Many collector would think that collecting Chinese watches is an easy task as the quantities of these watches are huge. However, the reality is completely different. Even though the quantities may be huge in numbers, but as these watches were considered "luxury" during the 1970s, only a relatively small group of people was able to own one. Moreover, as these watches were often used daily, not many of these watches survived till now.
History and Era
Liaoning Watch Factory has been in operation since 1958. It is now one of China's largest movement factories. Early on, the factory produced countless movements based on Swiss and Russian movements.
Its first watches, branded ‘Qianjin’ (meaning Forward) with the SL1 and SL1A movements, were completed in 1960. These were probably made on imported Soviet tooling as they had a design identical to the 2408 movement introduced in the famous ‘Kirovskie’ watch (that was named after the prominent early Bolshevik leader, Sergei Kirov) and the modified 2409 version used in the ‘Stolichnie’ of the 1st Moscow Watch Factory in Russia. ‘Liaoning’ and ‘Wannianqing’ (meaning Evergreen) branded watches followed, until the introduction of the 'Hongqi' (Red Flag) in 1966 with an SL2 movement (unique to Liaoning) built on imported Swiss tooling.Watches made by the Liaoning Watch Factory (which later produced the Kongque brand) in the 1960s were typically branded as "Qianjin" (meaning "Forward") or "Hongqi" (meaning "Red Flag"). The "Kongque" (Peacock) brand was formally introduced in 1978 for both domestic and export markets. Therefore, a watch specifically branded as "Kongque" is more likely a 1970s or 1980s model.
Characteristics
Movement: Early Liaoning watches (1960s) used movements based on imported Soviet or Swiss tooling, such as the SL1, SL1A, or SL2 movements. Later Kongque watches from the 1970s often contained the "Tongji" or Chinese Standard Movement, a unified movement design used across many factories in China. 1970s Kongque (which means Peacock) manual-winder with a 17 jewels 统机 (Tongji) movement (i.e. Chinese Standard Movement) produced by the Liaoning Watch Factory (now Liaoning Peacock Watch Company Ltd) in northeastern China. Stainless steel case back stamped with 辽宁手表 (meaning Liaoning Watch) L (letter code for Liaoning) Kong Que (the watch brand) Fang Ci (meaning Antimagnetic).
Many Chinese standard movements have a code marked on the wheel train bridge (and sometimes also on the base plate under the balance wheel) indicating the factory at which it was manufactured. These codes are generally three characters long, and start with a Z (Zhongguo = China) followed by two characters for the factory. For example, ZLN for the Liaoning Watch Factory. Some Kongque/Peacock brand watches had ‘PEACOCK’ on the wheel train bridge (this was later replaced by the factory code ZLN). Other factory codes used by Liaoning are SL or SZL.
In the 1970s, Liaoning Watch Factory improved upon the Chinese Standard Movement and commenced production of a new watch series, also branded Hongqi, using their SL3 movement. 1978 marked the introduction of the Kongque/Peacock brand. Kongque watches, both hand-winding and automatic, were exported as 'Peacock' brand. The export Peacock automatics were one response to the success of quartz watches, another was to begin selling movements to Hong Kong watch producers. The Liaoning 'ZLN' soon became one of the most commonly used Chinese Standard movements in the watch industry. Chinese mechanical watches at the time were assigned a ‘grade’ of either 1, 2, 3 or 4 as a general indication of quality, with grade 1 watches being the highest quality and grade 4 the lowest. Kongque was regarded as a grade 1 brand in 1983. Despite declining sales on the domestic market Liaoning Watch Factory continued to develop and introduce new designs, products and variants and, in May 2011 the company moved into new headquarters in Liaoning Watch Industrial Park. The Peacock brand, once thought to be consigned to history, was reintroduced in the second decade of the 21st century.
Design: These watches generally feature classic, understated aesthetics, often with stainless steel case backs and various dial designs. The condition, presence of original papers, and unique complications (e.g., date function) influence their value.
Quality: In 1983, Kongque was considered a "grade 1" brand, indicating a high level of quality within the Chinese watch industry at the time. Many of these mechanical hand-wind watches from the era are still functional today, a testament to their durable construction.
This is a rather unusual Chinese 1970s watch made by Kongque watch company with a very unique multi layered dials, which still good even now. Many would also think that these vintage Chinese watches should be cheap but the reality is different. With the economic progress for the past decades, many Chinese collectors are paying serious monies for these watches in original conditions. My last serious find was in October 2024, about a year ago. Finding these vintage watches are not an easy task.
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