Classic 70s and 80s Games Online

The BBC says classic video games from the 1970s and 1980s have been put online by the Internet Archive and are playable for free.

The collection has launched with games from five early home consoles, including the Atari 2600 and Colecovision.

The other machines included are the Atari 7800, the Magnavox Odyssey (known as the Philips Videopac G7000 in Europe) and the Astrocade.

Well-recognised titles such as Pacman, Space Invaders and Frogger are all in the archive - with more consoles and games expected soon. 

The Console Living Room

Pobeda ZiM 2602 Railroad Dial x 2

Two Pobedas by ZiM (Zavod imeni Maslennikova - Maslennikov Factory) from my collection. Both have large dials which look somewhat like pocket-to-wristwatch conversions and are in fact a variation on railroad dials.

This one in particular wants to be a wrist strap Molnija.

There is one thing to be said about this style of hour and minute hands -- you won't be likely to confuse them, no matter how nasty your hangover is.

Dial readability is also very good, very large digits, good for the farsighted especially. This dial is definitely a railroad dial as it meets all the criteria of said dials typically found in pocket watches but also in some wristwatches. Railroad dials tend to be simple and readable. As you can see, the emphasis is on functionality and readability, even under adverse conditions, typically utilizing bold, black numerals on a white background.

And another ZiM Pobeda with the same railroad dial and with exactly the same case but different hands.

 A similar large and very readable face but different hands.

A movement shot. 

This one is a Pobeda 2602 movement which harkens back to the premium European (Swiss) movements of the early 20th century and as such has all the features of the premium European watches of the 1930-40s --  the Glucydur balance, the Breguet hairspring, and the visually appealing bridge shapes with a subsecond hand. But, of course, it is a much later derivation of the movement simplified in many ways though not in underlying design.

Lord Karnage Reviews Gran Turismo 6

A Classic Game Room HD review of Gran Turismo 6:

Classic Game Room - Gran Turismo 6 review for... by ClassicGameRoom

As an owner of Gran Turismo on PS1, Gran Turismo 4 on PS2, Gran Turismo on PSP, Gran Turismo 5 on PS3... I guess I've no choice but to buy this one too, though have yet to play Gran Turismo 5. 

Big Breakfast @ McDonald's

My restaurants: McDonald's Big Breakfast (with a double Egg McMuffin on the side) in a McDonald's place here in Moscow.

Here's what it looks like (real-life clickable pics).

As offered here in Moscow, Big Breakfast by McDonald's includes in a box: a pork patty, scrambled eggs, two halves of a grilled "English" muffin (I slap jam on it), a hash brown patty, some jam, salt and pepper pouches.

As (self-)served and eaten also includes a double Egg McMuffin (on the left), orange juice and a coffee latte. 

More pictures after the jump.

Shared: Wie spät ist es, Kosmonaut?

An article in German by Markus Boehm in der Standard.at about the first wristwatch in outer space which happens to be a Russian watch -- Yuri Gagarin's watch.

Link to the article:

Russische Uhren: Wie spät ist es, Kosmonaut?

Picture of said watch, borrowed from the article.

Shared: Can Stopped Watches Really Help Determine Time of Death?: Detective fiction, or forensic fact? - Washington City Paper

Some reading on the subject of stopped watches from the Washington City Paper

Can Stopped Watches Really Help Determine Time of Death?: Detective fiction, or forensic fact? - Washington City Paper

It goes like this:

In detective fiction, a common plot device is the broken clock or watch that tells the time of the murder. Does this ever happen? Has a broken clock or watch ever been admitted as evidence in a murder trial to show the time of the crime? —Oscar Colombo, Maryland

 

This is one of those tropes future consumers of vintage whodunits are going to find unintelligible. It’s not like we don’t use timekeeping devices anymore; on the contrary, I’m still waiting for clothing manufacturers to resize that little pouch in a pair of pants to fit the pocket watch known as an iPhone. However, the day will surely come when someone reading Agatha Christie’s 1963 novel The Clocks (the murder victim is found surrounded by clocks stopped at 4:13) is going to say: A clock with stopped hands? What the hell is that? 

