Historical exploration: Chairman Mao's beloved watch

Mao Zedong wore31years of Omega watch
　　1945 Year8 Month28When Chairman Mao went to Chongqing for negotiations on that day, Guo Moruo saw that Chairman Mao was not wearing a watch on his wrist at the airport and immediately gifted his own Omega watch to Chairman Mao. This Omega watch featured a round case, was an automatic mechanical movement, had a case diameter of40millimetres, featuredOMEGAmarkings, and was fitted with a brown calfskin strap. It was manufactured in Switzerland, the kingdom of horology. Regarding the origin of this watch, one account suggests Guo Moruo purchased it while travelling in Europe, while another suggests it was a souvenir presented by Soviet friends when Guo Moruo visited the Soviet Union at the invitation of others shortly before in the summer of1945year.

The rare “ Kazan ” mechanical watch

1949Year12In the month of, Mao Zedong began his first trip to Moscow, which was his first visit abroad in his life. Upon arriving in Moscow, Soviet Premier Georgy Malenkov presented Chairman Mao with a “ Kazan ” mechanical watch.However, historical records of this watch are scarce.

　　Although Mao Zedong kept this30Omega watch by his side for over ten years, its usage frequency was not very high. This was because a watch could not change Mao Zedong's lifestyle habit of reversing day and night, especially when he often worked continuously for days and nights on end, during which the watch would be forgotten.