Chinese watches make Hunan collector tick

Han Jie has a lot of time on his hands — he has built up a collection of more than 2,000 Chinese watches in just four years.

The 62-year-old collector from Hengyang, a city in central Hunan province, received his first watch as a gift from his mother on his 16th birthday.

When he found an identical watch at a market in 2013, he began to collect watches from all across China, according to a report on rednet.com, a Hunan news website.

"The old watches represent China's reliance on craftsmanship in the past," Han said. "Out of all the watches I own, those produced in Hunan are my favorite. They are like pandas — rare and precious."

To share the history of Chinese watches and the craftsmanship behind them, Han began to write articles on Rednet, earning himself the nickname "Big Cousin of Hunan", as the words "big" and "watch" sound the same in Mandarin.

Local museums have invited Han to hold exhibitions so his watches can be appreciated by both younger and older generations.