China has been moving its watch industry to the high end of the global value chain after decades of unremitting efforts.
The country made its first watch in Tianjin in March 1955 thanks to the efforts of Zhang Shuwen, a local watch repairman, and three craftsmen from two local clock factories.
A watchmaker of Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd. examines spare parts of a watch. (Photo courtesy of Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd.)
Watch factories mushroomed nationwide in the years that followed, but back then, the watches they produced were based on foreign models. In the mid-1960s, Chinese watch factories began to design and develop watch movements.
Tianjin Watch Factory, which later became Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd., independently developed China's first watch movement in August 1966. The factory started to manufacture Dongfeng watches with the movement in 1969, and the annual output of this type of watch hit 1.2 million in 1978.
After the launch of reform and opening-up in 1978, an increasing number of foreign watches flocked to the Chinese market.
In the mid-and late 1980s, Japanese quartz watches were extremely popular among Chinese customers as they were very accurate and fashionable, which sent sales of domestic mechanical watches over a cliff, recalled Dong Guozhang, general manager of Shanghai Watch Industry Co., Ltd. According to Dong, a mechanical watch lost between 10 and 20 seconds a day while a quartz watch lost about one second or several seconds a month.
Chinese watch factories then started to embrace transformation, and a batch of domestic watch brands emerged.
A technician of FIYTA (Group) Co., Ltd. assembles a watch. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
In 1987, FIYTA (Group) Co., Ltd. was established in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. Upon its founding, FIYTA decided to follow the development trend of the global watch industry and manufactured quartz watches, following a path that was different to most Chinese watch companies back then, said Sun Lei, chief designer at the company.
By applying new techniques, FIYTA has created many "firsts" in China's clock and watch industry, including the first domestic brand of watches with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
In 2003, Yang Liwei, China's first astronaut, wore a FIYTA watch, the country's first aerospace watch, during his space exploration.
Photo shows design blueprints of watches exhibited at FIYTA Building. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)
Since then, the watchmaker has made breakthroughs in the design of aerospace watches and provided watches for Chinese astronauts on many historic occasions, including China's first spacewalk completed by an astronaut from the Shenzhou-7 spacecraft and the country's first space lecture given by Shenzhou-10 crew members.
Meanwhile, domestic watchmakers have produced watches that embody Chinese aesthetics. FIYTA, for instance, rolled out watches themed on Dunhuang, a city known for its Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in northwest China's Gansu Province.
Nowadays, Chinese watches are becoming increasingly recognized by overseas consumers.
Starting from 2002, FIYTA has been an active participant in Switzerland's Baselworld, one of the world’s largest watch and jewelry fairs. Luxury watch brands such as Patek Philippe and Rolex are regular exhibitors at the fair. "But at that time, FIYTA was a lesser-known brand in the global market and our booth was set up together with those for spare parts," Sun recalled.
Photo shows a high-end wristwatch of Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd. (Photo courtesy of Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd.)
In recent years, FIYTA has expanded its brand influence and market share overseas thanks to its progress in original design and technological innovation. In 2011, the watchmaker was recognized as an international watch brand by Baselworld’s organizers.
FIYTA has reached markets in 29 countries and regions, including France, Germany, and Singapore. "We will continue to make innovations in watch-making techniques to develop more watch products and further expand overseas markets," said Sun.
At Baselworld 2008, Tianjin Seagull was accused of plagiarizing key parts of a foreign company's double-axis tourbillon watches. However, following close evaluation, Swiss experts concluded that Tianjin Seagull's design was not an infringement. Tianjin Seagull's success marked the successful upgrade of China's watch industry.
