Raketa

The Petrodvorets Watch Factory, Russia's oldest continuously operating factory, was founded in 1721 by Peter the Great as the Imperial Peterhof Factory for hardstone carving and luxury goods. During WWII, the factory was evacuated but returned to contribute to the war effort. In April 1945, it began producing Pobeda watches by Kremlin order. The Raketa brand was created in 1961 to commemorate Yuri Gagarin's first manned spaceflight aboard Vostok 1. At peak production in the 1970s, the factory produced approximately 5 million hand-wound watches annually. After difficulties following the Soviet Union's collapse, a major modernization program began in 2011, with Swiss watchmakers from Rolex, Breguet, and Franck Muller joining to help adapt production to modern standards. The factory remains one of the world's few fully vertically integrated watch manufacturers.