Russian watches

[gareth h]

There was a feature in this months Octane about the Vostok Amphibian watch

Looks great, so ordered one direct from Russia for £60.
Then started googling other Ruskie watches, turns out there’s lots of interesting timepieces, anybody into them?

[sxmwht]

I'm going to be after a green Vostok Komandirskie in the near future, I can feel it

[Doofus]

There's a thread in here about sun £200 watches, and Vostok gets some love in there. I hate them.
In my experience, they are nasty, rattly and noisy.

[Barchettaman]

Doofus said:

There's a thread in here about sun £200 watches, and Vostok gets some love in there. I hate them.
In my experience, they are nasty, rattly and noisy.

Mine (well, my wife’s actually, as she has nicked it from me) is neither rattly nor noisy.

The crown wobbles when unscrewed but that’s part of the design.

The automatic rotor is perfectly quiet, unlike my Parnis watches, which are noisy, but then again so is a Valjoux 7750 movement.

Out of all the posts on here I have read about Vostok watches only one guy had had a bad experience, where his stopped working.

They have been successfully pressure tested down to 700m+ apparently. Amazing things.

[Doofus]

The Amphibian that I tried was really awful. The rotor was noisy, the bezel was loose and the whole thing felt light and tinny.

Perhaps an isolated experience, but enough to put me off.

[kuro]

I have a couple of Vostocks. If bought direct from Meranom factory shop the Amphibia's offer a great specification for the money and there's history behind the brand. The watches are very robust and the finish is quite good but they are let down by crap bracelets and straps which is easily rectified.

Poljot watches are also worth looking at, especially the 3133 chronographs.

Edited by kuro on Tuesday 22 October 16:24

[AlexC1981]

If the bezel is loose on an Amphibia, pop it off and tighten the bends in the wire underneath.

Here's some of my favourite Ruskies.

[mickyc79]

That Strela!!!!

[kuro]

Poljot aviator 31681 movement.

Amphibia 670 on a strapcode super engineer.

Scuba dude on a Chinese stainless steel bracelet

[GC8]

Really, only Poljot are actually good and sadly the company doesnt exist any longer. 3133 movements (or derivatives of the 3133) still appear to be manufactured, but 'Poljot' watches are now made by a man in Germany, usually using a Poljot movement.

[GC8]

One of the last real Poljots on the left, and something a little more interesting on the right. A Soviet marked Poljot made for sale in East Germany, for Western currency, in the eighties.

[mickyc79]

Little Vostok Komandirskie, well, bit really. This one is what's known as a franken, or frankenstein watch... Different parts from different watches cobbled together...

But for £15 I love the little thing, and really enjoy wearing it.

[Macneil]

mickyc79 said:

That Strela!!!!

That Molniya!!!!

[kuro]

GC8 said:

Really, only Poljot are actually good and sadly the company doesnt exist any longer. 3133 movements (or derivatives of the 3133) still appear to be manufactured, but 'Poljot' watches are now made by a man in Germany, usually using a Poljot movement.

I heard that the 3133 ceased production in 2011 and the supply is now almost exhausted. Apparently the seagull st19 is now being used in the newer strellas.

[skirk]

I have had this since i was 13.......Joe @ Anglesey recently revived it after sitting in a drawer fora few decades....An early 70's 3017 Strela

[mickyc79]

skirk said:

I have had this since i was 13.......Joe @ Anglesey recently revived it after sitting in a drawer fora few decades....An early 70's 3017 Strela

Nice. That'll be worth a pretty penny now!

[skirk]

My Father , who never throws anything away, found the original Jewellers receipt for that watch....£11.00...... I should have bought a gross of them at that price....

[mickyc79]

skirk said:

My Father , who never throws anything away, found the original Jewellers receipt for that watch....£11.00...... I should have bought a gross of them at that price....

WOW! You'd get a minimum 500-750 for that today! That could have been a nice investment!

[lostkiwi]

mickyc79 said:

skirk said:

My Father , who never throws anything away, found the original Jewellers receipt for that watch....£11.00...... I should have bought a gross of them at that price....

WOW! You'd get a minimum 500-750 for that today! That could have been a nice investment!

Who needs a Rolex to make a profit eh

[GC8]

skirk said:

I have had this since i was 13.......Joe @ Anglesey recently revived it after sitting in a drawer fora few decades....An early 70's 3017 Strela

How much, please? I have two watches with similar movements that Id like servicing.

Without a doubt the best Sekonda made. Most were Raketa, but this is a Poljot,