The story of the Tissot Ping-Han railway watch

Swiss watches for Chinese trains: the story of the Ping-Han railway is fascinating in more ways than one. Its construction, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, and the vicissitudes of its development illustrate an entire chapter in the history of modern China. As supplier to the country's railway services, it fell to Tissot to provide a watch with specific antimagnetic properties, typical of the railway worker of this period.

By Dr Estelle Niklès van Osselt, Heritage Communication Specialist, Tissot

Text translated and adapted into Portuguese.

The construction of China's first major railway line, linking Peking in the North (then the capital of the Empire) with Hankow in the South (present-day Wuhan), was directed by Belgian and French engineers. To this end, the Chinese administration and the statesman Li Hongzhang (1823-1901) appointed the Belgian company Société d'Etude de chemins de fer en Chine because of the experience it had already demonstrated in building railways in Europe.

Construction work took place between 1898 and 1905: in less than seven years, 1,214 km of track were laid, a record at the time. In 1908, only three years after its completion, the line was already so profitable that the state-owned Imperial Chinese Railway immediately chose to take over the loan associated with the undertaking.

Map of the railway between Peking and Guangzhou via Hankow @ After “Pékin-Hankou, la Grande épopée” 1898-1905.

The second section of the railway, from Hankow to Guangzhou (Canton, South China), was completed between the two world wars. First granted in 1898 to an American company (China Development Co.), whose shares were bought almost in their entirety by the Belgian King Leopold II (r. 1865-1909), the project quickly became entangled in political issues. Because of this interference, the Chinese authorities suspended the award of the concession until the fall of the Empire in 1911, when the new government chose a consortium backed by French, British, American and German funds. Endless rounds of negotiations and the difficulties encountered during the Republican era ended up delaying construction for many years, and the entire railway, from Peking in the North to Guangzhou in the South, was only completed in 1936.

Chinese railway share certificates, 1930 @ Tissot Museum Collection.

For a long time China resisted Western modernisation, fearing the ambition of foreign powers to become ever more involved in its internal affairs, and because trusting them had never proved to be a good idea. In particular, the arrival of the train was seen as a major threat, as it was feared it might facilitate the intrusion of foreign troops, already rather greedy after the Opium Wars (1839-1842 and 1856-1860).

Mixed-traffic locomotive running on the Canton-Hankow railway line, Will's cigarette card collection, 1920s @ Tissot Museum Collection.

Moreover, the Iron Horse might disturb the peace of the Dragon: its construction could clash with the principles of fengshui (energy forces that harmonise individuals with their surroundings), destroy sacred sites and provoke the wrath of Heaven, to be followed by unknown catastrophes that would befall the country. Nevertheless, weary of Western insistence and aware that it needed this new technology, the Chinese court eventually gave in, allowing the railway in during the last decades of the 19th century.

Although trade was already well developed throughout the country - for centuries a dense network of rivers and canals had until then allowed the movement of people and goods - the railways would help boost transport, communication and the economy. Unfortunately, and as predicted, the arrival of the train also ended up hastening the decline of the Chinese Empire, giving rise to socio-political movements.

Mixed-traffic steam locomotive that ran on the Peking-Hankow railway line. Built by the Belgian company St. Léonard Limited. Early 20th century @ Tissot Museum Collection.

Together with the railways, which quickly grew into a rather busy network, other innovations appeared. Their development was accompanied by the introduction of new metal architecture for building bridges, tunnels and stations, as well as steam engines, machinery, carriages and all kinds of associated mechanics and tools. And one of the most important innovations connected with rail travel was timekeeping. Clocks and watches became essential for establishing standards that would allow trains to follow precise timetables and speed up their operations while avoiding accidents. This was all the more important since, from its construction in 1898, the Peking-Hankow line consisted of a single track, which was only doubled with the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

Tissot Chronometer advertisement, 1931 @ Tissot Museum Collection.

European clocks and watches had entered the Chinese Empire long before the arrival of the railway. It is even said that it was thanks to the art of watchmaking that a Jesuit finally gained access to the Ming court (1368-1644). After numerous requests for an audience had been rejected, Father Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) had the clever idea of offering clocks to the Emperor. It was a stratagem that threw the palace doors wide open to him, since the Son of Heaven, won over by Ricci's gifts, was obliged to call on his services to wind and maintain them. The eunuchs, who would later be trained to handle the mechanisms, trembled at the thought of a breakdown and therefore strove to make sure the learned European stayed with them, as a kind of life insurance. In this way, the Jesuits managed to reach the very summit of the Empire.

Needless to say, when it comes to watches, the Swiss are always present. China was no exception. A first Director Horlogii, the Jesuit Franz Ludwig Stadlin (1658-1740) from Zug, arrived in Peking in 1707, and until his death 33 years later he created astonishing pieces to the great delight of the imperial court. The first mechanical pieces made for China - ornamental clocks, objects, automata, music boxes and complicated watches - were the prerogative of the elite. But the pieces that followed at a later stage were more varied, to meet the demand of a broader clientele.

By the 19th century, watches already accounted for a significant share of Chinese imports from the West. The Swiss, like many other Westerners, saw the opening of the vast empire as an unexpected opportunity. However, it was only in the 20th century that the watch company Tissot set out to conquer the Chinese market.

Tissot family house and assembly workshop in Le Locle, second half of the 19th century @ Tissot Museum Collection.

Tissot was founded in 1853 in Le Locle, near Neuchâtel. Located in the Swiss Jura mountains, the Maison began as an assembly workshop in the family home. Skilled local workers made the various movement components at home and brought them to the workshop to create a complete watch, which was sold under a single brand, a guarantee of quality. That same year, Tissot began exporting all over the world, first to the United States and then to Imperial Russia.

