Seagull

Founded in January 1955 as Tianjin Watch Factory by four craftsmen under government order, Seagull created China's first domestically made mechanical watch, the Five-Star timepiece. In 1963, the factory developed China's first aviation chronograph for military use, featuring a movement based on the Swiss Venus 175, now known as the ST19. The company was promoted to national enterprise status in 1990, and in 1992 became Tianjin Seagull Corporation. After briefly pivoting to quartz production, the company returned to exclusively produce mechanical movements and watches in 1997. Seagull went public in 2000, opened a Hong Kong office in 2003, and moved to new facilities near Tianjin Airport in 2010. The 2000s marked breakthroughs in high complications with China's first in-house tourbillon, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar. In 2009, the ST9250 movement integrated all three complications. Seagull holds over 50% of all patents in China's watch industry.