Dandong/Peacock caliber SL-3006

The Dandong/Peacock caliber SL-3006 is a 32 jewel automatic movement that is made in China. It features a Côtes de Genève finish on the rotor with perlage on top of the plates. You may have seen this movement written as the SL3006 but the correct way to spell it is SL-3006 with a hyphen.

SL-3006 VS SL-3001

The caliber SL-3006 is based on the SL-3001. The main difference is that the SL-3006 shown here has a small seconds subdial at 6:00 and the SL-3001 has a central seconds hand. Both movements offer a date complication.

Atelier Wen

The photos in this post are of the Dandong caliber SL-3006 found exclusively in a Porcelain Odyssey model by the microbrand watch company Atelier Wen.

Here is what Atelier Wen says about this movement:

“Pictured here is a special variation of the Dandong SL-3006 made exclusively for Atelier Wen. The modifications are the removal of the whole date mechanism (hence no phantom click), and some much tighter manufacturing tolerances. This special grade is exclusive to Atelier Wen.”

And an interesting excerpt from their Reddit post:

“The movement powering our watches comes from the Dandong Watch Factory, which is located in the North-East of the country. It is one of the largest players in the Chinese watch industry (along with Seagull, Shanghai and Hangzhou), and, after having spent years observing from the inside how this industry works, I was able to assess that the products coming out of the Dandong Watch Factory are quite likely the most qualitative ones in the Middle Kingdom. In fact, lately a number of Seagull managers who were tired and fed up of the slow nature of decision making and bureaucracy at the company “defected” to Dandong in order to implement the things that they could not achieve at Seagull. Lots of new movements have since been created and their positioning is more premium than the one of the three other giants. The calibre that we are using is the Peacock SL3006, a derivate of the Peacock SL3000, which is a clone of the ETA 2824-2. Our movement features an additional platter so as to incorporate a seconds hand at 6 o’clock. The movement has 32 jewels and beats at 28,800BPH. The top parts of the movements have a perlage finish, and côtes de Genève are applied on the rotor.”

Accuracy Rating

According to Atelier Wen, the caliber SL-3006 they use is regulated in 5 positions and each movement is tested for one month. This helps to achieve the claimed accuracy of +/- 10 seconds per day.

Here is a comment posted by Atelier Wen on Instagram:

“The movement we are using is the Peacock SL-3006, from the Dandong Watch Factory. It is a derivative of the Peacock SL-3000, which itself is an ETA 2824-2 clone. I’ve had the chance to get an extensive insider view of the Chinese horological industry, and to tour most of the country’s manufactures. By far, the Dandong Watch Factory was the very best. The movement has 32 jewels, 228 components, 41hrs power reserve and a high frequency of 28,800bph. It undergoes a month-long testing at the Dandong Watch Factory, ensuring a daily deviation of max +/-10seconds/day. Afterwards, it is fine-tuned by our final assembler (Fiyta), who also adjusts it to 5 positions.”

And from their Indigogo campaign:

“We are not just using a standard movement, but have negotiated with Peacock for a Top-grade SL 3006. This one is machined to a higher degree of accuracy and tested continuously for close to a month to ensure high durability and a daily accuracy of within 10 seconds. After leaving the factory, the movements are sent to our assembler, Fitya, who once more ensures their accuracy by testing and regulating them in five positions. In fact, Peacock is so confident in the quality of their movements that they have extended for us the industry-standard 1-year warranty to a 2-year warranty.”

A Note on Confusing Manufacturer/Caliber Names

As with most Chinese movements, one of the biggest downfalls is the confusion and lack of concise information about the manufacturer and calibers. For example, is this movement a Dandong, or a Peacock (also written as PCK), or a Dandong Peacock? While researching, we stumbled upon Liaoning Dandong Watch Factory, Liaoning Watch Co Ltd, Dandong Movement Factory, Peacock Movement Factory, Liaoning Peacock Watch Company, Liaoning Peacock Watch Group, also written as LPWG, which happens to be in Dandong City – with an office address in Hong Kong?

As shown above, even Atelier Wen seems to be confused. They refer to their movement as an SL3006, SL 3006, and SL-3006… as well as calling it a movement from Dandong Watch Factory and from Peacock.

For Chinese movement houses to move forward and garner more attention (and respect) the watch community first has to know how to identify the manufactures and calibers with ease. If any Chinese movement manufacturers are reading this, consistency is key and simplicity goes a long way! Watch movements are already complicated (pun!) so don’t complicate things more with inconsistencies and an overabundance of wording/branding. One name per company, one caliber number per movement.

Additional Resources:

• Atelier Wen official site
• Article about Dandong watches in China Daily

Caliber submitted by Robin from Atelier Wen | @atelierwenluxury