Nov 1st 2024 - Shanghai Watch Factory Museum

After the Oct 31st visit to Shanghai Watch factory's E-commerce headquarters in Hangzhou, our next stop was the very new Shanghai Watch Factory Museum, which houses a spectacular collection of Shanghai watches, documentation and hardware.

Shanghai is about a two hour drive from Hangzhou, and it was an easy ride, made even nicer by a short snack and (spotless) washroom stop at one of the best highway truck/car stop  facilities I've seen anywhere.

After a quick lunch at a very nearby Shanghai eatery (sorry, no photos) we arrived at the museum.

The photo shows (left to right) European and Chinese watch collector, Mr. Guangtao, Mr. Sun (a seasoned collector and owner of what was described to me as the top collection of Chinese military watches in China, first introduced to me by Joel Chan/Chen Heli in 2013), that old guy from Alberta, Mr. Li Wei  (Group Leader of the Collection Committee of the China Horologe Association) and Mr. Chen, Director of the Museum.

Given that most readers will not get a chance to see this museum first hand, and also understanding the wish for detail among collectors, all the following full size photos link to often *much* larger versions of the photos. And I apologize in advance for my sometimes very poor photo-fu.

I'll start with photos of the large museum wall graphics and miscellaneous displays, then follow with closer photos of many the watches themselves. I took a boatload of photos so please excuse any unnecessary repeats, but I'd rather repeat a bit than maybe leave something valuable or interesting out.

I'll start with this display list of SWF brands shown at the entrance to the new Museum.

Next: something brand new--which is to say: I don't think any--and certainly not many--westerners have seen this information until now:

Google translation:

"A641 thin mechanical watch

"The A641 watch is a high-end thin watch designed by a group of senior engineers in the Shanghai Watch Factory in 1964. Because people's living standards were not high at that time, there was no mass production at that time, only a small number of trial samples. Later, the Second Department of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army came to the factory and asked to produce a special watch for the troops with 200 meters waterproof, calendar and automatic functions. Since then, the A641 was renamed SS2D and became a famous officer watch.

"Military watches only have two movements: 24 jewels and 29 jewels, while the A641 prototype has five movements: 23 jewels, 24 jewels, 27 jewels, 29 jewels, and 31 jewels. The 27-jewel watch in the picture is an ultra-thin manual high-end watch with a double-spring long power."

Google Translation:

"Strive to be the best / Self-improvement is a constant struggle

"In 1958, in order to help the development of China's light industry, the Soviet Union sent three batches of technical backbones from the Glashütte Watch Factory in East Germany to China to help Chinese watch manufacturers develop new products.

"Three groups of experts were sent to Shanghai Watch Factory, Guangzhou Watch Factory and Tianjin Watch Factory to help China tackle the key issues of watch R&D technology. With the changes in the international political situation, the Soviet Union and China fell out in 1959 and recalled all the experts who came to China that year. In less than a year, the two watch factories in Guangzhou and Tianjin had not yet produced finished watches, and the East German experts withdrew. Only the Shanghai Watch Factory produced a few watch products, named 307. This watch has automatic and manual models. The case adopts a design similar to that of Rolex. The bottom cover is gear-type and needs a special watch opener to open. The movement is completely different from the 581 movement of the watch factory at that time, and has a calendar display.

"From then on, China's watch industry flourished and flourished under the hard work of the older generation of watchmakers in Shanghai."

Google translation:

"Prime Minister's Table / Stay together forever

"In 1962, Shanghai Watch Factory added a calendar mechanism to the A-581 basic movement, which was named A623 movement. The movement diameter was 28.8mm, the thickness was 5.805mm, the beat was 18,000 times/h, the travel time accuracy was plus or minus 60s/d, the continuous travel time was 36h, and there were 17 jewels. This was the earliest calendar mechanical watch produced in my country. By the end of 1967, a total of 11,000 watches had been produced. In order to support the development of domestic watches, Premier Zhou Enlai paid out of his own pocket to buy an A623 watch. Whether attending domestic or international conferences, going to the countryside, or meeting with leaders from various countries, he always wore a domestic brand watch. After his death, the watch was handed over to the Museum of the Chinese Revolution for collection."

