Bolshevik Revolution
Watch industry in the Czar Russia consisted
just of several small workshops and enterprises. They usually
assembled watches using watch parts made abroad. After the
1917 Bolshevik revolution, the entire watch industry became
a part of the “Trust of Precision Mechanics”. These were mainly
production facilities, work shops, and warehouses of watch
parts and half-finished products which belonged to famous
manufacturers such as P. Bure, G. Mozer, Reinin, Dmitriev,
and others before the revolution.
The Formative Years
By 1926, the supply of watches and watch parts
had run out, but the demand for watches by the army, the navy,
the railways and ordinary people was on the increase. To meet
the demand, the USSR started to buy watches and watch parts
from abroad paying in gold. To further correct the shortage
of watches, on December 20th 1927 the Soviet government made
a decision to establish and develop a watch industry. On December
21st, the Council of Labor and Defense passed a resolution
“About How to Organize Watch Production in the USSR.”
At the same time an offer to buy an ailing
Duber Hempton watch factories was received from the United
States. On April 26th 1929 two purchase contracts were signed.
The first one was for the $325,000 purchase of the watch factory
with an output of 200 to 250 thousand watches per year. The
second, $135,000 contract was for the purchase of spare parts
and the half-finished products. After the deal was sealed,
a steamboat with American equipment left for Russia in April
1930. Simultaneously, construction of the factory’s main block
was already in progress on the previous location of the Krasnaja
Zvevda (Red Star) Tobacco Factory on the Voronczovskaja street
in Moscow. The factory’s main block was finished within a
dramatically short period of time. The work started in February
1930 from digging a foundation pit and finished in June 1930
with the main block construction completed. Installation of
main equipment was finished by September 15th of the same
year. The factory was named the First State Watch Factory
or the 1st SWF (1ûé Ã×Ç). Later it was called the First Moscow
Watch Factory or the 1st MWF (1ûé Ì×Ç). Thus, even some of
the Poljot watches produced today are sold under the 1st MWF
mark.
To start production, four types of watches
were chosen: a man’s pocket watch with 15 jewels for the enterprises
of the Narkomat (Ministry) of Means of Communications, a man’s
wristwatch with 7 jewels for the Red Army; a man’s pocket
watch with 7 jewels and a ladies wristwatch with 15 jewels
to be sold in the market. The first creation of this new factory
were pocket watches called “the 1st type” or K43 with a side
seconds hand.
Although at the start, the factory needed
some technical help from the American and the German specialists,
after two years, it was able to resolve most of the technical
issues and continued to develop independently. Almost from
the beginning the 1st SWF exported its watches and soon after
launch, new production development was started. According
to the order of the Chief Military Aviation Administration,
airplane board clocks were produced, and in June 1932 a decision
to organize stopwatches production was made.
In the same year technical renovation and
production line upgrades were started. In 1935 – 36 the factory
received over 120 new machining tools from several world’s
leading companies and some equipment was made by the factory
itself. By 1936 the number of machining tools had increased
by 1.5 times. On December 16th 1935, Mr. M. Kalinin signed
a resolution to award the name of Sergey Mironovich Kirov
to the 1st SWF.
From 1935 until 1941, the 1st SWF Kirova produced
about 2.7 million of the “1st type” pocket and wristwatches.
Today, a line of Aviator and Buran watches is sold under the
“1st MWF Kirova” trademark.
Aviation and WWII
The history of the First Moscow Watch Factory
is indissolubly connected with the history of Russian and
Soviet aviation. All Soviet battle airplanes of that period
were equipped with the airborne clocks made by the 1st MWF
Kirova. The Red Air Force pilots and navigators flew with
watches on their wrists with the “The 1st MWF Kirova” and
later the “Poljot” trademarks. Before WWII aviation clocks,
stopwatches, navigator wristwatches, automobile mechanical
and electric charging watches, navy chronometers, ship deck
watches and other watch movements were put into production
for the benefit of the national economy.
During the Second World War production defense
such as ammunition, aviation glass, aviation clocks, navy
and aviation chronometers and some parts for the first Katyusha
(lorry-mounted multiple rocket launcher) was organized in
the factory.
The War had not yet ended when the factory
started peaceful production: in 1943 it started to make machining
tools for the watch industry again, and in 1944 – fire-place,
table and automobile clocks were produced. In April 1945 the
factory stopped ammunition production and started preparation
for a new K26 Pobeda (Victory) watch model. Production of
the Pobeda with a side seconds hand started in 1946. Josef
Stalin approved the name, design and specifications of this
watch personally. The watch became very popular, as the 1st
MWF was making the K26 model until 1953; and today, it is
still in production in other factories around the country.
Gagarin and Space
In 1949, the Shturmanskie (Navigator’s) watches
were put into production. They were specially designed for
the military aviation and were not available in the general
market. The Shturmanskie watch made history on April 12 1961
when the Soviet Union launched the first successful manned
space flight. Yury Gagarin, the first man in space, wore Shturmanskie
watch on his wrist during that celebrated flight. The watch
operated without any problems in weightlessness and became
the first watch ever to go into cosmos. Later, this legendary
watch was given to the factory museum.
Poljot watches were taken to space flights
by astronauts from France, Russia, Germany, and the Ukraine.
The 3133 chronograph set a record in longest duration of a
space flight by cosmonaut V.V. Poljakov.
The 50s and 60s
By 1955, 1.1 million mechanical wristwatches
were made by the 1st MWF. In 1956 production of the first
automatic movement watches under the Rodina (Fatherland) brand
started. The Rodina watch opened a new line of watch movements
with the 24 mm caliber. They have a central second hand. The
height of the movement was 6.3 mm, with 22 jewels.
In 1957, according to a special government
order, an elite Antarktida (Antarctic) watch for the participants
of the first Soviet expedition to the South Pole was developed.
