In the 1970s, the only valuable things at home were bicycles, sewing machines, and watches. Whether you were a farmer or a worker, it was pretty awesome to own a watch! People in front of others want to roll up their sleeves and watch it hundreds of times every day.
The Yanshan brand watch that is still with me today
The watch produced by the Beijing Watch Factory was one of the three famous watches in China at that time (Shanghai's "Shanghai Brand" and Tianjin's "Seagull" Card").
In 1984, when I first started working, I was assigned to work at Changping Non-staple Food Company, with a monthly salary of 30 yuan. In the first two months, I lived frugally and bought a Yanshan watch produced by the Beijing Watch Factory for 45 yuan. At that time, watches were no longer a scarce item and did not require indicators. As long as you had money, you could buy it. Even so, it took one and a half months. With my salary, I bought a watch, which now seems to be considered a luxury. More than 30 years have passed, and after several moves, the Yanshan brand watch has never been willing to throw away. After cleaning the movement sludge, it still keeps accurate time.
When it comes to the history of China’s watch manufacturing industry, Beijing Watch Factory undoubtedly played the role of Big Brother in the era of planned economy. 40 years ago, more than 20 watchmaking elites across the country gathered at the North Watch Factory to develop the famous "unified movement". After the unified movement was developed, no matter where a watch factory was built across the country, as long as a set of drawings and a set of tooling equipment were obtained from the Beijing Watch Factory, production could start immediately.
A watch with a national unified movement developed by the Beijing Watch Factory
The Beijing Watch Factory was founded on June 19, 1958. In 1960, the factory was located outside the east gate of Changping County. . In the early days of the factory's establishment, there were only 21 cadres and workers, all of whom were transferred from the public-private partnership watch factory in Xuanwu District. In order to present a gift to the 9th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, they had no factory building, no equipment, and no funds. Based on their experience in developing and producing alarm clocks, factory director Xie Jinxiu led his employees, and with the help of teachers and students from the Second Department of Beijing Institute of Technology , based on the mapping of Swiss "Grand Rome" watches, the first batch of watches were produced.
In September 1958, Beijing Watch Factory produced the first batch of 17 first-class watches, named "Beijing" brand.
In 1973, the most influential mechanical watch unified movement in the Chinese watch industry was successfully trial-produced in Beibiao.
In 1979, the "Beijing" brand watch trademark was approved for registration in the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of China.
In 1996, Beibiao successfully developed the first tourbillon watch in mainland China.
In 2004, "Beijing" brand watches launched a red gold limited edition tourbillon gold watch. This was the first time a Chinese brand produced and sold a high-end watch.
In 2006, the "Beijing" brand tourbillon platinum and diamond watch "Playing with Dragons and Phoenixes" participated in the Basel International Watch and Clock Fair in Switzerland. In the same year, the watch was collected for 1 million yuan, becoming an unprecedented Chinese watch. do.
In 2007, Beijing brand watches launched a double tourbillon watch.
In 2008, the Beijing Watch Factory successfully developed a tourbillon minute repeater watch.
In 2009, Beijing Watch Factory successfully developed China’s first two-axis three-dimensional tourbillon watch.
Gate of Changping Beijing Watch Factory
Beijing Watch Factory was established in June 1958 and developed the first batch of 17 watches in September of that year, filling a gap in Beijing's watch industry. The registered trademark of this batch of watches is "Beijing Brand" and is designated as a type one watch. This batch of watches adopts a three-hand design, has 17 diamonds, and is waterproof, shockproof and antimagnetic. The thickness of the movement is 4.62mm and the diameter is 42.6mm. The case is an all-steel case. By 1961, Beijing Watch Factory produced 3,726 watches of one type. In the same year, the leaders of the watch factory sent a group of people to Shanghai for inspection and study, and brought back advanced watchmaking technology, which laid a stronger foundation for future research and development and production.
Subsequently, the Beijing Watch Factory began to develop the second type of watch.
