Nice, I've got a soft spot for Vostok. Durable, inexpensive, fun.
A couple of months ago, I bought a 24 Hour Kommadirski (030935) from Komandirskie.com.
For around £80, I think it's an absolute stunner - I even liked the bracelet!
After being very pleased with the 030935, I decided to buy one of the GMTs (650539) from them as well (At a meagre £45 delivered, it's a bit of a no brainer).
The bracelet was, as predicted by the reviewers, horrible, so I put it straight on a strap I had lying around and it looks pretty good I thought.
The 030935 had been about +10s/d out of the box, but with a bit of tweaking I got it down to +4s/d, which I was very pleased with, so I put the 650539 on the timegrapher to see how much work it needed.
This was the result!
Needless to say, I'm not opening it up!
Agricultural, maybe, but certainly not inherently inaccurate!
I hated the Scuba Dude Amphibias I had in the past and happily moved them on, but I'm a 100% convert to the Kommadirski Divers!
M
Last edited by snowman; 24th November 2020 at 10:12.
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Nice, I've got a soft spot for Vostok. Durable, inexpensive, fun.
Great couple of watches. The newer 020, 030 and 670 Amphibias/Komandirskies with the 20mm lugs are definitely a major step up in quality over the older stuff - I personally think they've lost that "tinny" feel the old ones used to have. I still love the older ones though :D
Here's one of my newer models with modded bezel:
Last edited by Lampoc; 24th November 2020 at 10:45.
I have had a couple of those GMTs with the sub seconds (still have one in a drawer somewhere I think) for the money they are great, perfect for holiday or adventures in the wilderness / xmas shopping.
The only criticisms I have are poor lume and a case so sharp you can use it as a survival knife when you find yourself lost Siberia. At the price point these seem a bit petty though
Last edited by Sinnlover; 24th November 2020 at 12:10.
I've got too many of these, rarely worn (if at all!). The Mrs has a few too.
They have a couple Inwould actually wear without a mod but most of them- no.
Love the OP's watches, I can only get on with 12 hour dials though, I have a 24 hour one and it takes me a little longer to be sure of the time!!
I think mine is due a service as it stops occasionally!!
John
I've long been a fan.
Picked up a Vostok Partner with a submarine dial in Minsk in 2002.
Then went hunting and got this:
Poljot 3133 Navitimer "Blue Angels" limited edition.
Quite fond of both.
I bought a Vostok Kommadirski a couple of years ago.
Its so bad that its funny, i wind it up and have to tap it to get it going lol.
Its plasic at best and the strap was from a joke shop.
But the strange thing i regulated it myself with nothing more than a flat head screw driver.
Then i recorded the time against a gshock atomic watch.
For 3 days i recorded every few hours and i was weraing it in the day and taking it off at night as usual.
I failed to record any change at all for almost 3 days solid making it perhaps more accurate that most Rolex.
Typical!
Oh well, I've spent far too much on watches again, so probably a good thing!
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
This is most of my Ruskies, There's a few more that I bought since I took the pic
A closer view of a few of them..
John
Never sell a Vostok
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
I totally agree the only time I've watched any shopping channel is when some bloke called,'Kevin',shows off the Vostok Europe range of watches they do look really nice and well made.
On that note I am looking for a copy of the watch that Yuri Gagarin wore on his famous space flight ideally it would have to be around 40MM any ideas?
All I know is that it was a Sturmanskie.
They're good fun. Tough and reliable watches. Plenty scope for modding as well.
I'm not so keen on the Vostok Europe watches. They have some lovely designs but are just too big for my taste.
Last edited by Kaffe; 25th November 2020 at 22:35.
Had two of them; loved them so much but finally parted with them to fund Everest.
Both new "170" amphibia cases (42mm, 200m); one with PAM looking dial, the second one so sought after Batman GMT:
Not my photos / writing from my laptop
Here's a quick snap of the current crop of Soviet Union cosmonaut watches. Gonna need a bigger box...
There are a couple of Pobeda 34-K which was the first watch in space, 15j and 17j Sturmanskies, a bunch of Strela/Poljot/Sekonda 3017 column-wheel chronographs which seem to have been particularly popular with cosmonauts, a 2209 Vostok, an Elektronika-55, a 31659 Sturmanskie and an early '80s Poljot 'Stadium' loose on top.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
My only Russian watch is this Vostok Amphibia...
CCCP era Mickey Mouse. It’s an oxymoron in watch form.
Presumably from the Gorbachev era, although they have put poor old Mick in a right dodgy outfit.
My two Soviet Vostoks.
Still in the NOS condition I received them in. The silver dial runs very slow though. Any advise on who can service it? Cheers.
Last edited by Toshk; 29th November 2020 at 22:05.
Thought I'd have a little look at Komandirskie.com myself. Ended up ordering a couple while slightly merry on boxing day. I've just had notification from UPS that delivery will be tomorrow. Including postage (not sure about taxes/duty yet), it has cost me £126 for a Vostok scuba dude and a 24 hour K watch. Amazing!
