17.Tianjin, home of the famous Tourbillon watch, where more than 90 percent of the products boast independent intellectual property rights
http://www.tj-summerdavos.cn 2014-09-08 19:52

In recent years, the Tianjin Seagull Watch (Group) Co. has invested more than 100 million yuan on advanced equipments from Switzerland and Japan, with which it streamlined its production line and improved its capacities in homegrown innovation. The corporation has successfully taken their research into the techniques of producing the Three Classics, i.e., the Tourbillon, the Repeater Watch, and the Moon-phase Perpetual Calendar Watch. The Tianjin Seagull Watch (Group) Co. has developed the Double Tourbillon, the Minute Repeater, and the Perpetual Calendar watch.

The Tianjin Seagull Watch (Group) Co. is China’s earliest watch-manufacturing base and the first homemade watch in China was developed. In 2004, the company’s R&D personnel mastered core technologies in production of Tourbillion movement watches. The resulting products have been sold to more than a dozen of countries and regions.

As the largest open coastal economy in North China, Tianjin was a birthplace of China’s modern industry. It led the Chinese industry for decades and created several “firsts” in China, such as the country’s first trolley bus, the first television set, the first telephone, the first camera, as well as the first sewing machine. That said, the Seagull Watch (Group) Co., like many similar traditional brands, experienced its share of frustrations and downfalls during the transition from planned economy to a market one. Today, though, the company’s delicate mechanical Tourbillon watch, which boasts flyback and calendar functions, has set three records in the history of watch in Tianjin: the highest level of technology, the shortest period of design and production, and the highest added value. Foreign experts who tested the watch concluded that its design, production techniques, clock movements and accessories are almost on par with the company’s Swiss counterparts.

At present, the annual production capacity of Tianjin Seagull Watch (Group) Co. is 6 million clock movements and 200,000 watches. It produces 50 percent of the clock movements for mechanical watches in China. Not only is the corporation the strongest in the domestic industry in terms of development and producing ability, product quality and export, more than 90 percent of Seagull’s products have independent intellectual property right.

In the wake of its success in the domestic market, the Tianjin Seagull Watch (Group) Co. aims to build an international brand for their products. They have already opened nine shops to sell their products in Switzerland, the center of the world’s watches. Domestically, after opening the Seagull Watch Art Saloon in Tianjin and a Seagull Watch shop in Hangzhou, the company has set up a shop called “Seagull Tourbillon” in Hong Kong. The plan of opening Seagull shops in five developed countries, including Germany, is in progress.

The Seagull Watch (Group) Co. has said it is building a Seagull Industrial Park in the Binhai New Area to promote their products into an international brand. That will be an international manufacturing center with an output value of 4 billion yuan, which can produce 10 million clock movements and 1 million mechanical watches with top grades every year. This industrial park will not only be a top manufacturing center, but also an international exhibition center for famous watches. The company will also strive to enter the No.1 pavilion in Basel, Switzerland, the mark for international brands, within 2 to 4 years.

Source:Enorth.com.cn

Annual Meeting of the New Champions Tianjin Preparatory Office