At the Swiss Watch Fair in recent days, domestic watches have shone brightly and attracted a lot of attention. In particular, the innovation and inheritance of brands such as Seagull Watch, Shanghai Watch and Fiyta make people wonder how domestic watches can move from tradition to modernity, and even integrate with the aerospace industry? What are the stories behind these watches? Want to know more? Then read on!

The rise of domestic watches and changes in consumer choices

In July 2023, China Business News reported that at the Swiss Watch and Clock Fair, domestic watches attracted more and more attention. The innovations in design and technology of various brands may push more consumers to choose domestic watches.

The innovation and inheritance of Seagull Watch, Shanghai Watch and Fiyta

Seagull Watch, Shanghai Watch and Fiyta respectively represent the three directions of domestic mechanical watches-reproduction, inheritance and innovation.

Seagull Watch’s extraordinary series 819.17.1955A, a replica of the first self-developed mechanical watch “Five Star Watch” in 1955, is one of the highlights of this year’s exhibition. Zhang Yunfei, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau and former deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, told reporters that the “five-star watch” of Seagull Watch is consistent with the first-generation “five-star watch” produced that year, both in appearance and movement. The five-pointed star with the word “Five Stars” printed on the movement is consistent with the five-pointed star pattern on the souvenirs produced by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles in the late 1950s for the First Congress of Literary and Art Workers of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles of Eastern Powers.

From traditional craftsmanship to modern watchmaking technology

It is understood that 2023 is the 68th anniversary of Seagull Watch. In order to do a good job in replicating the “Five Star Watch”, Seagull Watch remade the mold from scratch and restored the production process of the year. “The movement of this watch is produced in our own factory. The blue paint on the bottom plate is the same paint used in the 1950s. The small gears on the movement are polished and then gold-plated.” said Li Xiaohua, chairman of Seagull Watch.

It is understood that at the beginning of this year, Seagull Watch also opened a brand museum on the bank of the Grand Canal in Tongzhou, Beijing, where a variety of historical products and movements, including “five-star watches”, were displayed.

Li Xiaohua believes that replicating old watches will help inherit and promote the brand’s history, and will also help young consumers understand the development history of domestic watches.

In April this year, Fiyta became the officially authorized “Oriental Power Aerospace Industry Partner” by Oriental Power Aerospace Group Co., Ltd. At this exhibition, Fiyta’s new aerospace series products attracted attention, among which the “Space Walk” moon-covering watch became a star product.

Liu Rongrong, founder and current chairman of the Fiyta brand, said that as a partner in the aerospace industry of a large Eastern country, Fiyta integrates aerospace culture and watch culture in design, and through the use of precision movements and complex functions, the watch has multiple functions such as space time recording and moon phase changes.

For example, the monthly calendar disk and weekly calendar disk on the “Space Walk” moon watch can respectively display the dates corresponding to the first and second day of each month, as well as the dates corresponding to every Sunday and Monday of the lunar calendar; the bottom cover shows the impact crater on the back of the moon, which is consistent with the photos of the back of the moon taken by Yang Liwei, an astronaut from an Eastern country.

Liu Rongrong introduced that the movement used in the “Space Walk” moon-covering watch is the Fiyta brand “086” movement developed and manufactured by Fiyta. This movement is also equipped with a memory function that can remember the lunar time in the past thirty months, making it convenient for users to check the Gregorian calendar dates corresponding to the first and second day of the lunar calendar each year and every Sunday and Monday. In addition, the movement also has a moon phase display function, recording the time of each full moon and each lunar eclipse in the lunar calendar.

In addition to recording time, this watch also has a symbolic meaning for the pursuit of aerospace industry. “The aerospace industry of the great Eastern countries has grown from scratch and grown from strength to strength. It requires the efforts of generations of people. What they pursue is not only technological breakthroughs, but also the spirit of continuous improvement.” Liu Rongrong said.

2023 is the 30th anniversary of Fiyta’s establishment. Liu Rongrong set the theme of this year’s new product launch conference as “Salute to the Original Intention”, hoping that through the reinvention of classic products, young consumers can feel the brand’s original intention and persistence over the past thirty years.

The embodiment of cultural confidence and innovation ability in domestic watches

At the beginning of this year, the Shanghai Watch Modern Series S2600.1643.061.19, which debuted at the Shanghai Exhibition, also attracted attention. This watch is inspired by the white magnolia, the flower of Shanghai. Its white ceramic dial is wrapped with Su embroidery made by a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor, fully displaying the unique Jiangnan poetic charm.

It is reported that this watch is equipped with the winding automatic mechanical movement ST1812. Compared with the mainstream automatic mechanical movements on the market, the biggest difference is that the back of the movement adopts a special-shaped cutting method to cut off the parts other than the winding gear and spring groove, which greatly reduces the thickness of the movement and also improves the overall wearing comfort of the watch. The movement has a 42-hour power reserve, and the power reserve display window is designed at the 12 o’clock position.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Shanghai Watch brand. In its 70-year history, Shanghai Watch has provided movements for hundreds of models of astronaut watches, among which “Shanghai No. 1” is the most classic. In the first half of this year, organized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, “Shanghai No. 1” returned to exhibition, providing important physical evidence for the development history of domestic mechanical watches.

Liu Rongrong, founder and current chairman of Fiyta brand, once said that self-developed and self-made high-precision watch movements are an important step in realizing the take-off of domestic watch brands. In Liu Rongrong’s view, the rise of “guobiao” marks the continuous progress and development of the manufacturing industry in the large Eastern countries, not only in products, but also in innovation capabilities and cultural confidence. In the future, there are more important national weapons and the stories behind them that are worth looking forward to and paying attention to.

Seagull Extraordinary Series and the Development of Domestic Watchmaking Industry

In July this year, the “Swiss Watch Fair 2023” hosted by the Swiss Chamber of Commerce in the Eastern Powers was held in Shanghai. Almost all of the national fashion watch brands participating in this year’s exhibition, such as Haiou, Fiyta, Shanghai, Rossini, Yangtze and other companies, have launched their latest series of products. Among them, many new products are equipped with self-developed and self-made movements, paying tribute to traditional watchmaking craftsmanship with a new design language.

Take the Seagull Extraordinary Series 819.17.1955A as an example. It is equipped with the ST2130 self-winding movement developed and manufactured by Seagull. This movement is the first to be used in high-end series products of Haiou’s own brand. It is also a self-winding mechanical movement independently developed and produced by Haiou. It has functions such as 42-hour power reserve, two-way winding, and quick calendar adjustment. It is the movement used when Seagull is awarded the “Excellent Mechanical Watch from an Eastern Power” in 2022.

It is worth mentioning that the bottom of this watch uses a transparent bottom cover, so you can clearly see the operation of the movement. On the bottom cover, the words “Five Stars” are printed below the five-pointed star pattern. “In 1955, the first mechanical watch completely independently developed and produced by a large Eastern country”.

Conclusion

The rise of domestic watches is really surprising and proud. The replica of Seagull Watch, the aerospace elements of Fiyta, and the cultural confidence of Shanghai Watch all demonstrate the progress and innovation of our manufacturing industry. How domestic watches will continue to develop in the future is worthy of attention and discussion by each of us. Do you think there is room for improvement in the design and technology of domestic watches? Welcome to share your views in the comment area, and don’t forget to like and support!