Li Jiaqi： Creating the Chinese Core of Watch and Engraving ＂Chinese Seal＂

CCTV News:"This is a carved hollow movement I recently designed, which incorporates some traditional China culture … …” Li Jiaqi, director of the technical center of Tianjin Seagull Watch Group Co., Ltd., is communicating with colleagues with a watch movement. Once an ordinary watch is carefully crafted by Li Jiaqi, it is not only a precise instrument to show time, but also a work of art, history and culture.

As a national watchmaker, for more than 30 years, Li Jiaqi has always pursued the ultimate and adhered to his ingenuity. While accompanying the growth of Seagull Watch, he also carved his own life.

Diligence and perseverance make the dream of a watch craftsman come true.

In 1981, 18-year-old Li Jiaqi came to Tianjin Watch Factory and opened it from that moment on.heThe prelude from an ordinary worker to an excellent craftsman.

After entering the workplace, Li Jiaqi understood every word and action of the masters with his heart. In Li Jiaqi’s view, what he learned from his predecessors is not only professional technology, but also the cultural heritage of Excellence and diligence and innovation.

In 2001, the company decided to send young employees to attend the training course of numerical control theory, and Li Jiaqi volunteered after learning about it. Because of his older age, Li Jiaqi used his spare time to do his homework to make up for his age weakness with diligence. In the end, Li Jiaqi lived up to expectations and was sent to Switzerland to study with excellent results.

In 2003, Li Jiaqi developed the first real hollowed-out watch in the domestic watch industry, from modeling design, programming, equipment debugging, sample trial production, manual polishing to final movement assembly, all of which were completed by him personally. This watch is favored by the market for its transparent visual effect and fine hand polishing. Since the movement came out, the average annual order quantity is several hundred thousand pieces, and its price is nearly 2 times higher than that of the same non-hollowed movement.

Carved and hollowed-out watches occupy a very important position in the watch family. In 2005, Li Jiaqi successfully completed the design and manufacture of the first tourbillon carved and hollowed-out watch in China, and this product won the gold medal of the first "Intellectual Property Cup" product design competition in Tianjin and the patent bonus award of the Tianjin municipal government. On this basis, he also designed and manufactured the first double tourbillon carved and hollowed-out watch in China, and won the "Binhai New Area International Industrial Design Government Jingwei Award".

Double tourbillon carved and hollowed-out watch is a high-end complex mechanical watch, which perfectly combines the elements of China classical auspicious clouds with the elements of western vines and becomes a beautiful landscape in the domestic watch market. This watch is limited to 90 pieces, and the price is RMB 220,000. The 10x movement model of this watch was exhibited at the first World Expo in Shanghai, China.

Strive for Excellence to build the Chinese core of watches

Li Jiaqi’s work and life are completely integrated. In his spare time, he will take pictures of every pattern he thinks is valuable with his mobile phone and record every moment of inspiration with a pen.

Li Jiaqi believes that culture is the soul of products. As a watchmaker, he should not only be rigorous and dedicated in his work, but also have the ability to innovate in his work, so that every watch made by him has innovation.

On the outer wall of Li Jiaqi’s studio, there is an enlarged view of the watch design of the Zodiac Tiger. This design with Chinese historical and cultural connotations is his masterpiece. "This is a tourbillon watch, surrounded by a common pattern in China’s classical works, called palindromes, which means happiness is continuous. I transformed it into ‘ SG’ The words, which is the English abbreviation of seagull watch brand. " Li Jiaqi introduced.

By chance, jiefang bridge on the Haihe River in Tianjin also inspired Li Jiaqi’s creation. On the movement with a diameter of only 37 mm, the miniature jiefang bridge can achieve the same opening function as the real thing by gear transmission, and each opening and closing time is 6 minutes. In addition, the highlight of this watch is that it not only shows the unique historical features and cultural characteristics of Tianjin, but also vividly reproduces the famous classic bridge spanning the Haihe River for 90 years. It is also the first watch with dynamic patterns on the watch surface in the history of seagull watchmaking. This watch has been shown at China Shenzhen Watch Fair, Hong Kong Watch Fair and Basel International Watch Expo, attracting great attention from peers and customers.

Participated in the research and development of China’s first two-question table in Li Jiaqi.(In the whole 18th century, the two-question meter was the main type of inquiry meter. The two-question meter could give out two different tones, namely "time" and "quarter (15 minutes)", which came in handy when the time could not be recognized in the dark. )In the process, he was deeply impressed by the machining process of a part. Its length was less than 1.2mm, its width was 0.5mm, and there was a hole with a diameter of 0.3mm on it, which was equivalent to a quarter of the size of a sesame. The shape tolerance of this part required 0.02mm, which was equivalent to a quarter of the diameter of hair, so it was difficult to machine it. To this end, he and his colleagues forgot to eat and sleep, and fought continuously. It took only one week to develop a whole new processing technology.

Today, dozens of carved and hollowed-out watches designed and manufactured by Li Jiaqi have participated in the Basel exhibition in Switzerland, which is known as the international watch feast. Now he has 108 national authorized patents, including utility models. Li Jiaqi often said: "Love and dedication is the foundation of craftsman spirit, a virtue, and an attitude towards career and occupation. No matter what kind of occupation you are engaged in, you must be dedicated. Only by being dedicated can you achieve your career."

The craftsman’s way of carrying forward the past and spreading the fire.

"As the technical backbone of the enterprise, it is my duty to make every effort to pass on the craftsman spirit from generation to generation." Li Jiaqi often said, "Doing this business means learning, accumulating, and re-imparting. I, who grew up with the help of the older generation, can best understand ‘ Mentoring band ’ The importance of. "

Over the years, Li Jiaqi has not only been constantly learning to improve his skills and cultural quality, but also set an example, carried forward the fine tradition of "mentoring" in enterprises, and carefully trained a group of professional and technical backbones. While he taught his craft, he also conveyed the spirit of patience, concentration and persistence, which is also the trait that all craftsmen must have.

At present, there are apprentices brought out by Li Jiaqi in both corporate headquarters and branches, and most of them are the backbone of key positions. Li Jiaqi is deeply gratified to see that young talents are constantly emerging in the enterprise and the ranks of craftsmen are growing. Now his dream is to label "Made in China" on "World Famous Products".