They Are Talking About Us: The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal has also featured Shanghai Watches, chronicling the brand's grander aspiration, moving from humble beginnings to an attempt to achieve the status of earty luxury watch brand. Click Here to read more.

Founded in 1955, Shanghai Watches gained recognition for producing reliable wind-up watches, which became a staple for the Chinese masses and an iconic accessory for prominent figures such as Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, and Deng Xiaoping. Today, the brand is redefining its legacy, aiming to join the ranks of renowned European luxury watchmakers like Piaget, Rolex, and Audemars Piguet.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Shanghai Watches unveiled its most exclusive timepiece at a recent event in Hong Kong—a diamond-encrusted watch featuring 45 carats of diamonds, custom-made for a distinguished mainland Chinese collector. This stature work, worth about 100,000 dollars, is a good example of the maker's commitment to quality and its luxury concept.

Shanghai Watches has also launched two top-end models designed by internationally acclaimed Swiss watchmaker Eric Giroud. These timepieces, featuring sophisticated tourbillon mechanisms and crafted entirely in China, symbolize the brand’s unique approach to blending traditional Chinese craftsmanship with modern luxury standards. Restricted to only 200 units, the rose gold and white gold watch are priced at about $17,800, confirming Shanghai Watches’s presence in the high-grade segment.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Asian luxury watch market is, at once, a vibrant and competitive landscape. Hong Kong, a major hub for luxury shopping, attracts affluent buyers from mainland China, drawn by its tax-free policies and vast selection of high-end timepieces. In this context, Shanghai Watches’ efforts to position itself as a luxury brand resonate strongly with the growing demand for unique, high-quality timepieces that reflect cultural heritage.

Industry professionals such as Carson Chan, managing director of Bonhams Hong Kong, all recognise the difficulties Shanghai Watches has in contending with some long established European brands. Yet, at the same time, they also point that the watchmaking craft is becoming increasingly high quality and internationally competitive in China. The Journal underscores by way of example the possibility that Shanghai Watches could leverage domestic patriotism in combination with high definition to create a unique niche for the brand in the luxury sector.