Be that as it may, we found many real-life murder cases where a stopped timepiece had been used to determine the time of death. In 1867 Joseph Humphrey was found dead near Yuba City, Calif., having been attacked by an unknown assailant with a hammer. The time of death was fixed by a silver watch with a broken crystal in the victim’s pocket, showing about 11 PM. 

In 1919, taxi driver Dosylva Cote was waylaid and beaten to death while en route between Worcester and Clinton, Mass. Although his automobile was taken, his money and watch were not. The watch had stopped at 3:30 AM and restarted when shaken, thus likely indicating the time of death. 

And in 1935 Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Coleman of Spotsylvania, Virginia, were murdered and thrown into a well. One clue left behind by the killers was an antique eight-day pendulum clock stopped at 8:20, apparently when the cabinet door was opened to search for money. 

In other instances, a stopped watch figured in a murder trial: In 1857, Charles Littles of Rochester, New York, was murdered by his brother-in-law Ira Stout for allegedly mistreating his wife, Stout’s sister Sarah. (The fact that Littles had discovered his wife and BIL were having an incestuous affair may have been a contributing factor.) Sarah and Ira lured Charles to a nearby riverbank one night, where Ira bludgeoned him with an iron mallet and shoved his body into the water. When Ira was tried for the murder, a piece of evidence against him was Charles’s broken watch—stopped at 8:40 PM, the time of the killing. 

In 1954 not one but two damaged watches were involved in one of the most famous murder cases of the 20th century: that of Dr. Sam Sheppard, accused of beating his wife, Marilyn, to death. Watch one, which belonged to Marilyn, was initially reported to have stopped at 3:12, presumably indicating the time of death; later, though, one investigating officer said it had read 11:30, and a police evidence photo showed it reading 8:05. Watch two, belonging to Sam, was covered with blood and found in a green bag on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie, near the Sheppard home. This watch had stopped at 4:15, apparently when water got into it. Sheppard claimed this had happened innocently prior to the murder, and that he then got blood on the watch (which he evidently was still wearing in the middle of the night even though it was broken) while checking his wife’s pulse. The alternative theory seems to be that after killing his wife, Sheppard threw the bloody watch into the lake, then thought better of it. Sheppard was convicted and imprisoned but acquitted years later after a second trial. 

In 2004 Ivan Camacho was found dead in a remote part of southern California with multiple stab wounds and other injuries, wearing a smashed and bloody wristwatch stopped at 3:19 AM, which investigators took to be the time of death. Camacho had last been seen alive at 2:45 AM with his friend Ricardo Machuca, and Machuca was next seen at about 4 with a fresh cut on his finger. Machuca was found guilty of first-degree murder. 

In the aforementioned cases, the broken timepiece wasn’t pivotal in convicting a criminal. But we found one where it was. 

In 1941 Merrill Joss was tried in Maine for the bludgeoning death of his wife, Luverne. Witnesses testified that Merrill said he’d left the house at 8 PM and returned at most 12 minutes later to find Luverne dead. But her watch, broken and bloodied, was stopped at 8:16. What’s more, Merrill didn’t call the police until 9:03, 47 minutes after the watch had stopped. He was convicted and sentenced to prison. 

Despite advancing technology, dramatists still resort to the stopped-watch gambit. In a recent episode of the TV series Criminal Minds, for example, a serial killer places a watch stopped at 6:22 on victims’ wrists. This seems a bit musty. Surely in an era of ubiquitous metadata and mobile devices with accelerometers, a modern Poirot might determine not just the time and place of a victim’s death, but the force of the fatal blow. 

—Cecil Adams

More Slava 2428

The only Slava watch that I currently wear in rotation with my other affordable timepieces is this Slava cal. 2428.

This Slava 2428 is a manual wind watch, with a central sweep seconds hand, a weekday and date calendar and a quick date change pusher at 2 o'clock. It has nice sparkly bar hour markers. The watch is a current Russian version of the Slava 2428 -- somewhat de-jewelled -- with the jewel count reduced to 21. I think it used to be more jewels, probably 26 if memory serves.

