Today we’re going to review Starking watches. This is one of those Chinese luxury styled brands. Contrary to popular belief, not all Chinese watch brands are low quality. They do, however, tend to be fairly inexpensive in comparison to non Chinese brands.
This is the appeal of Chinese brands. They produce a lot of inexpensive watches that look good. As for actual function, it’s hit or miss. Sometimes these brands don’t hold up very well. Other times, you can get a good quality watch at a good price. Obviously, this is what we are looking for in a Chinese brands.
Enter Starking watches. At first glance, this brand appears to be of an exceptional quality. But is it really a good quality brand? We are going to find that out today by taking a look at the overall build quality, designs, and pricing of this brand.
If all of these point line up, then we have a good Chinese brand! If not, then you’ll need to look elsewhere for good inexpensive luxury styled watches. Anyway, let’s get into this review! The first thing we will cover, is what we do actually know about this brand.
About Starking Watches
As previously stated, Starking is a Chinese brand. The company has been around since 1990, although it was originally known as Shenzhen Jieyong Clocks and Watches Co. LTD. It officially became the Starking Watch Group in 1992. It has since sold watches in over 30 countries.
They do make their own in house movements, but have also started using Japanese movements in their watches. Their watches have gained attention, and garnered significantly favorable reviews for the quality they provide at such low prices.
Starking Watches Review
We’ll start things off by taking a look at the general build of these watches.
Build Quality
Starking manufactures both quartz and automatic mechanical watches with analog displays. A lot of their automatic watches use Seiko or Miyota Japanese movements. Some of them, however, use Starking’s own in house movements.
From what I understand, the Miyota and Seiko movements are better, so look for the ones with those. The cases themselves have are made of your typical stainless steel, and the watch bands are going to be made of either stainless steel, or leather.
When it comes to dial windows, Starking uses either mineral, or also commonly sapphire dial windows. The amount of water resistance you’ll get out of these watches ranges from 30 meters to 50 meters, which is not much, so they should be kept out of water.
Overall, the build quality here is pretty good for inexpensive watches. A lot of them have sapphire dial windows, which you typically find on luxury watches. And some of the automatic movements used are name brand Japanese movements.
Design And Style
Starking watches are clearly dress style watches. They possess a look of both elegance and sophistication. Mostly, their watches are not too extravagant. They have both minimalist styles, and others with more intricate designs, but nothing really too flashy. I have noticed though that their women’s watches in particular, have some of the more striking design patterns to them.
So for the most part, the luxury look is there. Once again, you probably won’t see too much here that you haven’t seen before, but these are pretty well designed watches that have an aesthetic appeal.
Pricing
As far as pricing goes, you are looking at low to mid tier pricing. The quartz watches being much less expensive, and the mechanical watches being a bit more expensive.
Either way it goes though, the prices of Starking watches stay pretty much in the affordable range. You won’t have to worry about spending an arm and a leg on these watches. They are not very expensive.
Check Starking Watches Prices On Amazon
So if you’ve taken an interest in Starking watches and are looking to purchase one, we have a couple of recommendations for you!
Starking Watches Review: Recommendations
STARKING Automatic Mens Wrist Watch AM0184 Leather Watch
This is one of Starking’s more casual luxury watches. It has a simple appearance while still attaining the luxury aesthetic. There is also an exhibition case back, which is always stylish on a watch. This one has a white dial with a brown leather band, although you can also purchase them in other color options.
It has an analog display and features automatic movement. The case is stainless steel, and the dial window is sapphire. There is also a date window located at the 3 o’clock position. This watch is only water resistant 30 meters, so it can get wet, but you shouldn’t swim or shower with it.
Quick Look
- automatic movement
- sapphire dial window
- exhibition case back
- leather strap
- date window
- 30 meter water resistance
STARKING Ceramic Self Winding Woman’s Watch Automatic Sapphire Mother of Pearl Lady Dress Watch AL0231
Here is an absolutely gorgeous women’s watch from Starking! It has a red dial with various designs on the face and bezel. The band and case are rose gold colored. There are other dial color options available. It also has an exhibition style case back.
This is an automatic watch with an analog display. The case is made of stainless steel, while the band is ceramic. For the dial window, you have sapphire crystal. It is water resistant 50 meters.
Quick Look
- automatic movement
- elegant design
- sapphire dial window
- ceramic band
- water resistant 50 meters
Final Thoughts
Well what I can say based on all of this, is that Starking watches offer an excellent quality for their price. This is especially true for the ones that have sapphire windows, and use Miyota movements.
Now while these are not going to replace high quality luxury watches, what they do offer is a luxury aesthetic at a reasonable price. I would definitely recommend them.
That’s it for our Starking watches review! If you liked this and want to see more of our watch and watch brand reviews, then feel free to check those out here
