be a Sea-Gull ST2525 automatic/hand wind, hacking movement. There are no observable manufacturer marks/logos on the movement, so I am unable to positively confirm this. But it is a dead-ringer!

I think it looks quite snazzy on the wrist.

PROS:
Handsome Panerai Luminor style and looks.
Automatic with open-heart design. Appears to be a Sea-Gull ST2525 (See diagram and link to Sea- Gull’s watch above with same movement).
Movement also hand-winds, and hacks.
Attractive, gloss black case and black dial.
Protected crown with working latch.
Working sub-dials (Day/Month).
Watch has a nice, solid feel to it.
Large, easy to read, dual-pane Date Window.
Comfortable, reasonably specked nu-buck leather strap.
Domed glass crystal.
Lume on hour, minute and two sub-dial hands.
See-through case-back.
Rotor is smooth and slightly audible.
Decorative milling on rotor and other internals.
4 color combos to choose from.

CONS:
Strap should be longer.
Limited lume on hands and lume needed on hour-markers.
More curvature of the lugs would help with comfort.
Pop-off case-back.
No box.

DIMENSIONS:
Width: 51.2mm
Case Diameter: 43.75mm
Lug to lug: 52.7mm
Strap width: 24mm
Crystal: 37mm
Height (top of crystal to caseback): 17.5mm
OAL: 25cm
Weight: 114gms

RATING:
Cost: 4
Looks: 5
Durability: 4
Function: 5
Comfort: 3
Average: 4.2/5

In conclusion, the Megir M3206 is a very attractive watch with a pretty decent automatic movement. The watch wears well, and looks much more expensive that it costs. This is the fourth Megir I have reviewed, and none of them have stopped working, nor lost any functionality. Some Megir reviews out there have questioned the long-term build quality, as have I. So far, so good on the 3 I have. I will update this review if that changes. Overall, considering the movement and looks, this is a pretty nice deal.

Thanks,
krono :slight_smile:

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Thanks krono for another budget light review.
l do wonder if th Hollywood actor Steven wears this watch. :wink:

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Thanks Krono for the excellent review, a Panerai hommage with an open heart is certainly audacious.

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I like the look at this one, but at $70, it’s moved out of the budget-category as far as I’m concerned… :money_mouth_face:

(My most expensive watch was $40; it’s been my everyday watch for about 12 years now…)

So: I like the date indicators on this watch, much more useful than a chrono.

Again! Why won’t these manufacturers go Crazy with the GITD! My favorite is the black face/dial combination. This one would look good with GITD numbers.

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OP Edit: The above two, open-caseback movement photos added to review.

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nice looking watch. thanks for the review krono

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I’m guessing that your everyday is a quartz? Automatics are a different animal. MUCH more labor intensive to produce…especially to produce right! And double-especially if they are ‘open’…because you have to finish the internals to make the watch look good.

I know $70 might be a bit high, but comparatively speaking, this is a very budget-minded automatic, considering that it also has quality, Sea-Gull made movement.

No kidding…I wish they would also light watches up! I suspect that it adds labor/cost. But it just doesn’t seem to me that it would be that much.

Anyhow, thanks for the comments, keltex :slight_smile:

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I’m glad that someone is reviewing these watches .

It’s about time .

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My Everyday watch is a Casio quartz solar digital/analog watch. It’s not great, but it’s a perfect size, and I really like the style. It just has a nasty habit of losing power randomly every few weeks, so I have to manually reset the time, then re-synch the hands back to the correct location after they reset to reflect the time being changed.

A couple of years ago, I bought this lk Colouring mechanical watch from DX when it was a few bucks cheaper:

http://www.dx.com/p/stylish-see-thru-stainless-steel-semi-automatic-mechanical-wristwatch-16969

It worked okay for a while, but tends to randomly lose time. Sometimes it keeps time okay and sometimes it doesn’t… The description indicated that it was an automatic, but it’s not; it’s actually a standard wind-up. I was still amazed at the gears/springs construction that could be purchased for a few dollars…

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Thanks for another nice BW review, I like the mechanical movement but not the styling. The watch in the bag for the next review looks promising!

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Not a watch fan here so I am not sure how is this exactly related to flashlights? anyway, here’s the same watch for $23.29 at Banggood

P.S. hiding aff links with link shorteners like bit.ly, did not expected that from you krono :confounded:

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That’s a different watch, different movement , not open etc…

Nice review, I’d been considering getting a Jaragar automatic for a while as they are in my price range for an occasional wear watch. I know watch collecting can be one of the most expensive hobbies going.

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Ah yes, you are right, it doesn’t have transparent back, but you can’t see that when you are wearing the watch so, you might just save yourself 40ish bucks…

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Good review of the watch. This will be my first watch for myself.

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What’s about the different dial and movement?
Although you can’t see the movement with a solid case back anyway. :wink:

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Sure but one (the one you link to) has a quartz mvt while and the other has a mechanical mvt, the latter is much more expensive if it’s decent wich seems to be the case here.

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Hello Sirius :slight_smile:

As others have pointed out, the Megir 3206 I reviewed has an automatic movement with Day/Date/Month function. The Megir you posted above has a quartz movement, with Chronogragh functionality (Chronograph = stopwatch). Yes, they both have the same basic ‘cushion’ shape, but are quite different.

Those differences, to watch enthusiasts and manufacturers, is huge. Quartz movements are indeed good, but have become very cheap to produce. They are also very accurate, but not much revered.

On the other hand, automatics are typically powered by a rotor that spins and winds the watch as you move your arm. An automatic is MUCH harder to produce. It is engineering and mechanics on a small scale, so the technology to produce the higher quality versions is mostly old-school and done by hand by highly trained craftsmen. That is what is so revered by watch enthusiasts…the effort it takes and the beauty of producing such a complicated machine that attaches to your wrist. Automatics are interesting to watch, hence the open heart and glass case-back. The intricate interaction of gears and other complications is quite mesmerizing…IHMO.

To truly appreciate the craftsmanship of some of the master automatic manufacturers (Swiss, German, Italian etc.), search youtube for ‘tourbillon’ movement and watch some of the videos. The tourbillon is one of the most complicated type of automatic movements to build. Some of them take years to manufacture. Check it out!

Cheers,
krono

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Thanks for the explanation krono. You had me on utube for 15 minutes. I refuse to go back there, though I want to. Personally I like the quad set up. :beer: