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How the Soviets revolutionized wristwatches (2016)
- sybercecurity 2y agoOne of the things Gen-X may remember during the dissolution of the USSR was the amount of Soviet goods available in Eastern Europe. Some of it was local stuff or sold by former USSR officers for quick cash on their way back home. Unfortunately most is military surplus so not as good as some of the samples in the article. I picked up a USSR paratrooper watch that was really just a copy of an older Rolex design. Depending on where/when you went to former Warsaw Bloc countries, you could find all sorts of watches, clothes, medals, etc. being sold in shops or street corners.
- jojobas 2y agoPre-zoom, pre-autofocus M42 lenses, binoculars, night vision goggles...
- DeathArrow 2y agoThere's a ton of Russian watches for sale in the flea market. However it's cheaper to order them from E-bay, from former Soviet countries.
- timonoko 2y agoI bought crapload of high-quality carbon fiber rods and made a lightweight folding kayak frame. Those rods were clearly from aerospace industry, labeled мир, as in space station MIR.
- euroderf 2y agoI picked up a Soviet Army officer's uniform, including cap, slacks, and pistol holster. Uniforms were being sold for peanuts by individuals.
- xarope 2y agoWhat movie was it with Schwarzenegger and Belushi, where Schwarzenegger swaps his soviet watch with Belushi's more expensive watch? I don't even recall what brand Belushi's watch was... time to do some google-fu-ing...
- IncreasePosts 2y agored heat
- Brajeshwar 2y agoRed Heat? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095963/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095963/
- stevekemp 2y agoI collect (mechanical) watches, and my collection is split between Swiss and Russian. The article really does sell things rightly, at their peak Russian watches were rugged, beautiful, and utterly reliable. Even now Vostok, in particular, is well known for being "cheap and cheerful", producing a number of lines that are similar to the old ones. There was a dip in quality, which some say never came back, but I've had a few recent pieces as well as the more vintage ones from the 50s,60s and 70s and they all seem to hold up well. Brands like Pobeda, and Rateka are easy to find online as they really were made in huge numbers - literally in factories!
- KingOfCoders 2y agoFor decades I wanted mechanical watches. Then I had some and I learned that I wanted the image of mechanical watches but not reality. I gave my mechanical watches to my wife and bought an UHF quartz, which as an 80s kid is much more to my liking I've learned to my suprise.
- SargeDebian 2y agoSame. I have the Withings Steel Hr, which looks mostly analog except for the small screen. The mechanical watches started breaking down and becoming unreliable, and fixing Russian (Poljot mentioned in the article) and Chinese watches is a challenge, apparently.
- __turbobrew__ 2y agoA f91-w will keep better time, never breaks, and costs about 2-3 coffees. You cannot beat the utility.
- a-french-anon 2y agoAnd the F-105W will do the same but with a usable night light.
- KingOfCoders 2y agoI also have a (little more expensive) GWM5610-1 and I think it is the best watch (for what is important to me, solar, sleep mode, radio, gshock, waterproof) - it will probably outlast me.
- a-french-anon 2y agoI have one too, but find myself favouring the much lighter and simpler F-105 anyway.
- KingOfCoders 2y ago
- bewaretheirs 2y agoSometimes the Soviets made watches disappear: https://aboutphotography.blog/blog/2019/10/12/the-story-behind-the-raising-a-flag-over-the-reichstag-by-yevgeny-khaldei-1945 https://aboutphotography.blog/blog/2019/10/12/the-story-behi... And old habits die hard: https://www.rferl.org/a/russian_patriarch_watch_disappearing_act/24539007.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russian_patriarch_watch_disappearing...
- dang 2y agoDiscussed at the time (of the article): Movements of the Cold War: How the Soviets Revolutionized Wristwatches - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182251 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13182251 - Dec 2016 (34 comments)
- DeathArrow 2y ago> In fact, aside from a few obsessive collectors, the impressive quality of vintage Soviet watches has mostly been forgotten. If you lurk around watch forums, watch blogs, YouTube channels, auctions and speak with watch collectors, that is not the case at all. There are many people interested in old Russian watches. However, there's a problem, many old Russian watches are forged, Frankenstein-ized and you need due diligence to find an original watch in good condition.
- iainctduncan 2y agoThat is good to know... so is ordering off ebay safe? Or how does one get the real deal? I really like some of these watches. :)
- aprilthird2021 2y agoA similar problem befalls any name that gets well associated with Western collectors. Fake HMT watches are all over eBay as well. If you think you're getting a genuinely 20-30 year old, still in working order Soviet era mechanical watch that runs well (meaning it was serviced by a human) for like $30-$60, no way. You can buy Vostoks new from Russian factories direct today, and those will be guaranteed to be real, plus they have not changed much since Soviet times, even the designs are the same. It's kind of kitschy like that. If you genuinely want to buy a vintage Soviet watch like this collector, it's best to find some catalogs, make sure the watch you want was actually produced by the given company. Find pictures of the movement online, and ask your eBay seller to show you the watch with the case back taken off. When it comes to Frankenstein watches, I don't really care if the dial is repainted, so long as the movement is real and from the era.
