History
of the Watch Movement "Pobeda"
Based on a
French design, the Pobeda's simple, 15-jewel movement was cost-effective,
reliable, and easy to manufacture and maintain. Prior to World War II,
during a period of rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union, the Soviet government sought
international funding and expertise in developing a domestic industry for
timepieces. Eventually the French watch
manufacturer LIP was chosen; they established a new watch factory
in Penza and
licensed several movement designs to the new establishment. One design dating
from 1908, the R-26 movement, was further developed and renamed the K-26, with
significant alterations to the original design. World War II temporarily
disrupted these plans, but after the Allied victory, this watch design was
quickly finished at Penza, and full-scale production commenced at the First
Moscow Watch Factory. Joseph Stalin chose the name Pobeda (Victory)
to celebrate the end of the war.
Factories
Having Produced under the brand "Pobeda"
Pobeda watches before and after the fall of Soviet Union
During Soviet times
In the
Soviet Union, a product brand was not necessarily exclusive to a particular
manufacturing site (this changed though in the 60's when each factory got its
own brands), and during its lifetime, production of Pobeda watches was shifted
between the following plants:
·
Penza Watch Factory (Пензенский
Часовой Завод): for a few years from 1945
·
First
Moscow Watch Factory (Первый
Московский Часовой Завод): 1946 to 1953
·
Petrodvorets
Watch Factory (Петродворцовый
Часовой Завод): 1946 to nowadays
·
Chistopol Watch
Factory (Чистопольский часовой завод): 1949 to the c.1950
·
Second Moscow Watch
Factory (Второй московский часовой завод): 1953 to 1964
ZIM / ЗИМ (Maslennikov Watch Factory)
In 1906, the Russian Emperor Nicholas II issued an official
decree entitled, “On the construction of military plants at public funds”. The
result was the establishment of the Provisional Economic Commission for the
construction of the Samara Pipe Factory. The same year, construction began on
another plant which would produce aluminum tube and capsule sleeves for
three-inch rapid-fire guns. By September, 1911, the factory was completed, and
workers celebrated the grand opening of the Second Pipe Factory in Samara,
Russia.
The Second Pipe Factory staffed some 2500 workers and was
primarily responsible for producing fuses for artillery shells. The factory was
so large that a residential village was established nearby. This settlement was
aptly named, “Workers”. The plant closed briefly in 1918, then reopened in 1923
under a new name, Maslennikov, named after the first chairman of the Samara
City Council, Alexander Maslennikov. (The full factory name, Завод имени
Масленникова, is often abbreviated ЗИМ, or ZIM). During World War II, ZIM
fulfilled orders from the Ministry of Defense to produce ammunition for the
armed forces.
After the war, ZIM began production of civilian goods,
namely the caliber 2602 watch movement intended for Pobedas. This caliber
entered production in 1950 and continued to be produced until the factory
eventually shuttered in the early-2000s. With a production spanning over five
decades, this made the ZIM caliber 2602 the longest-produced caliber of any
Soviet watch movement.
Beginning in the 1960s, production at ZIM expanded greatly
to include electronic devices, medical equipment, sewing machines, and
automobile parts. Specialized subdivisions of ZIM were responsible for building
residential houses, schools, kindergartens, dormitories, restaurants, and
sports facilities. Given the sheer size of the plant and the enormous number of
factory employees, ZIM developed an urban transportation route including tram,
bus, and trolley lines.
In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, ZIM
was in deep financial crisis. By the late-90s, the plant’s total debt reached
about 1 billion rubles. In 2005, the factory declared bankruptcy, and by June
30th, 2006, the factory had shuttered. While a few of the original buildings
connected to the plant remain today, the majority of the factory now stands in
ruins.
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