When shopping on the streets, it is easier to assume that Japan and Switzerland are the only countries that produce watches. The majority of watches, Swiss Rolex and Seiko, you will find in jewelry chain stores, are from these two giant nations. Russia is also a big player. Russia has, up to date, manufactured millions of watches.
Generally speaking, Russian watches are pretty to use, affordable and reliable. They are also considerably of a higher quality than any other watch brands out there. A number of these watches are made for military purposes, making them highly function-able and durable. In addition, they are rugged and shock-resistant. They are, therefore, the best Russian watch brands that will suit your personality, giving you that classy look.
Russian watches make up a niche portion of the collectors market. It offers other vintage designs and quality mechanics at relatively affordable prices. Why are Russian watches so cheap? Compared to other watchmaking countries like America, the labor and craftsmanship in Russia are more inexpensive, thus saving it a good amount of cash.
The History of Russian Watches
Compared to other watch industries such as European and American watch brands, Russia came very late in watch production. Here is the history of Russian watcheshttps://www.firstclasswatches.co.uk/blog/2018/07/history-russian-watches/During the Great Depression, two American watchmakers went bankrupt. Joseph Stalin, a soviet leader, oversaw the purchase of companies and later importing their infrastructure (included employees, materials, and technologies).
The First Moscow Watch Factory was established to produce watches for the Red Army and the Soviet government. This watch factory produced the first watches at the Revolution Theatre in 1930. A small number of watches, about 50 of them, were made using machinery and materials purchase from the United States. At that time, the US had developed well in the watch industry.
The Moscow Watch Factory had produced over 2.7 million wrist and pocket watches. However, this company was evacuated due to an attempted invasion of Russia. In the following year, Chistopol Watch Factory was opened, producing the K-43 shortly afterward. This watch company became the Vostok watch brand as it is referred to to date. Russia later started manufacturing millions of watches some decades later.
Best Russian Watch Brands
Many of the Russian brands have popped p in recent years. Some of these brands may source for their movements locally, while others look abroad using Swiss movements in their watcheshttps://manofmany.com/fashion/watches/best-russian-watches-soviet-watch-brands It is not wrong for any watch collector or history buff to pick a classic Russian watch or any other vintage wear. Therefore, it is vital to begin your journey with the following Russian watches to find something to wear or create a collection.
Vostok Amphibian
The Vostok watch is the best watch for value divers with hundreds of designs. The watch was launched in 1967 by the Chistopol watch factory. They are much more preferred by professional divers, seamen, and submarines because of their reliability and simplicity.
Amphibian watches are water-resistant up to 200 mhttps://www.amazon.com/Vostok-Amphibian-420059-Military-Russian/dp/B00TK56Q18/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=manofmany-20&linkId=0290fc064e3a04dae912eed9f612d985&language=en_USIts regular operation can never fail up to this depth, whether in an exciting environment or significant temperature drops. These watches also can stand extreme impacts and overloads. Furthermore, it is shock-resistant.
To date, from the date of manufacture, it features luminous hands and dots. Additional features include an automatic self-winding movement, stainless steel band, and case material, and a 39mm case diameter.
Sturmanskie Gagarin
The Gagarin watches were also built in the First Moscow Watch Factory.
On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin took the Sturmanskie timepiece into space. The watch worked flawlessly. Later on, this watch was transferred to the factory museumhttps://sturmanskie.ru/en/catalog/gagarin/#In 1963, Valentina Tereshkora, the first woman cosmonaut, flew into space with this watch. Since then, the Gagarin became the official watch for Russian and Soviet cosmonauts, helping in challenging situations.
This watch withstands severe tests in zero gravity, shocks, extreme magnetic fields, and temperatures. The watch has a hand-winding Russian movement, sympathetically recreated in a classic design. It features a mineral crystal sapphire glass resistant to scratches, a titanium case with a carefully redesigned crown, water resistance to 50 m, and decorative case backs.
The design and the aesthetic value are repeated in this watch in new proportions. It has maintained the most recognizable design details in respect to the source.
Raketa Classic Big Zero
Raketa classic was initially designed in the 70s’. Raketa Watch Factory manufactured it.
It is an elegant mechanical watch that has become a Raketa icon. The watch features an hour figure that starts with 0. So how did this come to be? https://raketa.com/w/en/product/raketa-classic-avtomat-0249#tab-history/During their certified trip to Italy, reporters asked Mikhail Gorbachev what the meaning of Perestroika for URSS was. To reply that Russia has embarked on a new start entirely, he used his hands to emphasize his point simply and showed the figure ‘0’ marked in the place of ‘12’ on his classic Raketa watch. Since that day, the hour figures on Raketa start with ‘0’.
Raketa watch has a stainless steel case material. Its case thickness is 12.65mm.
The watch also features genuine leather straps. Replacing these straps by yourself is not recommended. It could cause watch damage. You should contact an authorized expert instead.
Raketa’s classic watch is water-resistant to 10ATM.
Poljot Okean
The First Moscow Watch Company produced these Russian diving watches in the 1970s and 1980s. They were initially made for use in a space station. Likewise, they were employed by the Soviet Navy. https://www.poljot24.de/en/poljot-okean.htmlThe watch features a square polished and brushed stainless steel case. It is powered by Poljot caliber.
Poljot has a silver dial with luminous indexes, hands, and a second stopper hand. It has a black leather strap.
Raketa Polar
Polar explorers needed an extra tier of timekeeping to make up for extended daylight hours. Raketa polar thus became a watch brand of choice amongst these explorers https://raketa.com/w/en/antarctica/This watch is available in a variety of configurations and designs.
Over and above that, it is powered by an automatic movement.