Google translation:

"Forge ahead / better chinese watches

"585001 is the third name of the second trial watch besides Dongfanghong and Heping. Since most people only know Dongfanghong and Heping about the second trial watch, and the production is not large (3076 pieces from the second batch to the fourteenth batch), the production is about 200 pieces. The number of 585001 that can be owned and survived is even rarer. All decks of the 585001 movement are hand-engraved and numbered, and the accessories of each movement are hand-made and cannot be interchanged with other movement parts. Each watch back cover has an independent number hand-engraved by the watchmaker. Semi-steel case material."

Google translation:

"In old China, there was no watch manufacturing and the market was flooded with all kinds of imported watches.

"In May 1955, more than a dozen watch repairers in Shanghai jointly wrote a letter to the municipal party committee leaders, hoping to organize the trial production of watches. In July 1955, the Second Light Industry Bureau gathered 58 people from 29 units. Without precision machine tools, they modified the machine tools used to make clocks; without special tools, they used small pendulums, small table needles, and small files for processing; without testing instruments, they used ordinary magnifying glasses instead; without micro drills, they used embroidery needles after quenching to punch out 1.5 mm bearing holes. Using a batch of miscellaneous copper, iron wire and steel sheets, as well as harmonica reeds, parasol bones and bicycle steel wires, wheels, shaft heads and screws were made. The only two technicians (one was engaged in locomotives and the other was engaged in medical needles) used a micrometer and a biological microscope to repeatedly survey and draw the first set of watch machine drawings. The method of "decentralized manufacturing and centralized assembly" was adopted. The factories returned to their own factories to make the watches, while the self-employed worked at home, and finally they were assembled at the Shenchang Watch Shop on Nanjing Road. On September 26, the first domestic Xima watch was launched. On the eve of the sixth anniversary of the National Day, another 17 watches were assembled.

"The successful trial production of the watches named "Dongfanghong" and "Heping" opened the first page of China's watch industry.

"The East is Red" is taken from "The East is Red, the Sun is Rising"; "Heping" was given because the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea had just ended and the Chinese people were longing for peace.

"----The first real watch in China"

Google translation:

"Shanghai Watch / Memory of the Times

"7110 watch produced in 1974. Except for some special models, all watches produced in the 1970s looked almost the same. In order to increase the variety of patterns and colors, Shanghai Watch Factory used the most advanced Swiss imported machine tools at that time to process a batch of patterned watch cases. The watch cases are made of high-quality brass, with a shape close to an oval, and the four corners are polished and polished, which is figuratively likened to an abalone shell. The watch cases have many colors and various patterns and decorations. The outer shell is available in gold and silver. The movement uses the highest-level 7120 movement, and the parts are polished and polished again, and the best is selected. The colors of the characters are even more diverse, including black, white, blue-green, red, gold, etc.!"

Google translation:

"A-581

"China's first watch factory, first batch of mass-produced mechanical watches

"In 1958, the Shanghai watch trial production team developed the movement of the "Shanghai Brand" watch with reference to the Swiss Selca AS1194 watch movement at that time. At that time, it was named A-581, which means "the first movement in 1958". In March 1958, the A-581 mechanical watch began to be mass-produced and registered as the "Shanghai Brand" trademark. On April 23 of the same year, China's first watch factory was officially established and named "Shanghai Watch Factory". In 1958, a total of 13,600 "Shanghai Brand A-581" watches were produced throughout the year and officially sold to the public at a price of 60 yuan.

It is a 17-jewel semi-steel waterproof watch. The appearance of A-581 ended the history of China being able to repair watches but not manufacture them. It was deeply loved by the people of the country and was hailed as "China's No. 1 watch". The watch was discontinued in 1968.

The A-581 has rich decorations, numbers and colors on the surface, and it is expected to form more than 100 styles. In the early days, it was white and black. Later, through the development of the surface spraying process, it formed a radial, smooth, and flashing lacquer surface. The dial scales include full Arabic numerals, 3, 6, 9, 12 o'clock plus seconds, decorative seconds, marquise, arrow, and strip scales. The early products had concave surfaces, and the later ones had convex surfaces. The hands include toffee hands, indicator hands, and willow leaf hands.

The second hand has two types: arrow and flat head. Some have red dots and all-red second hands.

The scale colors include gold needles and gold characters and white needles and white characters. The watch glass is a rubber cover, which is parabolic. The bottom cover is a 12-sided screw-in structure, made of all steel, and engraved with the factory name and model.

