H-SPOT - Russian Watches

Russian Watches

A-Z A complete listing of all watches shown in alphabetical order.

Mechanical Watches powered by a traditional, mechanical movement.

Quartz Watches with battery-powered quartz movements.

Electric/Electronic Battery-powered watches with electro-mechanical, electric or electronic movements.

British Watches made in Great Britain.

Chinese Watches made in China.

Russian Watches made in the Soviet Union or modern-day Russia.

Japanese Watches made in Japan.

American Watches made in the USA or by/for American companies.

Military/Space Military and Space related watches including homage and commemorative pieces.

Pilot/Aviator Watches intended for pilots or with some aviation connection.

Sport/Diver Watches associated with a sport or a particular sporting event or personality.

Pocket Pocket watches.

Movements For those interested in what makes watches tick! A selection of watch movement pictures.

Links A selection of links to the interesting websites of other collectors.

Elektronika:
Big old Russian LCD! I don't know much about this watch, but the design, lack of any functions and twin-battery movement suggest to me that it's an early LCD, maybe from the early 1980's or possibly even late 1970's!

Elektronika:
Another old Russian LCD from the Elektronika stable. Purchased from the Ukraine like the red one above and obviously from a similar period. The seller of this watch believed it to be from the late 70's. The movement is very similar to the one above as well.

Luch Electronic:
Luch (which I think means "beam") produced its first watches in 1956 at the Minsk Watch Plant in what is now Belarus. I would guess that this watch was made sometime in the 1970's. It employs one of the very few Soviet produced electronic balance wheel movements; in this case the 18 jewel Cal. 3055.

Molnija 1980 Moscow Olympics Pocket Watch:
The Molnija clock and watch factory is located in Chelyabinsk in Russia. During the Second World War, the city was apparently dubbed "Tankograd" due to the large number of military factories in the area. This pocket watch commemorates the 1980 Olympic Games which were held in Moscow. These games were infamous for the large number of countries which boycotted the event following the Soviet Union's involvement in Afghanistan. Among various Olympic-themed decorations to the watch case and dial is a motif of a boxer. I wonder if this depicts Shamil Sabirov, who won the Soviet Union's only boxing Gold medal at these games.

Orion Travel:
One of many intriguing Russian watches, the Orion Travel features two manually wound 17 jewel movements - probably intended for ladies watches - housed in a single rectangular case. Each movement can be set independently allowing the wearer to tell the time in two different time zones. Many thanks to Paul Groom (PG Tips) for allowing me to use his picture of the Orion Travel movements.

First Moscow Watch Factory Kirova Rodina:
I've read that this was Russia's first example of an automatic watch. You can see a picture of the 22 jewel automatic movement HERE. Some people have also claimed that Juri Gagarin wore an example of this watch during his Vostok-1 space flight in 1961. That particular watch was sold at auction for $25,875!

First Moscow Watch Factory Kirova Sporting:
Shortly after Juri Gagarin's pioneering space flight in 1961, watches produced at the First Moscow Watch Factory were sold under the name "Poljot" (see below). Prior to this, the watches were sold under a variety of different names including "Pobeda" (not to be confused with the similarly-named watches from the Maslennikov factory), "Moskwa", "Majak" and "Kirowskie". I'd guess this watch to be from the late 1950's or early 1960's. It has a hacking, 17 jewel, manually-wound movement.

Poljot Aviator:
Poljot ("Flight") watches are manufactured at the First Moscow Watch Factory. The "Aviator" is a classic pilot style watch using the famous 23 jewel 3133 chronograph movement which is a high quality Russian made version of a Swiss movement by Valjoux. This watch is number 190 of a run of 999 watches in this particular style.

Poljot Sturmanskie SS-18:
Utilising the same movement as the Poljot Aviator, the Sturmanskie SS-18 has a case made from Titanium recovered from de-commissioned Russian SS-18 "Satan" Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles! The Cyrillic inscription around the outer edge of the case reads "Made from the Soviet Rocket SS-18". The emblem on the dial is that of the Russian bomber squadrons. This watch is number 340 of 500 made in this particular style.

Raketa "Calendar":
The Russians seem to have a habit of producing watches with functions not found elsewhere. This watch has an inner bezel showing years and days of the week that rotates to align with months and dates printed on the dial. You can use this to determine the dates and days of the week for any year between 1992 and 2012. The Raketa ("Rocket") Petrodworzowy Watch Factory near St. Petersburg allegedly went bankrupt in 1995/96, but stocks of apparently brand new Raketa watches seem to be readily available.

Raketa "Glasnost" quartz:
The Russians seem very fond of adorning their watches with military or political designs. This 8 jewel quartz watch from the early to mid 1990's has a hammer and sickle logo with the word "Glasnost" printed underneath! You can see a picture of the R2350 movement HERE.

Rekord "Standart":
Most people think only of Switzerland as makers of mechanical watches but Russia has quite a tradition of watchmaking too! How they can make such a nice quality watch with 17 jewel movement, date function and metal bracelet (though pictured here on a leather strap) with a retail price of only around £25 I'll never know!