Meranom seems to have almost no stock at all.
That is an amazing collection of Russian space watches - can I post your photo on the Space Watches Facebook page please - they would really appreciate it?
Years ago I had a comprehensive collection of Russian military watches - Zlatoust 191 diver with compass and depth gauge, three polish air force-issued 3017s, 31659, Okeah, bunch of 3AKA3 Komandirskies, including an original 300m etc. Now I just have the 31659 and a Gorbatko 3133, plus a clutch of Vostoks, a Zissou, a tropical dial tank and several 3AKA3 watches which I had completely forgotten about.
Not sure what it is about them but they are addictive and surprisingly excellent time-keepers.
Regards
Jon.
Looks like it's in stock here
https://www.vostok-watches24.com/e-h...ct-13667690892
Yes, no worries! I have details of the various missions that each featured on but they'll probably know that stuff already. This is just the Soviet stuff, there's a whole bunch of others in the collection like Timex Data-Links and watches flight qualified by NASA.
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...SA-Smart-Watch
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...=1#post5111748
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Many thanks - Phil MWU who used to post a lot on the Omega Forum hangs out on there and seems to post some interesting new information almost every day - no idea where he finds it all.
Appreciate the links. Your collection is the most complete I have seen. Would like to see a photo of everything you have, all together?
All the best
Jon.
I have a couple. A Vostok Amphibia and a Poljot Okeah. The Vostok is a cheapie (was less than £50 BNIB from Russia) and has a horrible bracelet. That being said it is waterproof to 200m and whereas I originally thought the crown was horrific due to its wobbly action I read up on it and discovered this was intentional as part of the design to avoid the Russian troops it was designed for putting too much pressure on the crown when winding. Accuracy of the in house automatic movement is dead on however so eat your heart out METAS and Superlative Chronometers!
The Poljot Okeah was a different price point and is by any definition a really nice watch. It has the P3133 movement which is based on an old Valjoux movement that the Russians actually refined somewhat. It has an exhibition caseback so you can view the movement which looks nice enough but is not finished at all (I guess Cotes de Geneve would look somewhat out of place in Socialist Russia!). The Okeah for me shows what nice watches the Russians can make and it holds its own against my Speedmaster for sure.
I'll try and get some pics of both later and add them.
That’s interesting, Ryan, didn’t know that about the Vostok crowns.
Completely agree with you on the 3133. I have a 3133 and a 31659 and they both have a beautifully smooth winding action, much better than my Speedmaster. Although it is usually omitted from the various lists floating around, the 31659 was worn during EVAs by Cosmonaut Alexander Poleshuk, board engineer of Soyuz TM-16/MIR-13 during his 179 day flight in 1993. These 3133s and 31659s have a strong Space pedigree and it’s a struggle to limit myself to just the two!
All the best
Jon.
Close, but it's nothing to with the prevention of inadvertant excess pressure when winding. The crown and stem assembly incorporates a clutching mechanism which is designed to decouple when the crown is screwed fully home thus preventing shocks to the crown transferring to the movement via the stem.
I'm loving some of these but I have so many questions!
I gather Vostok and Vostok Europe are not the same and that Vostok is the way forward. Are Komandirskie. com legit or is it Meranom?
What is the reliability of the watches like? Several people have mentioned modding, how easy is it to do? How long do they take to arrive? Are there customs fees?
Is there a Russian Watches 101 or could some kind soul pen a brief summary for the unwary...
Mucho Thanko,
I'll try and answer all of these.
1. Vostok and Vostok Europe are separate brands. Vostok Europe is Lithuanian and used to use Vostok movements. I don't rate them - I equate them to a crappy shopping channel brand like Invicta.
2. Both Komandirskie.com and Meranom.com are both legit. Also try Chistopolcity.com, soviet.market and vostok-watches24.com. Zenitar is the go-to eBay guy.
3. Reliability is hit and miss and QA is poor.
4. Swapping stuff like bezels is easy but the rest depends on your horology skills! Parts are easy to get hold of.
5. Shipping usually takes 3 to 6 weeks but has been longer during the past year due to Covid.
6. I have bought god knows how many watches from Russia over the years and have never yet been hit for customs fees.
7. Brief summary - cheap and cheerful and can get addictive. Loads of frankenwatch shite on eBay.
5. Komandirskie.com offer (advise even) the option of Fed Ex (I think) at a cost which delivers much quicker, if that bothers you - I've gone with the free Russia Post option and the tracking is excellent, although it's taken about 3 weeks to get here.
6. In theory there should be custom charges, 20% VAT plus whatever the post office are charging to process it - Fed Ex almost certainly will charge you both.
M
Breitling Cosmonaute 809 - What's not to like?
Thanks Lampoc & Snowman, I think I might have a dabble, some of the designs are striking. One question I should have asked before, if you find you've bought a lemon, are you stuck with it or can they be returned / get a Western movement put in etc?
Thanks,
There's a load of info in these threads, although some of the images have been Photobucketed.
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...-Amphibia-mods
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...Amphibia-420SE
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH