Source: SUN0769

Published Date: 2019–3-29

Article Address：http://news.sun0769.com/dg/headnews/201903/t20190329_8070208.shtml

Manufacturing Era: In Switzerland, ISpeak for Chinese Timepieces

"This watch is unique in design, exquisite in shape and accurate in time. It is very popular in the global market. People may think that this is a Swiss watch, but in fact, it is a Chinese product." LIANG Weihao, chairman of Dongguan Deli Timepiece Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Deli Timepiece) said. In recent years, the company’s SAGA watches have frequently appeared in internationally renowned watch fairs and won the recognition of the world.

Timepieces "made in Switzerland" have a history of hundreds of years, representing the world's top level of timepiece making. According to the documentary Manufacturing Era, LIANG Weihao and others have kept trying their best to catch up, hoping to narrow the gap with the world’s advanced manufacturers. In 2016, Deli Timepiece established a factory in Switzerland, the “Kingdom of Timepiece Making”, for R&D and manufacturing, as well as learning the advanced timepiece making technology of Switzerland. While "bringing in", it has also stridden in "going out" to realize the dream of ushering the trend of the world with Chinese products. "I hope that one day, timepieces made in China can become successful and famous in the world, and that's what I am trying to do." LIANG Weihao said.

Obsessedwith pursuing the cutting-edge manufacturing technology

On the evening of February 26, the staff of Deli Timepiece in Yantian Village of Fenggang Town watched Men in Business together, the 2nd episode of the documentary Manufacturing Era broadcast by CCTV.

"How to wear this watch?" In the documentary, the question that LIANG Weihao asked brought tension to the meeting. Doing things hands-on has always been LIANG Weihao's style of work, and he will review the design of each timepiece in person. LIANG Weihao has been engaged in the industry of timepiece making for 50 years.

"Here, we emphasize quality, and quantity is not the most important. You have to make good products. It's fine if you make less, just take your time." LIANG Weihao said. He is obsessed with pursuing the cutting-edge timepiece making technology, for he knows that for sophisticated timepieces with meticulous craftsmanship, a miss is as good as a mile. 

In Deli's timepiece  workshop, almost all of the equipment for making timepieces are imported from Switzerland, and the timepieces it produce will be sold to dozens of countries and regions around the world. LIANG Weihao values quality very much. For this reason, he demanded that processing and assembling of parts of timepieces have to be carried out in a clean space with a constant temperature.

There are many Ferrari sports car models on LIANG Weihao's desk. At that time, the company was planning to produce watches with sports car elements. Contours, color matching, lights, tires and other details all fell into his observation.

He has been engaged in the timepiece industry for more than 50 years, and witnessed many ups and downs and storms in the industry. LIANG Weihao is working hard to address the embarrassing situation that China has a huge production of timepieces, yet it

is not a power in the timepiece industry. 

According to LIANG Weihao, the current annual sales of timepieces worldwide is 1.2 billion, and China's timepiece or timepiece accessories account for about 1 billion. However, as most manufacturers in the Chinese timepiece industry are producing cheap timepieces, China is nowhere near the countries that produce high-end timepieces in terms of output value. As consumers are more consumption-savvy in the recent years, the demand for cheap timepieces has dropped rapidly, leading to a sharp decline in the sales of such products.

In the process of market shuffling, consumers turn to buy higher-grade and higher-quality timepieces. "Therefore, the domestic timepiece manufacturers should work hard to make products with guaranteed quality instead of seeking cheap production.

Only by doing so, can they stand firm in the market." LIANG Weihao said.

"Madein Dongguan" recognized by famous watchmakers

Lugano WatchProcessing Plant in Ticino, Switzerland, once had an idea of producing detachable watches. They spent a year searching for companies that could turnconceptual watches into products. Finally in Fenggang, Dongguan, Deli Timepiece took only 2 weeks to develop the samples and 4 months to complete the manufacture of the whole product series. 

To better learn from "Made in Switzerland", in 2016, LIANG Weihao set up a timepiece manufactory in Lugano, Switzerland, embarking on the road of "transforming" Chinese watches.

It is not easy for "Made in China" to win the recognition in Switzerland. In the documentary, LIANG Weihao went for a "Swiss Tour". He brought the watch samples that he made in Dongguan for 2 years to Switzerland to be inspected by the strict American

customers.

Adams is the head of

the American timepiece company. He approved the samples produced by Deli

Timepiece, but he also pointed out that there were some problems in the details

of the timepieces. In the documentary, LIANG Weihao became serious.

"They have high standards, and I am still learning. I agree on what they have pointed out. We need to make improvement and pursue perfection." LIANG Weihao said. Although there are difficulties, Deli’s watch samples have withstood the test, which means that efforts of LIANG Weihao and Swiss partners as well as the manufacturing team in China in the last 2 years have been paid off.

There is a magnifier in LIANG Weihao's heart. He is able to find out every detail problem in the design of watches. He understands that one detail dealt with improperly may cause denial of customers, which may affect the future business cooperation.

"He is one of the best watch case manufacturers in China." Wolfgang is a partner of LIANG Weihao in Switzerland and he is also a watchmaker with 52 years of experience. After nearly 10 years of efforts, LIANG Weihao finally won the recognition of this famous Swiss watchmaker.