Thanks to its success, in 1907 the workshop was turned into a factory on the hills of Le Locle, where it still stands today. Growing production allowed the company to go further, and China became extremely attractive. According to the Tissot archives, by 1920 there was already a brand agent in Shanghai, soon followed by others, as the Chinese quickly realised that Swiss craftsmanship in this field was truly unique.

New Tissot factory built in Le Locle, 1907 @ Tissot Museum Collection.

In the first decades of the 20th century, watchmakers began to worry about a new phenomenon. The development of electricity and its growing use in every area of daily life had begun to affect watch mechanisms. The influence of magnetic fields on movements was a serious problem that had to be solved, especially since reliability was a key selling point. This issue led Tissot to invest in research, to work with physics laboratories and even to buy a chrono-electromagnet to carry out its own experiments.

Tissot chrono-electromagnet acquired for experiments @ Tissot Museum Collection.

In the 1930s, the company was ready to launch the first "non-magnetic" wristwatch. Tissot became a pioneer by replacing the steel of the regulating organs with other non-magnetic materials. This solution worked so well that it was gradually applied to the entire collection. Consequently, the distinctive feature of these new models was promoted in several advertising campaigns in Switzerland, around the world and in China too. This decisive innovation was probably one of the reasons why Chinese officials chose Tissot when looking for a reliable supplier for their railway services.

Tissot Antimagnetic advertising campaign, 1930s @ Tissot Museum Collection.

Tissot Antimagnetic advertising campaign for the Chinese market, 1930s @ Tissot Museum Collection.

During the same period, and after many obstacles had been overcome, the last section of the Peking-Guangzhou railway, via Hankow, was completed. The British had already built the third section, from Guangzhou to Kowloon (Hong Kong), between 1903 and 1911. This important axis is still one of the main means of transport across China today. It has had several names over time, from Pe-Han, Kin-Han and Lu-Han, as it was initially called after its two termini, Peking (Pe, Kin or Lu for Lugouqiao, south-west of Peking, from where the train departed) and Hankow (Han), before becoming Ping-Han in 1928.

As already mentioned, the administration in charge of the railway company always sought good-quality timekeepers to manage train traffic properly. And among all the options available on the Chinese market at the time, the Ping-Han Railway eventually chose Tissot. In 1935, the management ordered five thousand pieces from the Le Locle factory in Switzerland - a whole month's work for 150 full-time watchmakers. The customer must have been pleased with the result, as it ordered a further nine hundred pieces just a year later.

Tissot Ping-Han railway watch, 1937 @ Tissot Museum Collection, E00012395.

The timepiece produced for the Ping-Han railway is a typical railwayman's watch, round in shape and with an open dial. It was meant to be kept in the pocket, close at hand, to ensure the punctuality of trains throughout the network. The watch usually came with a chain so that it could be safely attached to clothing. The "German silver" case houses a B-quality calibre 43 movement that was easy to maintain, since the mechanism could be completely dismantled to be cleaned regularly, the lubricant changed and any of the components replaced if necessary.

Calibre 43. Tissot Catalogue n°9 des montres de précision, customer catalogue, 1934 @ Tissot Museum Collection.

This particular model is robust: it is dustproof, withstands drastic variations in temperature or humidity and proudly displays its brand-new antimagnetic properties (as written in French on the dial, "ANTIMAGNETIQUE"). The dial shows a clear 24-hour layout, with black Arabic numerals painted on a white enamelled background, set off by a pair of "Breguet hands" resembling a hollow apple or a crescent moon. A small seconds subdial sits at 6 o'clock. Last but not least, the caseback bears an intaglio engraving of a steam engine at full speed.

Tissot Ping-Han train watch, 1937 @ Tissot Museum Collection, E00012395.

It is interesting to note that the choice fell on a pocket watch rather than a wristwatch (available at Tissot since 1907). This clearly shows that, during the 1930s, this model still had all the qualities expected of a reliable tool for railway workers. As if to confirm this, Tissot supplied other railway companies with utility watches of the same type. Some examples made for the Serbian or Swiss railways are also in the museum's collection.

Tissot Serbian railways watch, 1926 @ Tissot Museum Collection, E00016583.

Moreover, Tissot took an interest in this new means of transport very early on, since its "voyageurs" (international travelling salesmen) also used the train for their business trips. By 1909, the Maison already held share certificates in large companies, recorded in the books as "oriental" and "Russian" railways. The Ping-Han railway undoubtedly chose Tissot not only for its growing reputation in Chinese territory, but also for its experience in the same field. And when the final order of watches arrived in China from Switzerland, the railway line had already been completed as far as Guangzhou, with the prospect of reaching Hong Kong directly.

"Tissot Finest Swiss Craftmanship Since 1853", customer catalogue, 1952 @ Tissot Museum Collection.

The story of the Ping-Han railway is fascinating in more ways than one. Its construction and the vicissitudes of its development trace an entire chapter in the history of modern China. But this episode also reflects the mutual discovery of East and West from a technological point of view. Today, China has one of the most extensive and efficient high-speed rail networks in the world. Its engineering capabilities make the country one of the biggest competitors in this field.

China was an important discovery for Tissot too. In 2023, the Maison is celebrating its 170th anniversary, including a 103-year presence in the country. The story of the Ping-Han railway watch had such an impact that the model was reissued for the Chinese market in 1998. Let us hope that this fine relationship will give rise to future creations.

The Instituto Português de Relojoaria would like to thank Dr Estelle Niklès van Osselt, Heritage Communication Specialist at Tissot, for kindly accepting our invitation to publish her research. We would also like to thank Serge Maillard, publisher of Europa Star, for his availability and kindness in facilitating the process.

For more information about Tissot, visit the Maison's website here.