When people talk about quality watches, Swiss brands usually come to mind. However, in socialist Czechoslovakia, they were both unaffordable and practically unavailable.
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So, the comrades decided to make their own. Thus, the Prim brand was born — though the journey from idea to mass production of affordable wristwatches was anything but short.
Colloquially called “primky”, these watches became a staple in Czechoslovakia. Yet, they nearly vanished in the turbulent 1990s, when the free market hit and a long-running trademark dispute between two successor companies clouded their future.
A socialist task
Although Czechoslovakia was an industrial country during the First Republic (1918–1938), it never produced wristwatches. The idea only emerged after the communist coup of 1948.
Despite the lack of local tradition in wristwatch manufacturing, there were experts familiar with Swiss watchmaking machinery. One of them, technician and manager Adolf Martínek, was assigned in the autumn of 1949 to build a new factory and prepare for mass production of watches in Nové Město nad Metují.
The town in northern Czechia was chosen deliberately. Since the 19th century, the company J. Richter & Synové had been producing precision instruments there. After World War II, the plant was nationalised.
In 1946, the state enterprise Chronotechna was established — first in Liberec, later moved to Šternberk — to produce wall clocks, alarm clocks, and measuring instruments. The Nové Město nad Metují plant became one of its branches.
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Inspiration from the West
Martínek successfully defended the idea of Czechoslovak-made watches against skeptics who argued it would be easier to import them or buy a foreign license.
With a team of 15 skilled mechanics, he began the pioneering effort. At the time, only eight countries in the world produced wristwatches.
Producing watch movements was a technically demanding process. After much experimentation, the team decided to “adapt” the French Lip mechanism.
