Before the outbreak of World War II, amid the Soviet Union’s push for rapid industrialization, the government sought international expertise to establish a domestic watchmaking industry. The French manufacturer LIP was ultimately selected, and in 1936, technical director Fred Lipmann signed an agreement to supply the USSR with watchmaking technology and components.
A year earlier, in 1935, the Third State Watch Factory was founded in Penza, equipped with machinery imported from LIP. French engineers supervised the installation and trained their Soviet counterparts, laying the groundwork for a new generation of watchmakers.
On May 5, 1940, the People’s Commissariat of General Mechanical Engineering formalized the factory’s mission: to produce small women’s watch movements and precision tools for the wider Soviet watch industry. However, with the onset of war, the factory quickly converted to military production.
Following the end of hostilities, the facility resumed civilian manufacturing under the name Penza Watch Factory. In 1945, it began producing popular models such as Zvezda and Pobeda. By 1949, the factory was directed to specialize in women’s watches, initiating the development of a new compact movement marketed under the Zaria brand.
During the 1950s and 1960s, multiple product lines were produced, but in 1964, all branding was unified under the Zaria name. The factory diversified into pedometers in 1968 and reached a major milestone in the 1980s with over 100 million watches produced.
Today, the Penza Watch Factory continues its operations, maintaining an annual output of approximately 500,000 watches, carrying forward a legacy that began with Franco-Soviet collaboration.