[AlbertaTime]

wingwang97, I have no reason to think your watch isn't a legitimate licenced Shanghai build, although I'm not sure if it's vintage. I think it's 100% genuine Shanghai.

My experience with Shanghai licencees suggests that people (past workers/management/engineers and others) with a close relationship with the the old Factory and the present powers-that-be at Shanghai are presently building licenced "NOS" style watches utilizing factory and other but equally close contracted parts and tooling, including new and/or redialing. Similar to what you described, but I don't think as random or distant from the Shanghai source as you're thinking.

Your watch has a crisp, almost too pristine look that reminds me of some recent Hongqi, Jiefang, Diamond and other brand pieces that strike me as too new even for NOstock found in flats like journeyforce refers to. I've seen and held all sorts of those vintage flats, myself, and I think these pieces are very much newer builds, built to take advantage of the significant growth in domestic Chinese appreciation of the classic State/domestic brands in China. My intuition is they are factory backed in some way even if not directly factory NOS.

The thing is, it also could be vintage, too.

I've seen at least one 7120 (306) that didn't look near as new and gorgeous as yours, with a full underline of Shanghai, like yours and Saskwatch's. And I've seen other, almost certainly older and used, 7120s with a partial underline, going like Shanghai.

Either way, $30 is wonderful. Your watch is classic, and it looks perfect.

 

[AlbertaTime]

If these watches were factory-backed, I wonder what the condition of the movement is. If this watch has been held in storage for years, the oils are probably all dried up by now.

Any vintage watch is better off with a cleaning and service but, that noted, I wear my vintage watches as they come. So far, with very, very few problems

 

[AlbertaTime]

...but those T-Rex hands would drive me nuts.

Please explain. I don't see it.

 

[AlbertaTime]

The classic '70s Chinese stumpy hands do not bother me although I admit that I prefer the longer hands favoured by Sea-Gull back in the day. But in the context of a legacy model or reissue, the stumpy hands make more sense to capture the style of a particular era. Stumpy hands matched to chunky batons were also a feature of watches of many origins in the 1970s.

I'm so used to the short hands on models of this era (whether vintage or modern assemblies, and across many brands) that I'd be put off if they weren't short.