- tcmart14 2y agoThis is a pretty decent forum. The link is for the Russian watch section. BUt over time some good posts and dicussion has happened in the past on identifying fakes and franken watches. [1] https://www.watchuseek.com/forums/russian-watches.10/ https://www.watchuseek.com/forums/russian-watches.10/
- DeathArrow 2y agoIf you are a watch enthusiast, another path worth exploring is Chinese mechanical watches. Some are on par with Swiss Made watches while being much pocket friendly.
- adamomada 2y agoI came across these recently from a quote on a deals forum that said they’re better than anything you can get in North America for less than $4-500. It absolutely shocked me what you get at the price. Look up steeldive official store on aliexpress
- DeathArrow 2y ago> if it’s a well-tuned mechanical watch, you can probably reset it once a week or once a month. The watch I am wearing most often with a relatively modest ETA 2824-II, is 1 second per day off. Since I am OK with a 30 seconds difference I set it 30 seconds earlier and reset it in 2 months.
- stevekemp 2y agoI switch watches every few days, so my typical routine is either to wind yesterday's watch and trust it kept time, or to go to my watch box and pickout a new one to wear - setting the time/date before putting it on. I know they're not as accurate as quartz/digital watches, but I've never had a watch that would drift too much over the course of a few days so I don't need to reset them other than when changing. (My routine is one of the reasons why I avoid watches with date-complications, it makes it easier to wear a watch that has been in the box for a couple of weeks. That's why I prefer the Submariner original vs. the one with the date for example.)
- ndneighbor 2y agoI collect watches, it's my dumb hobby, but there is a cult following in the community for Soviet watches especially Vostoks on the whole price : value that you get from them. You can see that the factories and materials that were limited really influenced their approaches to design. It's fascinating to see how Soviet engineers approached problems such as shock absorption or bezel design in a completely different manner than their Swiss contemporaries. They are harder to get considering sanctions after the war in Ukraine but many collectors do revere their watches. I wish Vostoks weren't as out there with their designs nowadays but I hope to collect a few down the line.
- justsomehnguy 2y agoOfftopic: > which allowed them to pilfer surviving equipment from German factories Remember kids, the Soviets only pilfer and plunder, while The Great West gives jobs and opportunities (especially in the rocket industry)! It is especially jarring in the article what essentially praises the same Soviets.
- surfingdino 2y agoThe author is not wrong. The Soviet Army stole all equipment it could find on its way West only to "gift" some of it back. German industry was officially treated as spoils of war, watch factories, optics, photography, chemistry, the lot.
- jajko 2y agoIt was common trope to see soviet soldiers with multiple stolen watches on the wrists, even most famous photo of raising flag on Reichstag had to be retouched to hide that common and very visible fact. People greeted soviet liberators pompously, then came sobering up.
- geoka9 2y agoThe Soviet top military commander (Zhukov) even got in trouble with Soviet customs for smuggling whole trainloads of loot back home.
- surfingdino 2y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU1f47SC_A8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU1f47SC_A8 They were greedy at times of peace and out of control during war.
- ahartmetz 2y agoAFAIK, it is true that the Western allies focused more on top personnel and prototypes while the Soviet Union took whole factories but scored much less top personnel. Top personnel often fled the Russians, expecting better treatment and economic conditions in the West - and they were right about that. Besides its own nature, the SU had also suffered many large-scale German war crimes to make it harsh on the defeated Germans.
- kristjank 2y agoI have owned two (new) Vostoks so far, and they've proven easier to adjust and tinker with than a Seiko 5 my friend has. They really nailed down mass production of that soviet "Good enough, watch is fine" engineering concept. When properly adjusted (which they don't bother to do at the factory), they also keep time perfectly (+- 1s/day), provided you don't let the spring unwind completely. Some of them are ugly as sin though.
- user_7832 2y agoCould you explain how they're easier? I thought all analogue watches were very similar - pull the crown out, rotate, push it back in.
- ljf 2y agoI assume the parent means to adjust the watch internals - changing how fast or slow it runs, and completing basic servicing. I have a couple of automatic Seiko's and they keep terrible time despite (fairly expensive) servicing, and they are made for home adjustments (though that doesn't stop a lot of people having a go).
