First Moscow watch factory

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Two clocks from the First Moscow Clock Factory - on the left a contemporary wrist alarm clock (18 jewels), on the right a clock from the 1940s with a seven-stone pocket watch movement

The First Moscow Watch Factory ( Russian Первый Московский Часовой Завод / Perwyj Moskowski Tschasowoi Sawod ) was founded in 1930 as the First State Watch Factory (Первый Государственныik, the oldest of the Soviet Union . One of the reasons for setting up its own watch production facility was the need to supply the Red Army with accurate clocks while being independent of imports.

history

Production started on the basis of the Dueber-Hampden Watch Co., which was acquired in the USA, and with the help of some former employees of this factory. The plant was expanded significantly even before the Second World War . Together with the Second Moscow Watch Factory, founded in 1931, and other start-ups, more than 200,000 wristwatches and 600,000 pocket watches were produced in 1940 . Production initially extended to pocket watches and wristwatches, later on board clocks for airplanes and motor vehicles as well as marine chronometers were added.

On December 20, 1935, the factory was given the suffix Kirow in honor of the revolutionary Sergei Mironowitsch Kirow . The factory was continuously optimized. Together with the French watch manufacturer Lip (Frédéric Samuel Lipmann), production was to be expanded. The clockworks were created

  • Caliber Lip T18 = Sarja 2602 (Swjesda)
  • Caliber Lip R26 = Poljot 2602 (Pobjeda)
  • Caliber Lip R43 = Zim 4302

When the war began in 1939, cooperation with the French broke off. In view of the advance of the German Wehrmacht on Moscow and the ensuing battle , the production facilities were relocated to Slatoust and Chelyabinsk in December 1941 . After the war ended, the company returned to Moscow and was renamed the First Moscow Watch Factory . However, production continued in the Slatoust and Chelyabinsk plants, from which the manufacturers Agat and Molnia emerged.

The factory building of the First Moscow Watch Factory (2007)

During the reconstruction in Moscow, reparation payments from the Glashütte watch factory located in the Soviet occupation zone were used . In Glashütte , the two companies " Uhren Rohwerkefabrik AG Glashütte" and "Uhren Fabrik AG Glashütte", which were involved in the war production of the Tutima aviator chronograph for the German Wehrmacht - UROFA caliber 59 - from 1941 to 1945 , were completely dismantled and brought to Moscow . In addition, in 1946/47 in Glashütte, all drawings and the technological documents of the "Wempe" in Hamburg and "A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte ” was translated into the Russian language and handed over as a reparation payment. Furthermore, specialists for the later production in Moscow were trained in the company "A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte ”. From 1949 to 1951, an improved version of the aviator's chronograph caliber 59 was manufactured with this machine park and initially also with movement parts from Glashütte.

Watches from the First Moscow Watch Factory were part of the equipment of Soviet military pilots and cosmonauts . In 1964, the plant was renamed Poljot ( Russian Полёт , flight) in honor of the first space flight. Yuri Gagarin used a Sturmanskie ( Russian Штурманские , helmsman ') during his space flight .

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the factory was converted into a public company in 1992 .

Brands

The best- known brands are Poljot and Sturmanskie , other brands were or are Wympel , Pobeda , Kirowskije , Sportiwnyje , Strela , Antarktida . Cornavin was an export brand; products from the 2nd Moscow watch factory were probably also sold under this brand. Some brands are coveted among collectors because they were only produced for a limited period of time or only for a special clientele (e.g. military aviators).

literature

  • Michael Ceyr, Klaus Pachnicke: The fascination of Soviet clocks . Hauschild Verlag, Bremen 1997, ISBN 3-931785-35-1 .
  • Bol'schaja Sowjetskaja Enziklopedia , Volume 29. Verlag Sowjetskaja Enziklopedia, Moscow 1978.
  • Juri Levenberg: Russian wristwatches. 2 volumes. Munich 1995.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Herkner: Glashütte wristwatches Volume II. Herkner Verlag, 1994/95.
  2. ^ J. Altmeppen, H. Dittrich: The German unit chronometer . Heel Verlag, 2012.
  3. ^ Johannes Altmeppen: Tutima pilot watch from Moscow . In: Uhrenmagazin , 11/98. Contemporary history of Russian watches / series, episode 9.

Coordinates: 55 ° 44 ′ 9.3 ″  N , 37 ° 39 ′ 49 ″  E