We've had "Homages", "Fakes", and "Cheap Chinese Tat" so...

[Nolar Dog]

Where do these "vintage" pieces fit in?
I've seen lots of Russian/Ukraine watches and loads of vintage Citizen too, some of the Citizen are beautiful looking.

But are they any good?

I keep looking at/seeing them and I'm mighty tempted to pull the trigger on a few but I just wanted some "informed opinions" of them before I go ahead.

Please.

What do I look for, other than a design I like obviously?
Any good names out there?
Anything/one to avoid?
Are they cheap and nasty or just solid if "basic" pieces?

I'm thinking things like these:








My guess would be that they don't have very sophisticated movements but there's some great looking NOS/pre-owned pieces out there for pennies really and I'm tempted to have a go at a few.

Pointers please?
Thanks muchly.

[TheEnd]

There are quite some interesting Soviet ones, especially 24h dials, incredibly complex perpetual calendars that look like spreadsheets, and the strangest thing, twin mainspring barrels.

Expect them all to be in dire need of a service though, any movement shots will usually show the regulator maxed out, and the lume will long since be dead.

Popular ones are Slava, Raketa and Vostok, although you might need to learn a little cyrillic to read the names on them.
Quite a few are antimagnetic too, and have the english word on the dial, in the cyrillic alphabet.
Decoding the words is half the fun

[sneijder]

I bought this :



The novelty has worn off pretty quick TBH.

Old watches are tiny, and will probably had the dial repainted. Also the seller will generally put a new strap on it, and in this price bracket it'll be awful.

I've tried and tried to find a nice looking Russian watchski on fleabay. When I eventually find one through the dross with pictures of tanks on, the price rockets.

[sneijder]

As soon as I post that I find some corkers ;

http://cgi.ebay.com/Russia-Soviet-Mens-SLAVA-2448-...

http://cgi.ebay.com/SLAVA-Russian-Soviet-watch-Day...

http://cgi.ebay.com/SLAVA-RUSSIAN-SOVIET-MECHANICA...

Slava seem to be the pick of the bunch.

Edited to add, I'm not bidding on those BTW.

Edited by sneijder on Thursday 24th September 20:52

[Don1]

I have this:


and this:


LOve them.

Edited by Don1 on Thursday 24th September 21:09

[sparkyhx]

We've had "Homages", "Fakes", and "Cheap Chinese Tat" ............now its time for ancient tat and multicoloured russion tat.

[Nolar Dog]

sneijder said:

I bought this :



The novelty has worn off pretty quick TBH.

I actually quiet like that and Don those two of yours are stunning, especially the first one.

Not too worried about the strap as I'd probably change that anyway.

[johnbaz]

Hey up

a few of my ruskies, all mechsanical apart from one (i have loads more but all quartz)














they were cheap and cheerful in their day (a little more expensive these days, but not much;)



john

[deejuic]

I bought this one a few years back. It's an old Longines in a new(er) silver case. Amazingly, this watch is +2 seconds per day! The dial is ok, not great, but I like it and wear it often.

[johnbaz]

deejuic said:

I bought this one a few years back. It's an old Longines in a new(er) silver case. Amazingly, this watch is +2 seconds per day! The dial is ok, not great, but I like it and wear it often.

COR!!! nicest oldie i've seen in a good while



john

[Don1]

The SS-18 is actually made from the decommissioned remain of the SS-18 'Satan' ICBM (cue your friends asking if it glows in the dark... ).

I have it on a much nicer strap, and they are seriously going up in value at the moment (bought for around £100, now can find them for £295). Hey, come on - it's a big increase!

Full details can be found on your friend Google.

[fluffnik]

I've had a bit of a vintage watch frenzy lately.

Mostly '70s Seikos:









...and there are some more in the post.

I also bought an Accutron, which I doubt will be my last...



...and since I own the car, I thought I'd have the (completely unrelated) watch.



I hate this forum!

[deejuic]

johnbaz said:

COR!!! nicest oldie i've seen in a good while



john

Thanks! I'll post a few of my other ones shortly. I've got a couple others that I actually like better than this one.

[sneijder]

That's a great watch, I don't have a fleiger, but that'd fill a nice hole in the collection.

Do you have any details on it John ?

Edited by sneijder on Friday 25th September 17:48

[Nolar Dog]

Some great posts and lovely pieces there guys.

Thanks a lot.

Today I purchased my first Sea-Gull.

But I still keep looking at some nice looking Citizens of vintage flavour.

[hugo a gogo]

I bought this cheap citizen automatic, and an even cheaper nato strap for it
face has been replaced I think, but hands are a bit tatty. keeps time ok
it's bigger than it looks, my wrists are enormous

[johnbaz]

sneijder said:

That's a great watch, I don't have a fleiger, but that'd fill a nice hole in the collection.

Do you have any details on it John ?

Edited by sneijder on Friday 25th September 17:48

Hi Sneijder

i saw it over on RLT a couple of years ago and swapped about four or five watches for it as i was taken with it...

other than that, i have seen one or two come up for sale on a couple of the watch fora...



regards, john

[Baby Huey]

Love the Poljots. Would buying off ebay from Russia be a stupid idea?

Anyone recommend a trusted vendor?

[Don1]

I've bought mine from The Watch Forum.

[Baby Huey]

Thanks, I'll take a look.