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Mayak / Маяк

In 1954, by decree of the government, the First State Precision Jewel Factory (ТТК-1) was formally renamed “Petrodvorets Watch Factory” with the intention of producing high-quality pocket and wristwatches for men. This lead to a proliferation of discrete brands in the second half of the 1950s, all powered by Petrodvorets movements. These brands included Baltika, Leningrad, Mayak, Neva, Russia, Start, and Svet.

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The Mayak brand (Маяк, meaning "lighthouse") was produced primarily by Petrodvorets Watch Factory, but also by First Moscow Watch Factory. It's generally possible to tell which factory manufactured a given Mayak, as Petrodvorets usually put their company logo on the dial, while 1MWF omitted this feature. All watches relied on the caliber 2603 movement, a shockproofed version of the ubiquitous Pobeda caliber. 

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The Mayak brand was retired around 1962, when the vast majority of Petrodvorets Watch Factory brands were consolidated under a single trademark: Raketa. Similar watches continued to be produced thereafter, but only under the Raketa name.

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