The story
This watch was donated to the Art for Heart charity sale in 2024 to raise money for heart operations for disadvantaged children.
The Shanghai Watch Company A-611 were produced between 1962 and 1972 and featured neat clean designs that echoed classic mid-20th century styles.
The dial on this mid-20th century shanghai watch is the 'service dial' which is a replacement dial used while the watch is being serviced. Though there are few records to verify this, apparently many owners preferred the service dials to the originals so simply kept them. The service dial has a beautiful matte metal surface, with raised squares giving it a very modern, digital aesthetic.
The emblem of modern Shanghai is the iconic lujiazui skyline, and by painting only the squares in a very limited color pallete, it accentuates these raised squares and creates a subtle representation of the city's most famous view.