Comment by stevekemp
5 years ago
If you like Soviet watches you'll probably enjoy this index of movements:
I collect mechanical watches and have a fair number of vintage Soviet watches in my collection - Rateka, Vostok, Poljot, etc. Cheap, reliable, and often with striking designs.
(Today's watch is a Poljot - Russian: Полёт, literally meaning "flight", is a brand of Soviet/Russian wristwatches, produced since 1964 by the First Moscow Watch Factory. Poljot produced numerous historical watches used in many important space missions, including the world's first space watch worn by Yuri Gagarin.)
I don't think I've ever had a stranger complicate my watch when I've been wearing a Rolex, or something high-end, unless the person making the comment was also wearing one. But I get weekly comments on the cheap and cheerful watches.
Even now, in pandemic times, I still put on a watch every morning, and it still makes me smile. If smart-watches had batteries that lasted for a few weeks or more I might be tempted, but until then I'll stick with mechanical watches. (And one Casio terrorist watch, just for completeness!)
> Casio terrorist watch
https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/gadgets/the-c...
Any recommendations for where to purchase these vintage watches? I've always thought they were beautiful but never sure where to find legitimate sellers (despite googling a bit)
One of the biggest sites is chrono24.com, which is essentially ebay for watches. The majority of sellers will use the site's integrated escrow system so there's little risk of somebody failing to ship.
To get started just enter "soviet vintage" into the search-box. Once you have some results click on "Filter" and you get the option to set "Location: European Union", "Max Price: €100", etc.
There are a lot of regional variations, so I use chrono24.fi, for example. But the content is the same - I think it's just the default location and currency that changes based on TLD.
The site has been around for many years and is well-regarded, but even so I don't think I've ever paid more than €1000 for a watch there. Just in case.
Edit: Main thing to pay attention to are the dimensions of the watch. Watches from the 40s-80s tended to be smaller. So you'll find diameters of 34mm, 36mm, etc. Most people prefer larger watches these days. For me 36mm-42mm is fine, but that's because I have thin wrists. But I know looking at photos can be misleading in terms of diameter/dimensions so read the details.
Edit #2: This is what I'm wearing today, which cost me around €70 - https://tinyurl.com/dd7bnthx
Awesome, this is very helpful! I know where i will be spending the next few hours : ) Very much appreciated!
I assume if the listing says "you will pay the buyer directly" there is zero protection?
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The Withings Steel lasts a couple weeks on a charge, and it can do simple step counting, heart rate, some very unobtrusive notifications. It actually got me interested in watches; I'm no collector but I have a few at this point. It also looks like a watch, in that it has physical hands which move. Watching it find the new time zone as soon as my phone connects when I land in a new place was pretty satisfying.
I gotta say though: stick with mechanicals. There's an elegance to it which smart watches will never touch. And I say that as someone who has settled on the Apple Watch as my daily driver. It's so useful! Does a bunch of small things that add up to a great tool, and I'm even fond of it. But it... isn't a watch!
I'm looking forward to dressy evening stuff happening more, so I can leave it behind and put on something nice.
That casio keeps super time if you leave it on your desk in a large climate controlled building. Like HAQ quality. Do you have any of the single hand watches from raketa? Always wanted one but didnt like the shape.
I don't have Raketa, but I have one of Botta Uno series. It is super inconvenient to read. If you are planning to actually use a single-handed watch for telling you time (rather than just adding it to a collection), I would very atrongly advise against it.
No, I've avoided the 24hour watches I appreciate their design, but they're just too hard to read in a hurry.
I'm flexible on digits vs. markers, (e.g. the piece I'm wearing today has numerals at 2, 6, and 10). But I stick to two/three hand watches.
A Pebble can go on for a week (longer without smart features enabled). My smartwatch, Fossil Hybrid HR, works for 2 weeks with smart features enabled. They go automatically off with < 10% battery, after which the watch still functions (I would prefer the option to put the smart features off, as well as bluetooth).
I loved the Pebble (RIP), but I got way longer battery life than just 1 week. I now have the Amazfit Bip, and easily get 3-4 weeks of battery life.
I'm in the market for a new watch as I just ditched the Apple Watch after moving back to Android (LinageOS). Not wanting to be locked in yet again to a watch/phone platform, but not knowing how long before PineWatches were back in stock, I didn't know what to look out for.
Missing my Pebbles, this looks like an awesome replacement. Thanks for the link!
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I got one of those in between. Extremely limited smartwatch capabilities, and I can't put Bluetooth off. Plus without physical buttons. I want physical buttons during commute/travel.