My heart will always have a special place for “Made in China” wristwatches. In fact, wristwatches were the first product I ever imported from China. They are cost efficient to ship and highly customizable. Wristwatches are also a fairly “small business friendly” product since they don’t require a hefty budget to get started with. Let’s begin with the technical aspect of producing and branding watches (You Put your desired name) from a Chinese wholesaler or manufacturer.

As with every product, there’s no universal standard for “good quality”. A product is more than its name, it’s a system of components and materials. Another thing you should keep in mind is that, when producing and branding goods from China, Chinese suppliers expect YOU to provide them with detailed product specifications of your wristwatch. Therefore, this is the first thing we’ll look into.

Case material
The watch-case is the biggest “quality indicator” of the watch and when it comes to the material you basically have two options: Zinc alloy and Stainless steel. The latter often costs 4 – 5 times more than a Zinc alloy case. Not only because stainless steel is more expensive than Zinc alloy, but also because it takes a long time to polish a Stainless steel case. The material of choice is completely dependent on which market segment you intend to reach. A stainless steel case will however be expected for any watch that costs more than USD 70.

Case thickness
Thin cases have been fashionable for a few years. Most Chinese suppliers can manufacture cases as thin as 6 mm. However, a case cannot be thinner than the movement that’s inside. Therefore you’ll be limited to movements from Japan and Switzerland since Chinese movements usually require a case thicker than 8 mm. However, the price difference is very small (USD 1 – 1.5) and most Chinese manufacturers can offer Japanese and Swiss movements.

Movement (clockwork)
The movement is the internal mechanism that makes an otherwise useless piece of metal into a fully functioning wristwatch. Most Chinese suppliers can offer various movements of different origin and quality. The price difference between a Japanese or Swiss movement is often small compared to a Chinese made movement. Personally I recommend you invest an extra dollar per watch and get a better movement.

The term “movement” originally referred exclusively to mechanical clockworks. However, the same term is usually (at least in China) applied to electronic quartz timepieces.

Dial
The dial, or watch face as it’s often called, is highly customizable. Most suppliers can offer customized colors and dials in various materials, often metallic. The dial is also where you should put your logo. Pretty much every Chinese watch manufacturer worthy of the name can offer logo print on the dial for a very low cost. Usually it doesn’t cost more than 30 – 40 cents extra per piece to have your desire name printed on it.
Watch strap

Unless you plan to start selling pocket watches, you need a wristband. You have several options when it comes to the materials: zinc alloy, stainless steel, PU leather, authentic leather and nylon fabric.

Minimum order quantities
Most Chinese watch manufacturers accept orders as small as 300 pieces. This translates into an investment of USD 800 to USD 5600 (Depending on the quality and design of the wrist watch you are producing). However, this certainly is a product where small businesses can get a foothold without taking out a million Naira bank loan.

A few personal suggestions for wristwatch importers
My general advice for importers is to aim for the middle ground. You won’t be able to compete with Hublot on quality and forget about competing with Michael Kors on pricing. You need to be somewhere in between if you wish to launch a competitive product. Below I list how I would import watches from China:

1. Create a brand instead of using the suppliers’ brand. All you need to do is to design a logo in Photoshop and select a few Pantone colors (You can contract a good graphic designer for this if you don't know how). A brand doesn’t have to be famous to be successful. With the right marketing strategy and partnership, you can make tons of money from the business.

2. Invest a few extra dollars in decent components and materials. A stainless steel watch with a Japanese movement and good design is certainly going to offer a much better return on investment. Investing 50% more on the unit price can increase your profit margin to 400 – 500%.

Source: www.importationwealth.com

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Great.

Wonderful and insiteful