Tianjin Seagull Watch Group (Chinese: 天津海鸥) is a watchmaking company located in Tianjin, China. Founded in 1955, it is the world's largest manufacturer of mechanical watch movements, producing one quarter of total global production by volume.[1]
| Industry | Watch |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1955 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Mechanical watches, mechanical watch parts, precision machinery |
| Owner | state-owned |
Number of employees | 3000 (2011) |
| Website | www |
History edit
The company was originally formed as Tianjin Watch Factory in January 1955 with four craftsmen on order of the People's Republic of China government. In 1990, the Tianjin Watch Factory was awarded the status of a national company, and in 1992, the Tianjin Seagull Corporation was founded. That same year, the decision was made to discontinue the production of mechanical watches in favour of quartz watches; five years later it came to a complete reversal of this decision. It has since produced exclusively mechanical movements and watches.
In 2000, Tianjin Seagull Watch Group went public, and in 2003 a representative office in Hong Kong was opened. In 2010, the company moved to new production and administration facilities near Tianjin Airport.[2]
Tianjin Seagull has recently gained substantial expertise in the manufacture of advanced tourbillons including a multi-axial orbital tourbillon movement.[3][4]
Brands edit
The following brand names were used for watches produced by Tianjin Seagull.[5]
| Year | Brand Name |
|---|---|
| 1955-1958 | WuXing |
| 1958-1966 | WuYi |
| 1966-1974 | Dong Feng (East Wind) |
| 1974–present | Seagull |
Movements edit
Movements used at both SeagullHK and tjSeagull. TY code used at SeagullHK. ST code used at tjSeagull.[6]
- TY6XXX = ST6 (mechanical/auto, ladies sized movement)
- TY2130 = ST21 (auto, 2130/ETA 2824) (incorrectly referred to as ST24)
- TY25XX = ST25 (auto, regular & open heart)
- TY2661 = ST18 (auto, 1812/ETA 2892) (incorrectly referred to as ST26)
- TY27XX = ST17 (mechanical/auto, non-hacking, upgrade of ST16)
- TY28XX = ST16 (mechanical/auto, many variants including skeleton)
- TY29XX = ST19 (mechanical/auto chronograph)
- TY3100 = ST31 (mechanical, 3 dials inline w/ open heart)
- TY36XX = ST36 (mechanical, Unitas 6497/98)
- TY80XX = ST80 (mechanical/auto, carousel tourbillon, carousel skeleton tourbillon)
- TY82XX = ST82 (mechanical/auto, flying/bridged tourbillon)
- TY8080 = ST80 (mechanical, dual carousel tourbillon)
- TY84XX = ST84 (mechanical carousel tourbillon, ladies)
- TY9000 = ST90 (mechanical quarter repeater)
- TY9100 = ST91 (mechanical minute repeater)
Movements unique to tjSeagull/USSeagull website
- 2100 = ST21 (auto, 2100/ETA 2836)
- 2241 = ST22 (pair of auto ST6 on same plate)
- 2590 = ST2590 (auto, perpetual calendar with moonphase)
- 2800 = ST28 (mechanical alarm)
- 9000 = ST90 (mechanical, repeater)
Gallery edit
-
ST19 Chronograph Movement produced by Tianjin Seagull Watch Group -
Seagull branded Wristwatch -
![Modern Seagull M182SK[7]](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Sea-gull-m182sk.jpg/120px-Sea-gull-m182sk.jpg)
Modern Seagull M182SK[7]
![Modern Seagull M182SK[7]](/wiki/File:Sea-gull-m182sk.jpg)
See also edit
References edit
- ^ 'Tianjin Sea-Gull Watch'
- ^ 'Sea-Gull - La nouvelle fabrique (french)'
- ^ 'Seagull Tourbillon'
- ^ 'Patent: Dual-axis tourbillon for a mechanical watch'
- ^ amchpr.com: 'Short Overview of Sea-Gull Watch history' Archived 2011-08-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Does anyone know how many chinese Mechanical watch".
- ^ chouprojects.com: 'Sea-Gull M182SK Review'