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)