The Empress Catherine the Great had a passion for hardstones: she sent specialists from the Imperial Peterhof Factory on expeditions to Ural and Altai mountains to discover new minerals that were then transformed by the Factory into lavish works of art. The Factory quickly established itself as one of the leading creators of luxury goods in Europe.

The Imperial Peterhof Factory belonged to the Emperors and could only produce upon Their personal instruction. IPF objects were therefore top ranking Imperial gifts and, as such, were extremely revered. As an example, this centre table with a beautiful stone mosaic floral arrangement was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas I as a gift for Queen Victoria in 1844. It is still found today in Buckingham Palace.

Located right next to the Emperor’s summer palace in Peterhof (30 km from Saint-Petersburg), the Imperial Peterhof Factory was always very close to the wealth, influences and tastes of the Imperial family and Saint Petersburg’s high society, art & culture. As a result, the stone objects made by the Factory were often on an aesthetic scale and quality seen nowhere else in the world!

The fashion for luxury stone objects died away after the Soviet revolution. The Factory adapted to the needs of the people, not hte elites. Some of the latest monumental works of the Factory were Kremlin stars and Lenin's Tomb in Moscow.

In 1938 Factory started producing precision ruby stones for watch mechanisms. Up to this day, every Raketa watch has 24 ruby stones in its movement

During the Great Patriotic War (World War II) the Factory was evacuated. However, it participated in the war effort by producing precision components for the military. Many specialists tragically died. In April 1945 the watch brand “Pobeda” was created by order of the Kremlin.

"Pobeda" watch — first watch ever to go to space! It was sent into space on the "Vostok 3KA No.1" spacecraft with a space dog named Chernushka by a Soviet researcher.

Yuri Gagarin's first space flight was such a huge breakthrough for humanity that the Soviet Union created the Raketa brand in its honor.

Raketa invent the Polar watch specifically for the Soviet polar explorers of the 16th Soviet Antarctic Expedition. Beyond the Polar Circle, temperatures can reach -89°C, so Raketa engineers faced an extremely difficult task: to create a reliable movement that could work in harsh climatic conditions. They managed to find a solution. Raketa engineers invented a 24-hour movement to distinguish day from night during the long polar nights and days that last up to 6 months each.

Factory was awarded the order of the “Red Banner of Labour” for its high-quality watches. Raketa specialists are still proud of this well-deserved award.

Factory produces the official watches of the Soviet Olympic Games in Moscow. This model was on the wrists of participants and guests - as the USSR's diplomatic gift to the world.The 2609HA movement of the watch could guarantee high precision of time reading. The dial combined the Olympic Games logo and the visiting card of the capital - outline of the Kremlin.

Following a difficult period after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Factory launched a modernisation programme in 2011. It is now one of the very few watch factories in the world to produce every part of its own mechanical movement, including the most complex item — the hairspring.

“Raketa” is one of the very few watch brands in the world to have its own movement. The Factory’s designers and engineers have combined the tried methods of the soviet era with more modern technology to produce a movement that is not simply robust and reliable, but also with Russian style decorations.

The Russian clockwork movement Raketa in the Central Children’s Store is the largest in the world! It weighs 4,5 tons, and has a size of 6 by 7 metres, and consists of over 5,000 pieces made of steel, aluminum and titanium and covered with gold.

According to the laws of astronomy, planets in the solar system rotate counterclockwise. The Raketa "Russian Code" watch follows the natural counterclockwise movement of the planets in our Solar System. Changing the direction of hand is possible only at a manufactory, which Raketa has and is famous for. This watch is certainly not for the faint-hearted but rather for people who are willing to stand out from the crowd and look high up to the stars.

For the 300th anniversary of its foundation by Peter the Great, the Factory has come even closer to its Imperial stone-cutting origins by producing, under the name “Imperial Peterhof Factory”, a beautiful and elegant work of art that combines its historic lapidary activity and its current watchmaking know-how.