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Corgeut are a Chinese brand which really runs the line between making legitimate homage watches and infringing upon design copyright laws. When looking at the variety of different models made by the brand, it is VERY obvious to see where their inspiration comes from. Many of the watches deliberately change very little from the original design and try to replicate the aesthetics as close as possible.
There is a lot of mystery and confusion surrounding the Corgeut brand, with many online speculating that Corgeut are the same company as Parnis (the Chinese watchmaker that is known for replicating the Rolex Submariner). Since both companies are fairly well hidden in China, nobody knows for sure whether this is the truth or not.
All that is known for sure is that Corgeut was registered as a trademark in 2017. This means ironically, that you are not allowed to copy their brand or designs by law. Although I think we are very unlikely to see any court cases based on stolen designs, this is a step fowards in establishing a brand presence within the western world. Even though the brand was trademarked only a few years ago, it had been making watches for around 20 years. This is fairly common in China. Since there are various companies blatantly copying designs with no real identity of their own, it doesn’t really make sense to incorporate and trademark a brand name.
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Are Corgeut Watches Good Quality?
Firstly, we should talk about the dials of Corgeut watches. You should certainly take the wording on every dial with a pinch of salt. Corgeut watches will make claims such as 200m water resistance and even chronometer. These claims are pretty absurd given the cost of the watch and should likely be ignored. I certainly wouldn’t recommend wearing these watches deep underwater, or relying on them for accuracy.
Coregeut watches should be compared to other watches of a similar price in terms of quality. They mostly use miyota automatic movements, which are used in entry level Citizen watches. So they are certainly not fantastic quality, but reliable enough.
In terms of the case, bezel and bracelet of the watch. Once again, you cannot compare Corgeut to original watches such as the Tudor black bay, there simply is no competition. With that being said, surprisingly Corgeut do use sapphire crystal, which is more than you would expect from a cheap Chinese brand. In summary, they’re not bad and are fairly similar to low priced automatic models from Seiko and Orient.
Where Are Corgeut Watches Made?
Corgeut watches are made in China. Depending on which model you buy, you may get a Chinese automatic movement, or a Japanese Miyota. There is not too much difference between these movements are both are fairly reliable. However, it should be noted that Miyota is quite a bit more reliable and is unlikely to just stop working after a couple of years.
Are Corgeut Watches Good Value For Money?
Yes. It is very hard to find a Corgeut that costs over $150. Given that these are quite clearly homage replica watches of models such as the Tudor Black Bay or the Omega Seamaster, they are very good value.
In general, you can get automatic watches for this price from China, but they are often very poorly designed. Corgeut allows you to buy a low spec, but very well designed watch for a bargain price.
Of course, it should go without saying that the specifications of these watches is no where near the original. You really cannot compare a Tudor black bay to a Corgeut look alike. However, overall, Corgeut could probably double their prices to $250 and this would still be fair. Given that they are 50% lower than this, they offer superb value for money.
People criticising the brand is fair enough, but many of these people want a luxury watch for under $150. Something that literally cannot happen due to costs associated with production. The only place you will find this said watch is when you are dreaming.
The 7 Best Corgeut Watches Review
Corgeut – Tudor Black Bay Homage
The black bay homage is the most well known watch made by Corgeut. Available in a variety of different colors (such as bronze), you can see why this watch is so popular. The watch is obviously made to look exactly like the Tudor version and everything from the shape of the hands down to the sizing and texture of the crown has been copied. The only real noticeable difference is a date window has been added at 3 o’clock on the Corgeut model, where as the Tudor black bay does not have this.
Corgeut use a miyota movement, so you won’t have to worry about the watch breaking 1 month after you buy it. The only concern with this watch would be using it for swimming – something which it claims it can do. It could well do, but is probably not worth risking as it’s made by a cheap Chinese brand.
Corgeut – Patek Philllipe Perpetual Calender Homage
Patek Philippe are one of the most prestigous watch manufacturers in the world. The complications perpetual calender is a model they are very well known for which features day, date, month and a moonphase complication. Not only this but it’s made from either rose, or yellow gold depending on the model. It’s obvious then why the pricetag of the Patek version is over $150k.
The Corgeut version is still relatively complicated given the price. The key difference is that obviously this movement is far less accurate and expensive. This is displayed in the bottom subdial of the watch where a day/night indicator has replaced the moonphase. A real mechanical moonphase complication is extremely expensive to make in an automatic watch.
Corgeut – Seamaster Homage
Another classic Corgeut replica is their attempt at the Omega Seamaster. You won’t find a ceramic bezel on this model, but in fairness they do make it with a strong sapphire crystal as well as using decent(ish) lume on the hour markers and hands.
The movement used in the Corgeut is a Miyota, which is reliable but certainly not chronometer standard as the dial claims it to be. Another thing to add is that the Seamaster has 300m water resistance and is a legitimate luxury level dive watch. Corgeuts seamaster is certainly not luxury and would probably explode if you took it to these depths! Nonetheless, it is good value for money.
Corgeut – Omega Aqua Terra Homage
Corgeuts attempt at an Omega aqua terra is fairly accurate. The case size is 41mm, which matches the larger version of the watch perfectly. One major difference between the two is the small date window at 3 – rather than 6 o clock. Not only this, but the date window is pretty small and doesn’t provide particularly good visibility on a white dial.
Once again, Corgeut have chosen safety and used a Miyota movement, which is a lot more marketable than a cheap Chinese clone. Obviously the Omega aqua terra is a legitimate watch built to Swiss chronometer standard, the Corgeut dial also claims this, but of course is not.
Corgeut – Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Homage
The first dive watch ever made was the Blancpain fifty fathoms. Of course, the specifications of the watch have changed quite a lot since then, but the design is still a classic.
Firstly, Blancpain fifty fathoms watches have a water resistance of at least 300m (model dependant). The Corgeut homage watch does not even display how resistant it is on the dial, but claims 50m. There is already a massive difference between these numbers, even if the 50m does hold up. On the bright side, this model uses a NH35A, which is a real workhorse movement made by Seiko. This makes the watch pretty good value for money as you know it won’t let you down.
Corgeut – Tudor GMT Homage
Just like the standard black bay, the GMT version is copied to a very high degree if you’re glancing at the dial. There really isn’t too much that has changed visually, although the black bay GMT traditionally comes on a solid stainless steel link bracelet.
The Corgeut GMT is one of the more expensive models, but in fairness it is a mechanical GMT watch so is a little more complicated than your average watch. On the dial of the watch it claims “chronometer” which is likely just because they saw this on the dial of the Tudor GMT. If you’re expecting the Corgeut to be this accurate, I don’t know what to tell you.
Corgeut – Breguet Classic Homage
Perhaps Breguet is the company where Corgeut got its name from. However, there is nothing really French nor luxury about the chinese brand. The two watches do have some similarities in terms of complications, for a start, it is very rare to find a power reserve in a watch that costs under $100, but Corgeut manage this somehow.
Obviously the difference in price is due to Breguet using Swiss-made movements and being distributed out of France, where as Corgeut use the Chinese Seagull movement and are distributed from (you guessed it) China.