Google translation:

"Riding the wind and waves / Forge an immortal military soul

"In 1966, the Shanghai Watch Factory received a request from the Second Department of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army to produce a 114-type diving watch with a water resistance of 200 meters and a calendar and automatic function. Therefore, the most advanced A641 movement at that time was adopted and later designated as SS2D. The 29-jewel military diving watch produced by the factory was distributed from 1966 to 1970 to military officers and cadres above the rank who participated in the 25,000-mile Long March and were awarded military titles in 1955, so it was also called the general watch. In 1970, the Shanghai Watch Factory improved the design and produced 24-jewel diving watches from 1971, designated as SS4D, and distributed to division-level cadres.

Among them, a small number of Torch watches were produced in 1971."

Google translate:

"Breakthrough / China's electric pendulum meter breakthrough"

"The electric pendulum watch was trial-produced in 1969. In 1969, Ye Gongqi was sent to Shanghai Watch Factory to work. During this period, he presided over the research and development of the electric pendulum watch and trial-produced this electric pendulum watch. The shell of this product is made of all steel, and the shell size is 2 mm larger than 581. The movement adopts SS1 movement structure plus electronic module design. After the successful trial production of this watch, it was not mass-produced due to various factors, so there are very few in existence!"

Next: some miscellaneous displays:

Two quick shots of the workplace:

And now: the watches. Hold on to your hats.

I'll start with the military watches on display, since they hold a particular fascination for many collectors:

And the rest of the show in the order the photos were taken.

I'll be happy to email the full size photo of anything in this gallery on request by email.

Following the museum tour, I was invited to join the meeting mentioned in Li Wei's Wechat post on the visit, and some decisions were made that day.

Among the decisions was the announcement of a first Shanghai Watch Museum collection watch to be released next year. Mr. Li notes that he will take the first watch and I was advised that I may obtain the second production piece.

While in Mr. Chen's office. I was shown some of the Museum's Library and back collection of documentation.

Among the first items I was shown was a copy of a somewhat hard to find book on Chinese Industrial Design, including vintage Chinese watches. Mr. Chen noted and showed me that I was quoted in the pages of the book. I was pleased, but it was the first I'd heard of it, so far as i recall  :-) although I knew the quote had appeared in a magazine some years ago.

I was also shown a very rare set of SZ1A factory documentation, including original blueprints...

Google Translation:

"Mechanical watch unified movement / SZIA type (stamped April 1, 1973)

Ministry of Light Industry of the People's Republic of China / 1971.11

Google translation:

"Quotations from Chairman Mao:

"Prepare for war, prepare for famine, and serve the people. Be independent and self-reliant. When we make plans, do things, and think about problems, we must always proceed from the fact that our country has a population of 600 million and we must never forget this. The Chinese people have the ambition and ability to catch up with and even surpass the world's advanced level in the near future."

Stamped: April 1, 1973

And I was also shown similar documentation for the SB2H.

Google translation: Shanghai Wristwatch Factory

1984.4

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To close the meeting, and before we headed to dinner, I was shown the extremely rare *signed* #2 Beijing tourbillon, signed by Beijing Watch Factory Master Watchmaker Mr. Xu Yaonan, who can be seen in more detail in this video from China Watch Shop and in this Mr. Wong Kaihao article from China.org

Dinner was another memorable event, attended by my CHA and Shanghai Watch factory friends: Mr. Guangtao, Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, me and Mr. Su.

Closing off the evening, I was presented with a gift from Mr. Chen of the Shanghai Watch Museum, an alternate case for the watch I'd been gifted, yesterday. The watch had been issued with two possible cases, and now I have both.

How do I end writing about a day like today?  My mind still reels when I look through these photos and try to piece together the history, but I'm a lot further ahead than i was before my visit, and I hope you are, too.

As always, I'm hugely grateful to Shanghai Watch Factory and the China Horologe Association for their wonderful support of search for knowledge. Especially, thank you, Mr. Li Wei, my Teacher.

I also want to acknowledge and thank Mr.  Zhang Yiwei. a young and very knowledgeable collector and student of Chinese horology who was kind enough to act as my guide and translator during my visit to the Museum.

His understanding of the exhibits in the museum and their background was inspiring. His language and cultural skill was reassuring, helpful and thoughtful.  We got along immediately and easily and I hope we meet again.

Mr. Zhang Yiwei w/Ron Good