MANUFACTURE
For high-end watch connoisseurs
around the world
The Konstantin Chaykin Manufacture, founded in 2003 by Konstantin Chaykin, Russian inventor and watchmaker, is the only luxury watchmaking brand producing timepieces made exclusively in Russia. Konstantin Chaykin and his manufacture are renowned to watch connoisseurs around the world for their watchmaking art. Konstantin Chaykin brand’s is recognised by the global professional watchmaking community as one of the most creative and original in the world.
History of the manufacture
The new caliber K.33.3, developed for this watch by Konstantin Chaykin, became the first automatic movement with a mini-rotor, completely designed and manufactured in Russia.
AUDACITY, SKILL AND INGENUITY
The history of the Russian watch brand “Konstantin Chaykin” began on 23rd October 2003 when a young and ambitious inventor from St. Petersburg discovered his passion for the world of mechanical complications, intending to create the first watch with a tourbillon in Russia for 175 years.
Starting with the repair and restoration of table clocks and wristwatches, he thoroughly mastered all the subtleties of creating mechanisms and methods for manufacturing watch parts. He was guided by the desire to create new, unprecedented masterpieces of haute horlogerie. In 2005 Konstantin Chaykin registered his first patent for his Orthodox Easter computus, which automatically calculates and displays the dates of the Orthodox Easter. As of Febrary 2024, the number of patents in his portfolio stands at 96, with a further 62 utility model patents, the most of anybody in the watchmaking industry.
KONSTANTIN CHAYKIN’S WORKSHOP HAS GROWN INTO A MANUFACTURE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ALMOST ALL THE COMPONENTS REQUIRED IN THE ASSEMBLY OF A WATCH.
His global renown comes from inventions never before seen, such as timepieces with a Muslim calendar, with an Orthodox Easter date indicator, with a spherical moonphase indicator (the largest ever created for a wristwatch), with a moving image projector, and with a single switchable hour-minute hand.
The myth that Russians do not know how to make watches must be destroyed, as it is not only false but also defames the glorious history of our state and sullies the names of great people who have given their lives to create the most complicated watches and movements. The idea of giving watches pronounced anthropomorphic features has been with me for a long time. I believe a watch is not just a mechanism, it is a piece of contemporary art, a real objet d’art, which should evoke strong emotions.
This applies to each of my timepieces. For example, the “Lunokhod” watch is unlike any wristwatch in the world, the “Cinema” watch has a unique moving image projector, and the “Carpe Diem” model has a complication giving an allegorical interpretation of how time elapses.
These watches are complex and artistic while at the same time also philosophical. From an artistic viewpoint the “Joker” watch seems to be the logical continuation of this theme. I wanted to create a watch that makes a connection with its owner, bringing instant emotion
The production volume of the Konstantin Chaykin manufacture is about 200-250 copies per year. It takes from 8 months to several years to produce one exclusive custom-made watch. We work on each piece like an artist on a painting, so each watch is unique.
THE COMPLETE REJECTION OF ANONYMOUS MASS PRODUCTION
Over the years Konstantin Chaykin has gathered a team of professionals who share his passion for perfection and beauty in the art of fine watchmaking. That’s how the first manufacture of haute horlogerie in modern Russia was born.
Today under Chaykin’s leadership there is a well-coordinated team of just over 10 people. Together they develop the latest watch masterpieces, reviving the classic traditions of watchmaking based on the values of master craftsmen.
WATCHMAKING HERITAGE
Konstantin Chaykin’s Manufacture building is located in a uniquely historical part of Moscow, next to the picturesque Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. Such a place holds great meaning for us, as the bells of the clocktower here ring out the time every hour. In Kolomenskoye one can find the only exhibition in Russia dedicated to clocktower mechanisms of the 16th – 19th Centuries.
Among the unique displays are the oldest surviving hand-made mechanism of Russian craftsman Semyon Chasovik, which he made in 1539 for the Solovetsky Monastery, as well as an anchor mechanism from the Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery made by Rezantsov.
A visit to the Konstantin Chaykin Manufacture is a journey into the world of time. In the modern two-storey mansion one can find a space for engineers, a design department, a department for the design and development of calibres, as well as an assembly and testing workshop. The latest computer-controlled metal-cutting machinery is located on the ground floor, where all components are manufactured.
On the second floor, the inner workings of the watch are assembled before everything is finally put together ready for quality control. With all departments under one roof, specialists from different areas can readily interact and exchange their skills. This also helps create the unique artistic atmosphere of the manufacture.