Zlatoust Watch Factory
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, many Russian watchmaking enthusiasts dreamed of creating a domestic watch industry.
The greatest contribution to its formation and development was made by Vladimir Osipovich Pruss, a watchmaker and revolutionary. In 1905, he left for Switzerland, where he became a highly skilled specialist, spending many years studying the principles of watchmaking at Swiss precision mechanics factories. Pruss developed a detailed plan for the development of watchmaking in Russia, which was approved at the highest level.
It was thanks to the efforts of Vladimir Osipovich and his associates, as well as the state's growing need for high-quality and modern watches, that on December 20, 1927, a decree was adopted "On the organization of watch production in the USSR," marking the beginning of the Soviet watch industry.
The First State Kirov Watch Factory in Moscow became the flagship of the watch industry. It was launched in 1930, and the first batch of Soviet wristwatches was produced at the same time.
After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, in the autumn of 1941, the 1st State was evacuated to the deep rear, to the Ural city of Zlatoust, as the country's leadership understood the importance of producing precision mechanical instruments for the front and tried to preserve both equipment and specialists.
December 25, 1941—the date of the first production batch at the new location—marked a new era in the development of the Soviet watch industry and a new enterprise, the Zlatoust Watch Factory. Throughout the war, the Zlatoust Watch Factory served the front, producing ammunition fuses, marine and aviation chronometers, and wristwatches and pocket watches for the Red Army command staff. Nearly all military equipment, including aircraft, tanks, ships, and submarines, was equipped with Zlatoust watches.
During the peaceful post-war years, the Zlatoust Watch Factory maintained its momentum, developing ever new types of high-precision products: stopwatches and curvimeters, time relays and switches, microreducers and minicompressors. And watches in all their diversity: navigator's, aviation, automobile, table, pocket, and wristwatches, including the famous Victory Watch.
A diving watch developed specifically for the Soviet Navy stands out in this list. In the mid-20th century, this model was created for combat swimmers and divers of the Soviet Navy and was used exclusively by the military. Today, the factory has revived production of these legendary chronometers, but as "peacetime" wristwatches, precisely preserving the original design and functionality specified by the Soviet military.
Incidentally, "AGATE" is a hallmark not only of the watch factory but of Zlatoust itself. During the Great Patriotic War, this was the code name assigned to the Zlatoust military registration and enlistment office. Even earlier, in the early 19th century, this valuable ornamental stone featured in a beautiful legend about a cavalry officer who approached Zlatoust craftsmen with an unusual request. He commissioned a saber from a local arms factory and requested that its hilt be set with a large agate he had brought with him. The officer explained that this stone was his long-time talisman, which had repeatedly protected its owner from danger and even helped him survive the Patriotic War of 1812 without a single scratch. In gratitude, the owner decided to forge an expensive ceremonial blade specifically for the protective stone.
When the Zlatoust Watch Factory was choosing a proud and resonant name for itself and its products, remembering the ancient legends and history of its region, understanding the symbolism hidden in the name of the famous mineral, it adopted the name "AGATE" to embody masculinity and strength, firmness and protection, reliability and durability.
Even today, after eight decades of hard work, the company remains true to its traditions, maintaining unwavering quality and the meticulous craftsmanship of high-precision handcrafted production. While maintaining its youthful enthusiasm and courage in developing new products and unique technologies for working with various metals and their alloys.
Everything that Zlatoust and the Zlatoust Watch Factory have always been proud of has been preserved, enhanced, and embodied in one short word: “AGAT.”