Vostok Amphibia mods

[Mr Curta]

Nice. Actually, from where is the strap?

Thanks. The strap is a vintage Eulit Panama Perlon and came from Scott of Timesofplenty in the US via his eBay portal. Unfortunately the 18mm coloured vintage Panama weave straps are now very hard to find, Scott rarely has stock and if he does they are very expensive.

http://stores.ebay.com/Timesofplenty...ge-Watch-Bands

[Glen Goyne]

My first small mod. Received my first Vostok, classic scuba dude 710059. I followed a guide to brush the bezel. Quite easy to do actually with the bezel off, turning it in one direction on one of my kitchen sponges.

The hard part was getting the bezel back on....



Would really like to brush the top of the case as well but a bit scared to start. Turning a bezel is easy but getting nice lines on a case is something else. Any suggestions appreciated.

I followed this link for the bezel brush
https://youtu.be/YPpEl0NwZyY


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[Velorum]

Looking good Glen!
Yes - getting the bezels back on can be a bugger, you just have to keep fiddling.
Im still on holiday at the moment and should have a new 420 and smooth bezel waiting for me when I get back - looking forward to tinkering about again.

[Velorum]

My annual round of Amphibia tinkering has begun in a modest fashion with this black dialled 420 - Im waiting for some SS crowns from Meranom and in the meantime have fitted a smooth bezel and popped it on a TSS Atlas vintage strap





Also - heres a link to a good YouTube video regarding design history, features and case types

[Mr Curta]

Looks great with the smooth bezel

[longbear]

My annual round of Amphibia tinkering has begun in a modest fashion with this black dialled 420 - Im waiting for some SS crowns from Meranom and in the meantime have fitted a smooth bezel and popped it on ....

Looks good . Where is the bezel from - Boris? Did you get the SS crowns, interested to see the result

[Velorum]

Looks good . Where is the bezel from - Boris? Did you get the SS crowns, interested to see the result

Everyone should have an Amphibia!

I sometimes put them on rubber and leather but they always seem to go so well on a genuine Eulit Perlon



Boris didn't have any smooth bezels (he might do now) so I bought it from an eBay seller - there are a few on there.

I haven't received the SS crowns from Meranom - its been a month now!

[scottie2345]

The YouTube video is a cracker, sums up the joy of of Vostok perfectly 😀

Scottie

[Yorkshiremadmick]

I originally bought my Russian watches from a Guy in Nottingham? Going back to the late 80’s early 90’s can’t remember who or what. Both now gone, one on here, one to my son who cannot remember it????



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[Djdremel]

Here's my latest project, an Amphibia mod based loosely on a Doxa 300T.


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

This one took a fair bit of putting together. The dial and movement come from a 090 case:


Vostok Amphibia 090 by wotsch2, on Flickr

I put this into a 710 case, which is much closer to the Doxa case and which I had sandblasted for me:


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

Also, the original Amphibia hour hand, with the arrow, had to be swapped with an hour hand from a Komandirski, to be more like the Doxa hands:


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

The bezel is a Murphy bezel with a Soxa inlay from Dagaz:


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

I'm very pleased with the sandblasted finish and the bloke who did it for me even sandblasted the crown:


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

I'm chuffed with the way it's turned out:


Vostok Amphibia 710 by wotsch2, on Flickr

Hope you like it.
-wotsch

Fantastic mod.
I’m looking to get a similar mod done but I can not find that specific dial. I can see that the donor is a 090 dial ? But what is the model ? Could NOT find it on meranom.com
Thank you very much.

[Mr Curta]

Fantastic mod.
I’m looking to get a similar mod done but I can not find that specific dial. I can see that the donor is a 090 dial ? But what is the model ? Could NOT find it on meranom.com
Thank you very much.

090662 I think.

[Djdremel]

090662 I think.

Thank you so much Mr Curta.
I have to order one to get the dial. :-)

[...buffering...]

Recently, meranom started offering stainless steel replacement crowns for the Amphibia. I received a couple a few days ago and swapped them on to a couple of my mods. They're much, much nicer than the usual pressed crowns and I think I'll be using them for all of my future mods.

Here are a few photos:


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr

A subtle, but worthwhile upgrade:


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr


Meranom Amphibia Crown by wotsch2, on Flickr

Cheers,
-wotsch

Think i might try a mod but need this red wine (?) Dial before i settle on a case. Any ideas where i can get one ? None on ebay as far as i can tell.

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[Mr Curta]

Think i might try a mod but need this red wine (?) Dial before i settle on a case. Any ideas where i can get one ? None on ebay as far as i can tell.

120SE Sandwich Dials are hard to come by, good luck. I think that one might be 120359.

[...buffering...]

120SE Sandwich Dials are hard to come by, good luck. I think that one might be 120359.

Thats typical !!! Oh well the search begins..

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[Alpha4]

Well! Inspired by this thread I have bought a 'Scuba Dude' 710059. I am wearing it as is at present whilst I contemplate which mods to make.

To that end - does anyone know of a source for a 12 Hour bezel that fits the Ministry case please? I have searched the Meranom and Vostok sites but can't find a 12 hour bezel, unless the Seiko ones fit on the Vostok (I am unclear about this).

Also, the metal bracelet has/had very badly fitting end links, with sharp corners not fitting between the lugs snugly. I have 'fettled' them to fit better, but I think I will have to fetch a file to the end link corners to get them to fit properly. Is this normal?

Cheers.