Note the characteristic Slava pip (this time it's a red square) seconds hand. The case is brass with some kind of coating which is very durable -- much more durable than chrome plating. 

It is an affordable watch, cost me the equivalent of US$25 when I bought in February 2012. It was not very well set at the factory because it is consistently running at +46 seconds per 24 hours but I never bothered to adjust it better. 

Slava movements are known for their "poor man's hack" -- if you turn the crown clockwise as if to move the hands backwards it is possible to stop the seconds hand (and therefore the movement) altogether by maintaining a slight effort on the crown, although it is a non-hacking movement, which could be useful if you wanted or had to set the time very precisely. 

The caseback with nothing on it, except some number, not a serial number but some kind of identification number which should be used in conjunction with the precise date of manufacture and not by itself, as a fully functional serial number would be, as per tradition in Soviet and Russian watchmaking. 

 Calendar issues

Recently - a week or so ago - almost two years after I bought it -- the watch developed a calendar trouble. One day, out of the blue, the date refused to change. Now it does not change automatically, and it cannot be changed by either advancing the hands or using the dedicated date-change pusher at 2 o'clock. I am sure it is something completely repairable but I would not undertake any repairs myself and it is impractical to go to a watchmaker. The weekday continues to change as if nothing were wrong with the calendar.

Generally speaking calender issues with current Slava model is something of a recurrent theme. I have no fewer than 3 current Slava models that either developed, or had from the outset, some calendar troubles. I may even do a post on it on this blog in the future. I wonder if the reduced jewel count has something to do with it. To be fair, this one had this problem only after the two years of use and daily winding so may be it just needs some cleaning and oiling. 

The movement. What do we see here? No markings of any sort - a late Russian era movement, the balance wheel is not yellow in color. But I like the movement even in this version. I think it is a neat clean movement and pretty reliable too (barring calendar problems). You can see a large balance wheel, a large center seconds wheel under a large bridge and, last but not least, the twin mainspring barrels which utilize the remaining space "under the hood" most efficiently. 

More pictures below.

Horological Dictionary

In this post on a Russian watch forum, there is a link to a large multilingual horological dictionary of terminology and component part numeration, Horological Dictionary, Edition 1976.

Poljot President 2940 Automatic Chronograph with ST1940 Movement

Ex-Collection Scarface3133 (i.e. me) comes this watch -- the Poljot President 2940 by TD Poljot, one of the splinter companies of the former 1st Moscow Watch Factory. Pictures are clickable.

This watch is actually my newest major acquisition to date; I have had it since October 2013. It is an automatic chronograph, with a seconds sub-dial at 9 o'clock, a stopwatch central hand and a 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock. The watch is powered by the ST1940 Chinese automatic chronograph movement. In fact, I bought it specifically because of the movement; I just wanted to have this storied movement, derived as it is from the Venus 175, in a Russian watch and this Poljot President was the only watch currently available with the movement. Generally I am not much into government-themed watches as this watch (called President and featuring some state symbols of the Russian Federation both on the dial and the back) appears to be but I don't mind them too much.

More information on this Chinese chronograph movement can be found in an earlier post on this blog.

 

The generic little booklet accompanying the watch is not very forthcoming about the origin of the movement, just states that it is an automatic chronograph and that it is made in Russia which may or may not be true, but the parts are certainly all made in China. But there is a clue in the numerical designation - 2940 because the ST1940 is also, I believe, sometimes known as TY2940.

 

Why do I think the movement is an ST1940 movement? Simply put, there is no other option really, considering it is a chronograph and an automatic chronograph at that and the layout of its subdials, so only the ST1940 fits the description. There are also other indications -- the way pushers operate -- much softer than on the Poljot 3133, especially the reset button, consistent with the chronograph being a column wheel type of chronograph (I believe), a different type from that of the Poljot 3133 or the Valjoux 7750 for that matter. Yet another tell-tale sign is the rater noisy and rough sounding Sea-Gull auto-wind rotor that is has.

