WuXi & Hongmei

It has been mentioned that Wuxi had six watch factories. From one of them is this Wuxi brand watch.

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As usual I like the dial misprint.



The Shanghai crown is most likely a replacement.



A couple of months ago I said movements in Wuxi-made watches confuse me, partly because of the movement in my Hongdeng, and also because of this one.



The movement is clearly marked with Wuxi’s factory code, ZWX, but under the balance is RJ above ZHQ. ZHQ is the factory code of Hongqi Watch Factory in Xian.

Another Wuxi-made watch is this Hongmei.



The cracks in the crystal didn’t appear in the seller’s photo. It was probably damaged in shipping. The caseback, on the other hand, is exactly as pictured: scratched and worn.



It may be difficult to see, but qUAN GANG has a small/lower case q, Fang Zhen is spelled FANG ZHGN, and the factory name is Wuxi Clock & Watch Factory. The crown is unsigned.

I’m not sure what the origin of the SZH movement is, but it is seen most often in Hongmei brand watches.



Under the balance: BB SS7 over 中国 上海 (China Shanghai). This indicates that it is part of an early Shanghai Watch Factory tongji, but the SS7 is a 19 jewel movement. So, out of my three Wuxi-made watches, all three have movements with markings from more than one factory.

WUS moderator Soviet said this in regard to Hongdeng watches:

Quote
soviet
I believe that WUXI County Watch Factory sourced movement parts (not complete movements)from other factories, My Hongdeng movement is signed SZ1CQ that should be a Chong Qing made movement, but under the balance is NC 78 that should be a part of a Nan Chang made movement. It is a similar case for your Hongdeng movement. I have a Taihu brand watch made by the same factory with a Beijing made ZB1 movement but without a date code under the balance.

But, Hongdeng watches were manufactured by Wuxi County Watch Factory. It is possible that the same applies to the products of Wuxi’s other factories, or maybe I just made unfortunate choices with this pair.