Chinese mechanical watch grades

Vintage Chinese mechanical watches were assigned a "grade" of either 1, 2, 3 or 4 as a general indication of quality, with grade 1 watches being the highest quality and grade 4 the lowest. Very little is known about the exact criteria used to assign grades (jewel count does not seem to have been a significant factor, as there were 17 jewel grade 1 watches and 19 jewel grade 3 watches), but grades of many brands (in 1983) are known:

• Grade 1 brands: Baoshihua, Butterfly, Chunlei, DongFeng, Guangzhou, Kongque, Mingzhu, Sea-Gull, Shancheng, Shanghai, Shizhu, Shuangling, Yanan, Zuanshi
• Grade 2 brands: Baihua, Beijixing, Beifang, Chuncheng, Honglian, Hongxing, Jinmao, Lanhua (Tianjin), Linghua, Lushan, Meigui, Meihua, Meimei, SanHuan, Shanhua, Suzhou, Taihang, Taishan, Wuhan, Xihu, Xiongmao, Zhenzhu, Zhufeng
• Grade 3 brands: Baolong, Boyang, Chunhua, Chunlan, Chunyan, Dalian, Duoling, Huaxi, Huguang, Guihua, Lingyang, Mengya, Milan, Mudan, Jinji, Kunlun, Qingyun, Sanhua, Sanyu, Shenhua (Changchun), Shuangxi, Shuangyu, Tianjin, Treasure, Xinghuo, Yangcheng, Yanshan, Yinbei, Yingchun (Tianjin), Yinhua, Yulan, Yunque, Zhaozhouqiao
• Grade 4 brands: Huanghe, Kuihua, Longfeng, Qionghua, Zhongshan

External resources

• Watchuseek.com thread: Some historical prices (source of grade assignments above)