Peacock traces its origins to 1957 and is based in Dandong, the city known in China as the Geneva of the East. The company began life as the Liaoning Watch Factory and became one of the principal bases of Chinese mechanical watch production, evolving through a succession of names that track the country's own history: the Qianjin brand of the 1950s, the Liaoning brand of the 1960s, the Hongqi brand of the 1970s, and finally the Peacock brand that won national renown in the 1980s. Along the way the company built a complete mechanical watch production system running from components and parts manufacture through to assembly, making it one of the few domestic manufacturers to integrate innovation, research and development, and production under one roof. From the outset, exquisite design and outstanding craftsmanship have been its stated core pursuit.

Over more than half a century the group has produced upwards of forty million watches and today operates one watch brand alongside five sub-brands and a provincial-level watch technology research and development centre, equipped with advanced international-standard machining and testing instruments. Its movement division has long focused on the technical research of complicated mechanical calibres, on the volume production of high-value movements, and on strengthening the refinement and stability of Chinese-made calibres, supplying both branded watchmakers and professional clients with the ambition of becoming a global supplier of mechanical watch movements with its own intellectual property. Dandong is presented by the house as China's tourbillon watch manufacturing base, and its collections include the Exploration Series — with the Haiyi diving models and the guilloché Plumage Gaze — and the Zhendian Series.