watches

[J.D.]

If you want a good value-for-money mechanical analogue watch, look at Fortis. They have been making watches for Russian Cosmonauts for over 20 years. They are cheaper than TAG Heuer for the equivalent quality. I owned one for 11 years but it went over the side of the boat about 6 months ago. I'm still awaiting the replacement. It's in about 10 metres of water about 100 metres South West of the number 4 marker at Sandringham Yacht Club if any of you is enterprising enough...

Another brand well worth considering these days is Oris. Most of you will probably recognise these from their involvement in Formula 1 with Mark Webber. Again; cheaper than TAG Heuer for the same quality.

On the other hand, I have a two-tone TAG Heuer 2000 quartz chrono going cheap if anyone is interested...

[DexterPunk]

I might be. Ill have a look at some pics online.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[J.D.]

Five iconic watches made on Earth, worn to space

Spot the mistake.

[Montey]

Five iconic watches made on Earth, worn to space

Spot the mistake.

#5. Russian watch, American astronaut. http://space.about.com/od/spaceexplorat ... eSuit5.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[J.D.]

Very good!

Actually, I've found another one...

[J.D.]

Calling all TAG heads. Here's a better watch for the same price:

Girard-Perregaux Ferrari Chrono

[DexterPunk]

But it still doesn't looks as good as most Tag. This is the issue i'm still having.

[DexterPunk]

Speaking of looks... A watch company JD put me onto is really tempting me to buy one. They are pretty ugly in a Russian kind of way, which I reckon makes them pretty cool "Put it in 'H'!!"

Not gunna be to a lot of people's tastes...

http://www.poljot24.de/en/pd1091818803.htm?categoryId=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


and theres a link here with the metal bracelet which I think I like better.

http://www.poljot24.de/en/pd1138792243. ... egoryId=12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[J.D.]

I reckon the Strela is kind of nice, though I prefer the leather band myself.

What would make it uninteresting to most people is that you have to wind it up every day.

As Dex already knows, this one is more to my taste. There are plenty of variations, some of which are prettier than others:



The great thing about Girard-Perregaux is that they hold their value a lot better than TAG. But to be honest, I'd buy that one on looks alone (though the yellow face is a bit meh). The white ones look even nicer.

[smithcorp]

I quite like these at the moment - Glycine. I would love to get ther Incursore.

http://www.glycine-watch.ch/e/collectio ... tion.e.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[J.D.]

Nice and simple. Easy to read.

There's a Glycine called the Airman 7 which has three separate automatic watch movements built into it!

It's a pilot watch so you set one to home, one to destination and the main one is GMT. No, wait...I lied...one is home and GMT, one is destination 1 and the other is destination 2. Fuck me, you need a degree in something I haven't got just to understand it!

[norbs]

My phone/watch/camera/GPS/games machine/MP3 player/web browser/email client/social media tool does all that.

[smithcorp]

Ah, but can you have it subtly peeking out from beneath your cuff?

[J.D.]

That question belongs in the Fleshlight thread.

[smithcorp]

[Nigel]

This is not bad for the price. Eco drive so no battery changes and a slide rule for the geek factor. Sure it's not Swiss but at $230 new cant go wrong.

[DexterPunk]

Fuck thats ugly though.

[J.D.]

Since I got talking to Dex about watches, I've had a look around and there are some really interesting and affordable Russian watches out there. Some of you might be interesting but there are a few provisos:

1) The vast majority are hand wound mechanical watches. That means setting them every day. If that's not to your taste then there are a few automatics but not many. There are even fewer battery watches.
2) Russian watches are not usually finished to the same standard as Swiss, German or Japanese. That doesn't mean they're no good but this is reflected in the price. Their movements are generally regarded the same way a lot of Russian engineering is: robust, simple and easy to repair or adjust. But they are not crap. Parts are readily available. In their normal state they are not usually as accurate as a Swiss watch either but they can be tuned very well by anyone who knows what they're doing (a competent watch maker).
3) Don't expect scratch proof sapphire glass. You will get scratch resistant mineral glass unless it says otherwise in the description.
4) There are a lot of fakes - known as "Frankens" - out there. I couldn't understand this but it's true and you really have to know your stuff to pick them.
5) There is a huge variety of styles from traditional and replica watches, like the Sturmanskie which Yuri Gagarin wore into space, up to the Russian version of "modern". Some are very conservative, some very old Soviet style and some are almost a rip off of designs like Breguet or Breitling (Poljot Blue Angels).
5) Except for some which have Swiss automatic movements in them, nearly all movements are made by Poljot (Pron: POL-yot - it means "flight"). Some have Molniya but they are becoming rare as the movement is no longer made.

If you're looking for something funky - or even tasteless and funny - they're worth thinking about. Some are even pretty cool. Most of the reputable dealers seem to be in Munich.

Julian Kampmann's site seems to have the best reputation and a very wide range. There are others but check their reputations first.

Brands to look for are Poljot, Buran, Aviator, Vostok, Dennisov, Sturmanskie, Strela, Moscow Classic and Sturmovik.

[DexterPunk]

So Strela is also a brand? The one i'm eye'ing off which I posted up previously is a Poljot Strela.

[J.D.]

Well they all seem to be made in different places but using Poljot movements. I know Strelas have been made by Poljot but they have also been marketed as Sekonda and Strela. The delineations seem to be very hazy...!! Buran, for example is in effect a Poljot but you only find that name on a few of them.

The one you like has on it "ІМЧЗ КИРОВА" which, if my very limited understanding of Cyrillic serves me correctly, means First Moscow Watch Factory Kirov (ysu might know what this means). Complicated, eh?

[DexterPunk]

yeah, i was having trouble finding out who actually made some of them

[wobblysauce]

http://www.hodinkee.com/interview-meet- ... watchmaker" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Intresting.

[J.D.]

If you scroll down this page you will find that some have "STRELA" on them and some have "POLJOT".

http://www.poljot24.de/en/pd1091818803.htm?categoryId=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Strelas have "Made in Russia" on the bottom in Russian and the Poljot has "Made in USSR" in Latin script! Work THAT one out! The Poljot is the original from the 1960s. The other one is new.

[J.D.]

http://www.hodinkee.com/interview-meet- ... watchmaker

Intresting.

Yeah, very interesting.

Reading now.

[smithcorp]

Wow JD, those links in your posts to poljot24 and Julian Kampmann's site won't open on my PC - immediately close again - my virus protection musn't like em.