In 1963, it completed its first product upgrade transformation and produced a second-type watch, all steel shockproof. Based on the 17-jewel movement design, a gem bearing was added to the middle plywood and changed to 18-jewel, covering The more popular 18K gold watches and women's watches at the time were introduced. From 1963 to 1969, 166,861 Type II watches were produced.
In 1967, Beijing Watch Factory began to produce Type 5 watches. In terms of movement design, the upper and middle plates of Type 2 watches were combined into one; at the same time, the swing frequency was increased from 18000H to 21600H. A total of 1.5 million Type 5 watches have been produced, easing the market demand in the watch industry.
Beijing watch factory workers assemble watches
Starting in March 1970, the Ministry of Light Industry organized workers, cadres and technicians from major watch factories, watch research institutes and related institutions across the country A three-joint design team formed to develop the "unified movement". Although the launch of this movement lost its individual beauty to a certain extent, it promoted the development of the entire domestic watch industry under the historical conditions at the time. As the leading company in the unified machine project, Beijing Watch Factory successfully trial-produced the unified movement in Beijing Watch Factory. Due to export needs, the Tiananmen logo on the dial was not suitable for export to other parts of the world, so the brand and pattern were changed to 'Double Diamond'.
Shang Bingcan, old secretary of the North Watch Factory
Shuangling watches have been in production for 11 consecutive years since 1974, with a total production of 10.65 million pieces. After 1975, Beibiao began to produce sub-brand watches, such as Great Wall, Shuangcheng, Yanshan, etc. Among them, Shuangling had the highest output and was relatively well-known at the time. Shuangling was translated as "Double Rhomb" in overseas markets. These watches They are sold in many places in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and some were exported to the UK between 1978 and 1979.
In the early 1980s, Beijing Watch Factory took the lead in developing small Kun watches, which are more difficult to process among mechanical watches, and developed the SB10 thin women's watch with a diameter of 24 mm. In 1983, the SB10 thin women's watch received the Excellent Product Certificate from the State Economic Commission.
Chairman Mao stood inside the gate of the North Watch Factory. He waved upward and looked into the distance. During the Cultural Revolution, those who waved statues were called the Tianpai, and those who held their hands behind their backs were called the Earthpai.
In the late 1970s and 1980s, "electronic watches" and "quartz watches" appeared all over the country. Such watches were of high quality, low price and beautiful style, which made the expensive "movement" watches decline. , the Beijing Watch Factory, which produces mechanical watches, gradually went into decline. Because the business philosophy was not changed in time, the Beijing Watch Factory entered a loss and was gradually eliminated by the market.
In 1996, the tourbillon watch designed by Xu Yaonan, a famous domestic watchmaker, was launched at the Beijing Watch Factory, announcing the birth of the first tourbillon watch in mainland China. Since then, Beijing Watch Factory has begun to tirelessly explore high-end gift watches, trying to find a way out.
In 2004, Beibiao Factory transformed from a state-owned enterprise to a private enterprise. During the transformation process, a red gold version of the tourbillon with an improved internal structure was launched, which won praise for Beibiao Factory. At that time, the combination of precious metal materials and highly complex movements was very rare in domestic watches, and the Beijing Watch Factory also began to explore double breakthroughs in movement technology and advanced craftsmanship. The gift model "Horse Stepping on a Flying Swallow" tourbillon watch and the "Beihai" series of watches were unveiled one by one, once again showing the exquisite skills of Beibiao.
Changping Beijing Watch Factory workshop after restructuring
In the current Beijing Watch Factory, 4 of the original 5 production workshops have been rented out, leaving only one workshop to produce high-end watches, which costs tens of thousands. Yuan Yuan, keep the brand. The watch factory's current name is Beijing Watch Factory Co., Ltd.
Beijing Watch Factory carries too much historical feelings and has become a precious memory that is difficult to erase for Changping people. Today, the watch factory still stands in Changping. The vermilion walls maintain the traditional style of the watch factory. We can still see the passion and enthusiasm of the Beibiao people in the early days of building the factory.