The watch has a nice enough dial even though not everyone will appreciate the heavy-laden Russian-government symbolism on this watch. One theory is that these President watches were given away as gifts to those awarded state medals or other decorations or titles of honor or just given as tokens of respect. Something like that. On earlier President models, it said on the back not "President" like here but "From the President".

In the picture above is the case back with the Russian state emblem -- the double-headed (Byzantine) eagle, symbolizing Russia's origin as the successor of the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire by Royal marriage and via the Byzantine Empire the successor of Ancient Rome itself... or so the story goes. More about the double-headed eagle is in this wikipedia entry.

I have to say I am not much into this type of strap though -- the way it attaches to the case -- there is probably a name for it but I don't know it (ETA Sept 25, 2014: I think it is known as LEONARDO / Curved Ends). I believe it will be difficult, or may be even impossible, to find a replacement strap or bracelet. The strap is a weak point -- it smells nasty like every Chinese leather (or "leather") strap seems to smell, even though the smell (I would call it "stink" if it were any stronger) is not as strong as in straps on some cheaper watches, care must have been taken to air it thoroughly, but it still is pretty unpleasant if you sniff at it closely (why would you do that?). What's more, it seems the glossy black finish was spray-painted on the strap as it has already started to come off revealing the dull bluish leather underneath (I still think it's leather and may even be genuine but you wouldn't say that on the evidence of the sense of smell alone).

The pushers of the watch are without bushings around them, they are very easy and comfortable to depress, very responsive. It is a thick(ish) watch but sits comfortably on the wrist because the strap forms a domed half-circle together with the case which is probably the only good thing about this way to attach the strap to the watch case but on the other hand you cannot lay this watch flat on the back.

The strap aside, I have been very pleased with this watch so far and think it is a good addition to my collection -- it brings in a new (to me) and great automatic chronograph movement (rare too as such automatic chronograph movements are) -- the ST1940, so what's not to like?

I measured its accuracy against reference time as I don't have a timograph or anything like that. I got +15 secs per 24 hours but it seems more accurate in day-to-day wear. The chronograph itself works flawlessly -- all functions -- start, stop and reset. 

The white hands on a white dial may not be the best combination in terms of readability which is affected in certain lighting and from certain angles. There is some lume on the hands but it's not very effective. 

Slava Watches Catalogs 2013

Slava watches catalog -- the 2013 collection

Personally I don't find Slava's current models very appealing but they look better in real life. All Slava mechanical movements, except the cal. 2415, are used.

Spetstnaz watches catalog 2013

Mechanical movements are represented exclusively by the ST1612 and the Miyota 8215.

Molnija Pocket Watch OBL Dial

And now for something slightly controversial (maybe not, it is just a watch).

From my collection comes this Molnija (read: Mol-nee-yah) pocket watch with none other than Osama Bin Laden on the dial.

The greenish dial shows Osama Bin Laden and an American flag under him at 6 o'clock where the small seconds hand is.

But there is more. As you can see for yourself the Al-Qaeda leader appears to be in cross-hairs or something. So what is the message that the watch tries to convey? Probably none. Or to each his own.

And the American flag detail at 6 o'clock.

Molnija pocket watches are powered with the cal. 3602 (or 3603) Molnija movement, a large pocket-watch movement, related to, and derived from, premium European movements of the early 20th century.

Movement shots.

The movement has yellow (brass?) plates -- such movements were made in the 2000s, but with markings. There's some number, it is some kind of movement identification number but not a serial number, RU for Russia, the caliber designation - 3602 and a Molnija watch factory logo next to it. 

For a much bigger picture of the movement, try this link. 

As I was preparing to make this post to this blog I thought it would be interesting to do a little Internet research to see (i) if I could find other mentions of this watch on the world wide web and (ii) if there were any other watches featuring Osama Bin Laden.