These watches were magnet proof, with a 24-hour dial and the
watch movement was based on the Pobeda (Victory) watch movement.
A special shield protected it against strong magnetic fields.
In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched
the first artificial satellite into space. The whole world
peered to a slightly flashing small star in the night sky.
To mark this event, the Sputnik (Satellite) watch, based on
a Pobeda model was produced. Watches were made in two variations:
with a central second hand and with a transparent dial, which
had a satellite mark instead of a second hand. At the moment,
the Antarktida and the Sputnik watches are a collection rarity,
because they were in production just for one year.
On October 2nd 1959, the government of the
USSR designed the 1st MWF as a leading enterprise in watch
exports. Export production share increased from 42% in 1959
to 80% in the 90s. Watches were exported to 70 different countries,
including USA, England, Belgian, Italy, West Germany, Hong
Kong, Greece, and many others.
In 1959 the first Soviet Signal 2612 alarm
wristwatch was developed. In the same year, the Strela (Arrow)
3017 watch was put into production. The Strela was a wrist
chronograph with a stopwatch function and a 45-minute counter
of minutes. The dial had additional telemetric and tachometer
scales. The watch was exclusively designed for the officers
of the Air Force and was produced according to strict military
specifications. Cosmonauts Pavel Beliaev and Aleksej Leonov
also used these watches when they became the first in the
world to enter into the open space. During the next 20 years
100,000 of the 3017 watches were made.
In 1960, the first Poljot (Flight) brand watch
with 2414 caliber appeared. On April 12th 1961, Yuri Gagarin’s
flight opened the era of space travel in the human history.
The first cosmonaut took Shturmanskije watch made in 1st MWF
into space. Later, production of several models with space
names celebrated this flight: Orbita (Orbit) 2415 – in 1962,
Kosmos (Space) 2416 – in 1963. In 1961, the factory as first
in the country started production of particularly slim Vympel
(Pennon) watches with a second hand, caliber 2209 with 2.9
mm height of the movement, 23 jewels, and the 1st accuracy
class. The total height of the watchcase was only 5 mm. In
1963, during an international Fair in Leipzig, the Vympel
watch was awarded a Diploma and a Gold medal. These watches
were in production until 1975, later the technology was passed
to the Minsk Watch Factory.
Since 1964, Ïîë¸ò or POLJOT trademarks have
marked the watches made in the 1st MWF. The factory trademarks
are registered in 30 different countries and are famous around
the World.
In 1965, production of a super slim Poljot
2200 watch with 1.85 mm movement height started. This product
confirmed the highest level of skills of the factory’s designers
and technologists once again. The height of the watch-case
depending on its variation was from 3.5 mm to 4.5 mm.
In 1966, the factory started production of
a new basic movement model, a 26 series caliber with anti-shock
capability, screw-less balance wheel and flat spiral, and
different accessories. New movements were distinguished by
small height and long run time.
The 70s and 80s
In 1971, the factory produced 2.5 million wristwatches,
and 1.6 million were exported to 63 different countries. In
1972, the factory increased production of wrist mechanical
watches up to 2.7 million. Since up to 70% of the production
was sold on the export market, the factory decided to design
and to put into production a number of new watch movements
which could satisfy the requirements of exacting foreign customers
and would be useable for automatic technological processes.
As a result, in 1972 new designs of watches with the 26 series
caliber movement were developed and had a distinct mark of
a letter “H”: 2609H, 2614H, 2616H, etc. The factory’s designers,
technologists and stylists paid particular attention to its
reliability, technological aspects and reparability.
The Famous 3133
In 1976, the factory started production of
new wristwatches with a stopwatch function: chronograph model
number 3133. For this development, the factory staff was awarded
with a State Bonus Reward. At the beginning, watches were
intended for the Navy officers and were produced under the
Okean (Ocean) brand name. Later, the factory started to make
modifications intended for the Air Force, with a Shturmanskie
brand name (model 31659, a watch with a second hand arrester
and pointer of time zones) and another Shturmanskie watch
with a pointer of time zones (model 3133). The production
of these watches was limited and subjected to strict military
inspections. Only nine years later, in 1983, watches with
a 3133 movement were made available to the public.
At the end of the 70-ies and the beginning
of the 80-ies, the factory put into production the quartz
30 series calibers watches, and later - 24 and 16 calibers.
The quartz movements were mainly exported to Southeast Asian
countries: Hong Kong and Singapore. In some years, export
achieved up to 3 – 4 million pieces per year.
In 1992 and 1993 the factory was awarded with
prestigious "XX Golden Trophy For Quality" and "XXI
International Trophy For Quality".
Today
During the 70 year history, the First Watch
Factory kept leading position in the area of man’s wrist mechanical
watch production. Today the 1st Moscow Watch Factory also
remains the first. Extensive experience, strong design capabilities,
enormous technological potential, and spirit of innovation
helped the factory to survive during a difficult periods and
allow it to face the future with confidence. Today “Poljot”
is a leader among the producers of high-class man’s wrist
watches, a producer of unique movements, such as the chronographic
movement 3133, the alarm movement “Signal” 2612, and the factory’s
pride a 6MX marine chronometer. Furthermore, mechanical chronographs
and “Signal” analogues today are in production only in several
factories in Switzerland.
The high level of technological development,
design and the high quality of “Poljot” production are also
confirmed by the fact that the administration of the President
of Russia has chosen a “Poljot” 3133 watch as an official
government award “From President of Russia”!
Last year, some new movements, such as chronograph
with a moon-phase calendar, modifications with different additional
scales and calendars were developed and put into production.
Over 20% of “Poljot” watchcases are redesigned each quarter.
The new designs set pace for the latest trends and tendencies
in the fashion world of watch production.
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