Beijing Watch Factory
| Industry | Watch |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | Beijing, China |
| Products | Mechanical watches, mechanical watch parts |
| Owner | Private |
Number of employees | 600 |
| Website |
www |
Beijing Watch Factory Company (Chinese: 北京手表厂) is a watchmaking company located in Beijing, China. Founded in 1958, its product range focuses on high-end automatic watches, watch movements and components.[1]
History
Beijing Watch Factory was established in Changping, Beijing in June 1958 with a staff of 21 craftsmen. From the beginning, Beijing watches were noted for their quality of craftsmanship.
Beijing Watch Factory was one of the major developers of the Chinese Standard Movement. The Beijing Watch model based on the movement, designated ZB-1 (or SZB-1) with 17 jewels began production in 1972. The Shuangling brand name was adopted soon afterwards for export markets. Early in the production of the ZB-1, the factory developed a 40 jewel automatic version known as SZB-1C, which was the first automatic Chinese Standard movement in production.
In the 1990s, the factory continued to export complete watches, as well as movements to foreign manufacturers. By the end of the decade, they were also producing complete OEM watches for external clients. As with many other factories, Beijing developed a skeleton version of their Standard movement.
In 1995, Beijing Watch Factory commenced work on their first independently developed tourbillon watches led by master watchmaker Xu Yaonan. A prototype was running in 1996 and was ready for production the following year. However, the Asian Financial Crisis delayed these plans until 2004, when the TB01-2 tourbillon finally entered production.
Beijing Watch Factory continues development of tourbillons to stay ahead of competitors such as Tianjin Seagull.
Brands
- Beijing Shuangling