Miyota
From Chinese Watch Industry Wiki
Citizen Miyota Company is the movement manufacturing subsidiary of the Citizen Watch Company, Japan. They produce quartz and mechanical movements for brands within the Citizen Group as well as selling movements to many external clients.
History
Established in the town of Miyota, Japan, in 1957, the company initially produced mechanical movements for Citizen watches, then branched out into electronic and quartz movements from 1974, and complete quartz watches from 1977. The subsidiary Most Crown Industries Ltd was established in Hong Kong in 1990. A second Japanese plant , the Kitamimaki Works, was built in 1995, and two Chinese subsidiaries, Master Crown Electronics, Wuzhou, and Most Crown Electronics, Guangzhou, established in 2001 and 2004.
Current Production
The great majority of Miyota output, both in Japan and China, is quartz movements. Most common of these is the robust 2035; a small, generic-sized, basic movement, interchangeable with a variety of common Japanese movements. A high proportion of lower-priced Chinese watches boasting 'Japan Movt' feature this movement. 2035s made in Guangzhou, signed 'Miyota, China' are used in Chinese-built Q&Q watches, a popular brand by another Citizen subsidiary.
Miyota, Japan also makes the popular OS series, found in most Chinese-made quartz chronograph watches. Various other premium quartz movements are made by Miyota, but few of them are found in Chinese watches.
Manufactured in Japan only is one of the most popular off-the-shelf automatic movements used worldwide by OEM and proprietory watch manufacturers. This is the 8205/8215 and its variants, the 82S and 8N series. Invicta's early diver watches used this movement and contributed greatly to its fame amongst enthusiasts.
New from 2009 is the high-grade 9015 automatic which promises to pose a serious challenge to the Swiss in the market for very thin automatic movements.
Characteristics of the 8205/8215
The 8205/8215 is a 10.5 ligne movement with centre seconds driven indirectly by the 3rd wheel. Unusually, the 4th wheel is located at the 5 o'clock position. Auto-winding is in one direction only. The movement has hand-winding capability, but no hacking (seconds stopping) function. The escapement beats at 21,600bph (6 beats per second).
The legacy - Chinese 'pseudo-Miyota' movements
Such has been the popularity of the 8205/8215 that the design was largely copied in the Chinese-made Dixmont Guangzhou DG28/38 series and near identical Nanning NN28/38 series. These movements in their basic form also exactly match the dimensions of the Miyota movement, enabling them to compete directly for some of Miyota's established clients. The major difference from the Miyota (apart from the prominently chamfered jewel settings in the top plate) is the range of functional enhancements available on these movements. This is something that gives the Chinese manufacturers the competitive edge; for example the ability to offer a watch assembler both a day/date and a GMT compatable with the same case size. Unlike the Miyota, the DG and NN movements have a hacking function. Fujitime is an example of a watch company that has switched from Miyota 8205/8215 to DG28.
The Sea-Gull ST16 is also greatly influenced by the Miyota design, but with significant differences in the auto-winding mechanism, which is based on the Seiko system. Like the DG and NN movements, the basic ST16 is also dimensionally compatible with the Miyota. It also has hacking. The revised ST17 positions the 4th wheel at 6 o'clock to better suit a seconds sub-dial, while retaining the Miyota dimensions.
The excellent reputation of Miyota automatic movements has led to some on-line sellers claiming a 'Miyota' movement in watches using the DG or NN movements. The Croton watch company even goes so far as to designate the the DG28 used in their watches as 'Japanese CR8215 movement' and their sellers claim it is a 'modified Miyota'. The rotor is marked 'Japan', even though the DG logo is clearly visible below the balance wheel. Similarly, their day/date 'Japanese CR8205 movement' is in fact the Sea-Gull ST16.
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