About a year ago I already found a picture of the same watch, that is with the same dial but in a different Molnija case -- the one with the upper lid / duster -- a hunter case. It was being sold on ebay and I was able to find the lot again because I bookmarked it at the time. But strangely the picture of the dial with Osama on it has in the meantime disappeared although the picture of the back remains. On the other hand I found out that this watch got a mention in a 2002 Reuters report as printed (or just posted online) by the Daily Times of  Pakistan -- information that can be useful in dating the watch. My guess therefore is the watch was made before, or early in, 2002 but after 9/11 2001.

Here is what the report says.

Watch featuring Osama bin Laden

A Russian-made pocket watch featuring Osama bin Laden and an American flag is displayed in front of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The pocket watch was selling for about $25 along the Sino-Russian border days before the first anniversary of 9/11. —Reuters

And there is this picture.

Same watch from the year 2002 but in different colors, the dial appears to be white, the hands gold-toned, Osama Bin Laden very much the same.

The Reuters report fails to mention the target signs on OBL though (and I can see why it would fail to mention that). 

I also saw that Osama Bin Laden had made it to the dial of at least one other watch. Chinese watches named for some reason Nanci (?) have a line of watches with portraits of (in)famous people on the dial - Che Guevara, Marilyn Monroe, etc. and Osama bin Laden is also there.

Konstantin Chaykin – It’s Russian Time!

Konstantin Chaykin – It’s Russian Time!

About Konstantin Chaykin, an independent watchmaker based in Moscow, Russia, with pictures of his unusual watches, from Dream Chrono. 

PTS Resources Catalogs 2012 and 2013

PTS Resources Limited is a Hong Kong-based supplier of watch movements. The company offers Chinese movements -- pretty much everything from hand-winding movements, to automatics, skeletons and to movements with various complications, including tourbillon movements, as well as movements from other countries.

More information about PTS Resources is on the Chinese Watch Industry Wiki website, including a recent review and an explanation of their caliber designations.

PTS Resources-supplied movements are used by many watchmaking companies around the world, and here in Russia I have certainly seen their movements in watches made by some Russian companies (usually the cheaper ones, the cal. 2650S skeleton is, you can say, ubiquitous). 

PTS Resources Limited website.

Two catalogs can be viewed from the company website:

PTS Resources 2012-13 Catalog

PTS Resources 2013-14 Catalog

Pobeda ZiM 2602 Flower Dial

From my collection is this later years Pobeda 2602 Grey Flower Dial made by ZiM (Zavod imeni Maslennikova - Maslennikov Factory, Samara). 

NOS and even BNIB

The flower's petals can actually serve as additional time markers, they are three per each hour (or for 5 minutes), meaning that the hour hand makes it from the tip of one petal to that of the next one in 30 minutes, while the minute hand does the same in 2.5 minutes.

Pobeda with the 2602 movement was the first Soviet truly mass produced watch -- people's watch, and probably the cheapest. Yet it was based on LIP's R-26 movement and as such had all the features of the premium European watches of the 1930-40s --  the screw balance, the Breguet hairspring, the long regulator arm and the visually appealing bridge construction with a subsecond hand and decoration stripes. Isn't it amazing?! ... But this one is a much later specimen, simplified in many ways though not in underlying construction.

New 42 mm Strela Re-Issues

Julian Kampmann's Poljot24.de has new 42 mm Strela re-issues.

 New 42 mm Strelas

Their origin is as yet unclear to the uninitiated but the inscription русский механизм generally points in the direction of Juri Levenberg, a Germany-based maker and seller of Russian themed timepieces.

Discussion has been going on WUS for several days now. 

Pictures of the new Strela, borrowed from Poljot24.de

The movement is marked C3133 as opposed to MakTime's earlier designation P3133 but the stamp looks to be that of MakTime. It is claimed the "C" in C3133 stands for Стрела, i.e. Strela.

They look very sharp and probably better than all of the previous re-issues but some moot points are there, especially with certain Russian writings on the dial, the font for Strela etc.

First "real life" photos of the new Strela in this post in Russian on the Russian forum.watch.ru forum.