[Lampoc]

You'll need to get a Murphy/Boris bezel for a 710 case then source a seperate insert from a Seiko SKX. Dagaz normally has a decent custom stock plus he also sells the bezels.
Vostok bracelets are notoriously crap. Just find anything else!

[Alpha4]

Thanks Lampoc. Where/what is a 'Boris' bezel please?

**Edit** Scrub that - Found 'Boris' Eb*y seller.

[Glen Goyne]

Finally brushed my case. Looks pretty nice. Mostly relieved I didn’t completely ruin it :-) !

I used this guide some time ago to do the bezel. Easy trick in hindsight. Pop off the bezel and rotate it on a scotch brite. Getting the bezel back on was the hardest part....

https://youtu.be/YPpEl0NwZyY

I also tried this guide for the case. I taped the sides as I want to keep those polished. Bezel off, crown off (first time I did that) but brushing a case by hand is rubbish. There is no way to get lines looking even a bit right.

So I ended up doing the bezel trick with the whole case. Cover up the crystal with tape. Add a thumbtack to help keep it centered (if google translate is correct). Although I think that could have been skipped.

Find a new scotch brite and make a hole that just lets the crystal through and then turn. I checked the tape every 20 turns to check it was still ok. Quite happy!

Before: bezel already done


Crystal taped. Thumb tack added


Scotch brite with a hole. I still had the scotch brite from the bezel that has a worn circle which I put on top of the new one to have a guide on where to cut


Turning.


Result


And the other result



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[Mastergiven]

Hi guys,do you know if anybody can supply a California dial for our Amphibians?

[Lampoc]

Hi guys,do you know if anybody can supply a California dial for our Amphibians?

I've been collecting Vostoks for years and unfortunately have never seen a California dial for one. Seen them on a few Poljot 3133 chronos but that's it for Russian watches.

[Mastergiven]

I've been collecting Vostoks for years and unfortunately have never seen a California dial for one. Seen them on a few Poljot 3133 chronos but that's it for Russian watches.

Yah,this one is the closest to Panerai style I have seen so far



I will ask Meranom if they can make it California style

[ed335d]

The Mrs wanted a red dialed watch, so a new watch, dial and second hand were ordered from Meranom.

From this



To this



Just waiting for a new bezel and insert to arrive.

[rsaleiro]

Hello everybody! I just wanted to thank all of you for this thread. This is why I decided to buy a Vostok and all your mods are a true inspiration. I purchased my 710634 at zenitar and a couple of bezels. I really love this watch now, specially with this Meranon bezel, new stainless steel crown and a nato from cheapestnatostraps.com.

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[Djdremel]

Hi all.
Have you heard about the limited edition Vostok Baikal created by a spanish watch forum. What a stunning watch.
Could it be possible to dream about doing something similar ?

[number2]

Vostok watches no lists, no problems with stickers or warranty cards, no need to foster a relationship with the AD, great heritage and cheap as chips.

[Passenger]

Vostok watches no lists, no problems with stickers or warranty cards, no need to foster a relationship with the AD, great heritage and cheap as chips.

well said mate, almost endless variety/moddable too, great fun if you're not worried about residuals, gain and if you break it, so what.

[number2]

well said mate, almost endless variety/moddable too, great fun if you're not worried about residuals, gain and if you break it, so what.

So true wearing one is so liberating

[Ascalon]

Some lovely mods there.

I love my Vostok Partner. I picked it up in Minsk in 2002 for the princely sum of $12! Still going.

[SimonK]

And the Russians in Stranger Things series 3 are wearing 'em!

[Passenger]

And the Russians in Stranger Things series 3 are wearing 'em!

Good to know, must pay closer attention.

[Lampoc]

Not mine but I thought this fine effort deserved sharing:

[Glen Goyne]

Hi all.
Have you heard about the limited edition Vostok Baikal created by a spanish watch forum. What a stunning watch.
Could it be possible to dream about doing something similar ?

Any pics? Can’t seem to find it.


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[markrlondon]

Any pics? Can’t seem to find it.

Just what I was going to ask. :-)

[markrlondon]

Could it be possible to dream about doing something similar ?

Well, not here since we have Eddie and Time Factors. A forum watch here wouldn't make much sense.

WUS is a good place to get involved in forum watches, from what I've seen.

[Djdremel]

Any pics? Can’t seem to find it.


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https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5bff781d35.jpg

[Djdremel]

Just what I was going to ask. :-)

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ac569dc91c.jpg

[Matt68]

So true wearing one is so liberating

I don't wear mine enough, great Watches as the lack of value helps as you don't get the urge to flip lol.

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[Glen Goyne]

Brushed the case and bezel a few months back. Just bought a macro lens and must say I am quite happy with the result up close!






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[markrlondon]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5bff781d35.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...ac569dc91c.jpg

Many thanks. That's rather good looking.

[Djdremel]

Anyone with experience fitting a ceramic bezel insert ?
How does it fit to the curved acrylic crystal ?
If you have some pictures.
Thank you.

[Grandsire]

Anyone with experience fitting a ceramic bezel insert ?
How does it fit to the curved acrylic crystal ?
If you have some pictures.
Thank you.

The simple answer is they dont fit. You need to stack a couple of double sided bezel stickers to raise them above the glass and not push too hard otherwise they crack....only tired it with a Murphy bezel however.

[Djdremel]

The simple answer is they dont fit. You need to stack a couple of double sided bezel stickers to raise them above the glass and not push too hard otherwise they crack....only tired it with a Murphy bezel however.

Thank you. It is a shame. The new Pepsi ceramic inserts will give it a nice touch. I will buy a standard alu. insert.