- aprilthird2021 2y agoHe means adjusting the screws / levers that regulate how much or how little of the wound spring to let out at a time. Slight changes to that tolerance can "adjust" how fast or slow your watch keeps time. You can pop the back of a mechanical watch off and adjust these parts with a tweezer and put it back together, then see if the time is kept better. There's also machines that can detect the time keeping accuracy to help you adjust a watch's timekeeping this way
- KronisLV 2y agoI wonder what an affordable modern wristwatch would be. I looked at the stores in my country and it was all either smart watches/wristbands, or ones that look like they scream "sports". Nothing wrong with that aesthetic per se, but I'd very much like something neutral looking. A quick search even on AliExpress turns up something like what I'm looking for https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005201883255.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005201883255.html (might have actually gotten one, but at the same time I have exactly 0 expectations for the quality, more like an odd curiosity), yet there's nothing with similar designs sold in the popular marketplaces in my country. Where's the simple, reasonably reliable and affordable watches for the modern day working person, not someone who wants to pay bank to make a fashion statement?
- mik1998 2y agoSome kind of Casio watch?
- user_7832 2y agoAs the other person mentioned, Casio is solid (especially the digital stuff like the F91W), but if you're in the US/Western market Timex/Citizen/Seiko are also good. If you want a mechanical watch the Seiko 5 is a classic, and Ali has a lot of really good value for money "homages" by folks like Pagani Design for around $100-200. I think there's a subreddit for chinese (mech) watches if you're curious. The generally accepted principle is that watch brands' watches are of a far higher quality than that of fashion brands (eg Diesel/Nike etc). Modern quartz movements are damn good, but cheap ones aren't easily repairable or generally even worth repairing if you get it from one of these fashion brands.
- KronisLV 2y agoThank you so much for taking the time to write that out, this is useful to know!
- octobus2021 2y agoBe careful with venturing into the world of Chinese watches, it's addictive. They're like between $50 and $200, depending on the brand (they have more and less expensive brands now, they've been at it for years and years), with very reasonable quality, often using Japanese movements (eg Seiko), and resembling famous designs ("homages"). To the point that it's almost impossible to tell if you're wearing $25,000 Rolex or $40 "Olevs", unless you look at it from arm's length. I have like 8 now, all looking and working great, and keep checking AE sales for new ones. Someone please stop me...
- tux2bsd 2y ago[dead]
- buzzm 2y agoA fascinating piece that combines technology, precision in micromanufacturing, design aesthetics, economics, politics, and history -- centered on the now all-too-forgettable wristwatch in the smartphone age. I haven't worn a wristwatch since I got a Blackberry about a 100 years ago (wink) but it is articles like this that rekindle my appreciation of them.
- tcmart14 2y agoJust a public service announcement for people interested into looking into Russian watches, and the watch makers that still exist. There are two Vostoks. There is Vostok Europe, which makes more "premium" watches at a premium price and they are not made in Russia, so literally the 'not your grandfather's Vostok.' And Vostok that still makes cheaper mechanical and automatic watches similar to how they used to make them years ago and made in Russia (your grandfather's Vostok).
- throw_pm23 2y agoSure but neither of them is what collectors are looking for. Your grandfathers Vostok was made during the CCCP time, not today.
- dig1 2y agoI could be wrong, but Vostok watches (from Chistopol) are still made the same way they were during CCCP. They improved things a lot by using more durable materials; for example, bezels are made from stainless steel these days; in the past, they were made from brass. However, the underlying machine design and build process are (or should be) the same.
- tcmart14 2y agoThat is my understanding. Outside of some smallish improvements and change of materials, they are relatively unchanged in the bigger picture. Still using the same movement designs, still have the wobbly crowns, etc.
- aprilthird2021 2y agoMaybe not collectors, but Russian Vostok watches are still popular among people who like mechanical watches. They are still among the cheapest mechanical watches and mechanical watch movements you can get your hands on today. If you live in the US, be careful, purchasing Vostoks directly from Meranom (the Russian factory store) might violate some laws given it's currently wartime and there are sanctions, etc.
- 2y ago
- poochipie 2y agoVostoks are nice little mechanical wristwatches for those looking to dip their toes into the ocean.
- jakub_g 2y agoA gem in the middle of the article: > A wristwatch Type-1 variant was also produced, though a pocket-watch movement on your wrist makes for an enormous wristwatch, and it was very outdated with a noisy ticking sound. > The old joke was that during the war, the Germans didn’t have to seek out any Soviets — all they had to do was listen for their ticking watches and shoot in that direction.
- WalterBright 2y agoWhen the Red Army captured Berlin, the #1 thing the soldiers wanted to loot was wristwatches.
- RobotToaster 2y ago> a pocket-watch movement on your wrist makes for an enormous wristwatch, and it was very outdated with a noisy ticking sound. With the modern fashion for big watches, it would probably be popular today.
- lisowczyk 2y agoAmong soviet ones Belarus produces it as well from 1950s up until today.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]