Originally set to keep his head down and labor through the military occupation-the Ip Man continues to be pushed by the Japanese toward retaliation. Ip’s pained gesture comes at a turning point in the film. Being an honorable family man, Ip eventually trades his family pocket watch to get a bag of rice to feed his immediate family. When Japanese military men take over Foshan they seize Ip Man’s estate, but not his family pocket watch. In the film he has a beautiful estate and an old (presumably Swiss) pocket watch.

His family enjoyed many luxuries due to a relative wealth-and his abilities as a teacher to train fine martial artists. Where the Ip Man is living-his community of Kung Fu martial artists-soon becomes inundated with a military presence.

By the time Germany invaded Poland (1939), Japan had made its way to Hong Kong, just southeast of Foshan. This war would reach a stop when the Second Sino-Japanese war broke out in 1937-Japan moving south from the Manchurian Desert to claim more of China. In the late 1920s, civil war in China between the Chinese Communist Party and then key power the Kuomintang (which overthrew the Qing Dynasty) began. Some historians believe that some of the first wristwatches in history were worn during this conflict (jury-rigged)-giving Swiss-imported timepieces their place in the greater narrative of Ip Man. Now it may seem like we’re getting a little off topic but by this point in history both the Chinese and Japanese were importing timepieces from Europe. Mostly seizing what’s now known as Korea, Japan eventually took over a lot of northern Chinese land. The Japanese had invaded once before in the 1890s during the first Sino-Japanese War. With the Japanese invasion of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War (around the beginning of WWII) eventually reaching Foshan (Ip Man’s home), Ip Man runs into the biopic’s key conflict-which has a direct effect on his personal timepiece.īefore War reaches Foshan there’s some history leading up to Ip’s square-off with Japanese martial artists. Thus, Ip Man incorporates the fashion of the time into its depiction of the man who trained Bruce Lee. Even though China’s own (official) watchmaking industry wouldn’t kick off ‘til the middle of the 20th century, having a European timepiece was not entirely uncommon in many Chinese communities. By that point in history some Chinese people had carried European watches in their families for generations. Ip Man itselftakes place in the years leading up to, and during, WWII. This makes some sense considering timepiece trading with Switzerland began in China in the early 19th century. 20th, 2019 some of the Times Ticking team has been going back through the roster-and we noticed some silver screen watches in the series’ premiere flick. However, with the release of Ip Man 4: The Finale set for Dec. And all along, innovation and investment on the factory floor means genuine Swiss watches are more affordable and transparent than ever.Okay, we’re a little late to the party on the release of Ip Man (by over a decade). Trends seem outdated, too: instead, we are consistently revelling in the joys of blue dials, NATO straps, military conscripts, sporty chronographs, GMTs, vintage revivals, ’60s divers, you name it. Meanwhile, underscoring their reasoning that week-long trade shows in far-flung aircraft hangars are old-fashioned, watchmaking creativity has been at fever-pitch all year round, all over the world, with product at market from the get-go. Few could have predicted that by autumn, Basel’s biggest exhibitor, the mighty Swatch Group (Omega, Tissot, Longines et al.) would have jumped ship altogether, along with Maurice Lacroix, Raymond Weil, Corum, and goodness-knows-how-many-more TBA. Kicking off as always with its brace of trade-show spectaculars – SIHH in Geneva, then Baselworld in, er, Basel – things had never felt younger, breezier, and more accessible. It’s been a funny old year in the world of watches.

The timepiece gentleman controversy