Sekonda Alarm:
This is an old Russian Sekonda alarm watch dating from somewhere around the 1970's I would imagine. The lower of the two crowns winds the 18 jewel Poljot movement whilst the upper crown winds and sets the alarm. It vibrates and gives a very healthy buzz when it goes off!

Sekonda Chronograph:
Nowadays, the Sekonda name is owned by a British company and is best known for producing very cheap "fashion" watches. This Sekonda is one of the original USSR manufactured variety and uses a high quality Poljot 3017 chronograph movement. Watches identical to this one were used by several Cosmonauts on Soyuz space missions in the 1970's.

Slava:
Slava ("Honour" or "Glory") watches are made in the Second Moscow Watch Factory. This watch has a 25 jewel automatic movement with quick-set date and day display. The style of this watch borrows rather heavily from a particular model by master Swiss watchmaker, Patek Philippe. Unlike the Patek Philippe, this Slava cost an astonishingly tiny £19!

Vostok Amphibia:
This Vostok Amphibia has a 31 jewel automatic movement and is water resistant to 200M. It is one of my most accurate watches, gaining only around 1 second per day. Not bad for £29!

Vostok Amphibia:
Another Vostok Amphibia. This one emphasises the 200M water resistance of the Amphibia case with its SCUBA diver dial.

Vostok Amphibia:
You can't have too much of a good thing! A third Vostok Amphibia, this time with a military style dial.

Vostok Amphibia - "Rodina":
This watch was made in 1995 to commemorate the 50th. Anniversary of the end of "The Great Patriotic War" - the Eastern Front conflict of World War II. The picture dial portrays Rodina Mat (or Mother Russia), a statue which stands atop the Mamayev Kurgan memorial complex overlooking Volgograd (Stalingrad). Wikipedia has an interesting historical article HERE.

Vostok Amphibia - "Operation Desert Shield":
I wonder if Vostok had run out of Soviet/Russian military events to commemorate by the time they produced this watch! "Operation Desert Shield" involved the defence of Saudi Arabia during the first Gulf War in 1990 and was the pre-cursor to what is perhaps the more well-known "Operation Desert Storm" (the liberation of Kuwait) in 1991. The earliest examples of this watch were produced during the Soviet era whilst this one I guess is circa 1992 or later.

Vostok Amphibia-Cased Komandirskie for Infantry Divisions:
This is a Vostok Komandirskie for infantry divisions housed in an older-style octagonal Amphibia case, water resistant to 200 metres. The inscription around the bottom of the dial reads "By Order of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR". At some time, the original 17 jewel manual wind movement has been replaced with a newer 31 jewel automatic which fits perfectly. The strap is an upgraded NATO from Timefactors which is thicker, softer and stronger than the normal variety and has 316L stainless steel fittings, bead-blasted to a matte grey finish. A tough watch that makes for a great "beater"!

Vostok Generalskie for Marine Radio Divisions:
This USSR made 21 jewel automatic watch features in Juri Levenberg's "Russian Wristwatches" book: "The dial was used by most ships in the... radio room. The radio operator had to switch the radio to the international emergency frequency every fifteen minutes for the duration of three minutes, to receive possible SOS calls. Therefore, the dial has a three-minute field marked in every fifteen minute segment." I've also been advised that the red segments represent the times when the Silence Period was kept on 500KHz, formerly the international morse distress frequency (SOS), whilst the pink segments are for the Silence Period on 2182KHz RT (speech) distress frequency (MAYDAY).

Vostok Komandirskie:
Vostok ("East") watches are manufatured in Tschistopol, Tatarstan and in 1961 it was appointed as the official supplier of watches for the Soviet military. Nowadays, many of the watches are available for members of the general public to buy. This model is from the early/mid 1990's (I purchased it from a shop in Saigon, Vietnam in 1994) and is of the type made for the Russian tank divisions. It has a 17 jewel, manually-wound movement with a screw-down, protected crown and bi-directional rotating bezel. This watch is one made for public consumption. The official military watches bear the mark "3AKA3 MO CCCP" which means "By Order of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR".

Vostok Komandirskie:
Oddly combined here with a NATO style strap in the colours of the British Royal Tank Regiment, this watch features in Juri Levenberg's "Russian Wristwatches" book:

"Model 'Komandirskie' for Tank Divisions, Caliber 2414, 17 jewels, manual winding, date, chromium plated case with green dial bearing the inscription 'By order of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR,' made in the 80's, rare."

Vostok Komandirskie:
An early military Komandirskie, probably from the late 1960's or early 1970's I would guess. At this time in the USSR, such watches could only be obtained from stores which catered specifically to Soviet military personnel. The purchaser would be required to prove their status by their uniform or by showing their military pass. This watch features the hacking Vostok 2234 movement.

Vostok "Treptower Park Soviet War Memorial":
This watch was made in 1985 in the USSR and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the end of "The Great Patriotic War" (WWII). The picture on the dial is of a statue which stands in the Treptower Park Soviet War Memorial in Berlin. The statue depicts an heroic Soviet soldier cradling a little German girl in one arm whilst carrying a broadsword in the other and trampling a smashed Swastika underfoot. You can read more about the memorial HERE.