Celebrity Watch: President Assad and his G-Shock

President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria and his Casio G-Shock

Is he getting ready for something? ... like, preparing an offensive?

Well, that's enough of that. My blog is strictly non-political.

I can't tell which particular model that is. 

Source [in Russian]

In Depth: The Vostok Amphibia

Hodinkee's review of the Vostok Amphibia

In Depth The Vostok Amphibia

 A little on the Vostok Amphibia history, peculiarities of its design and the philosophy behind that design, some famous Vostok Amphibia, including the Desert Shield / Storm Amphibia, some pictures.

Picture from the article.

Pobeda ZiM 2602 2000yrs of Christianity

Another little something from my collection. 

Meet a Pobeda ZiM 2602; this one is an anniversary piece celebrating the 2000 years of Christianity.

It has a nice cheery blue dial, says in Russian "2000 years of Christianity" and there is also on the dial the Grand Church of something or other, not being very religious I can't therefore tell with certainty though suspect it might be the Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow (maybe not).

It is NOS and spends all its time in a little plastic box. I don't wear it, it is just a collection piece.

I like the gold-toned hour markers and also the fancy hour and minute hands, the tiny second hand is also there at 6 o'clock.

I must confess it took me some time to figure out in what year exactly we celebrated (or just marked) the 2000 years of Christianity. At first I couldn't get it but then.... it hit me.... answer after the jump.

Slide Rule Watches

Interesting website on slide rule wristwatches — history, origin, survey, modern slide rule watches, including lots of pictures (if a bit slow to load but there are a lot of them).

Scarface3133 recommends.

Strela & Pilot's Jacket

Some pictures of my Strela 3133 (212/500) vs my Avirex Pilot's Jacket

  

Both cost me a small fortune :)

But I feel they complement each other. Considering that Sturmanskie means Flight Navigator's (watch). Except I might need a brown strap. But maybe not -- just a pair of black shoes. 

Hi!

This watch is powered by the famous (if not to say notorious) Poljot 3133 movement which also happens to be part of my nick so I really had to buy it.

Good luck! (I need it)

Bye-bye, now.

In fact, it is a bye-bye in a very literal sense of the word as these Strelas are mostly out of stock and Volmax is not planning to make any more and would be hard pressed even if it wanted to seeing as the 3133 movement is no longer in production.  

I did a review of this watch in Russian on this forum thread.

http://forum.watch.ru/showthread.php?t=156215. 

But am also planning to do one in English for this blog. Like, Mañana. 

The 3133 heart

More pictures after the jump.

Longines' Chronographs

A GQ article on Longines' chronographs legacy.

Hodinkee's Watch Report: Longines' Chronograph Legacy 

Delving briefly into the history of Longines, their chronographs, specifically something called the 13ZN Chronograph.

Watch Crime: Florida-Crooks Take Off with High-End Watches

Florida, USA -- A report says a pair of thieves broke into a business over the weekend and made off with thousands of dollars worth of high-end goods, including luxury watches.

The business sells high-end purses and watches. Police said the store was targeted over the weekend, and it wasn't the first time. "This is the second time they hit the store, and we have always had surveillance video for this store, but unfortunately no one has come forward and identified these subjects. That is what we need the public to do at this time," said a Police detective.

The crime, which was caught on the surveillance video, shows the thieves approaching the business' rear door. Once up and close, they realize there is a camera, and they quickly adjust it. However, when they move the camera, you then see a clear view of the thieves' vehicle, which appears to be a silver Range Rover. "They move the camera, but when they move the camera they show their car, they show their faces," said the store owner, who did not want to give his name.

Police said the thieves were in the store for about a minute in a half but were still able to fill box after box with thousands of dollars worth of luxury goods.


The store owner hopes someone out in the community recognizes the crooks.

Read more: http://www.wsvn.com/news/articles/local/21011523367381/crooks-take-off-with-high-end-watches-purses/#ixzz2d7EKIlsR

Vostok Amphibia Watch Ad

A youtube video showing I believe the very first USSR Vostok amphibia watch.

 You can also see it tested under the wheels of a heavy duty truck.

In Russian.

   

A review of one of my amphibias here: Black Dial Bubble Man

A walk through the Orient Watch Factories in Japan

A video about Orient watches.

As yet I have no Orient watches in my collection but intend to buy some eventually. Actually Orient watches are very visible here in Russia, sold almost everywhere at reasonable prices, still more expensive than comparable Russian watches though. Russia is a good place to buy Orient watches.

Vostok Amphibia Black Scuba Dude Watch

Here's my Vostok Amphibia(n) Black Scuba Dude Dial* watch.

It has a Vostok 2416B automatic movement.

I bought it new in January 2012 - the month it was manufactured - and have been using it ever since, although I do not necessarily wear it every day as I have lots of watches. But it is one of my 8 or 9 wound and worn watches. It cost me the equivalent of about US$70 to buy and is a good solid watch. It is all stainless steel minus the bezel which is chrome-plated base metal. It has a screw-on winding crown, a massive bracelet, also of stainless steal, and a stream-lined, compact look. When I do wear it I find that this watch sits and looks good on my wrist, even though it is basically a cheap watch.

The watch also has luminous hands and hour markings on the dial. The bezel rotates in both directions. Vostok amphibias are shock proof.

They are also water proof watches supposedly up to 200m. While I am not so sure about that, I found that it is good for surface swimming and for skin diving at the very least. Beyond that I haven't tested it. There may have been a debate on watch forums on whether Vostok amphibias are genuine diver's watches. In any case, mine is good for a swimming pool and a sauna and a hot tub - no problem at all during these activities.

As I said the watch is powered by a 2416B Vostok movement. The movement is a 24mm caliber movement, three hands, including a central seconds hand, 31 ruby jewels, instant date, a shock resistant balance; the movement is automatic with a bi-directional rotor and can be hand-wound too. It is a workhorse movement for Vostok.

And now for the not so good. First, the lume. As is true with most current Vostok watches, the lume is not that luminous and the afterglow lasts only for a very limited time, depending on exposure to the sun or light but never more than a couple hours even in the most preferable circumstances I think.

Second, the accuracy. The movement was not that well adjusted at the factory. Soon after I bought it I measured it running at +44 seconds per 24 hours which is a bit much and may be even beyond the specs. However, it is consistent at doing it which means it can probably be adjusted to something more decent. But I never bothered because it is not a problem for me. I can see how it could be a problem if it were my everyday watch but I only use it for going swimming, or for sauna or steam bath sessions and it does what it's supposed to do -- keeps the time in those adverse conditions - water, extreme heat, steam, knocks against door frames, whatever.

It has a very thick organic glass crystal, which is very durable, and practically asks for a knock or two against something hard, that's how badass it is, never cracks. Although scratches are visible.

It is a heavy(ish) watch. Not as heavy so you can do curls with it but still... there are lighter watches (most of them).

On wrist.



And one more.



A view on the case back. It says waterproof 200m, anti-shock, automatic.

My opinion is that it is a good watch.

* Black Scuba Dude Dial is one way to call it. Maybe, you could also call it Black Frogman Dial watch or something.

However in Russia watches utilizing this dial design are known among Vostok watch collectors and enthusiasts as "Bubble Man" dial watches or "Man in a Bubble" dial watches on account of the picture showing the scuba diver swimming through some kind of a bubble. 

They come in different cases and in different dial colors - green, black, blue and even light brown. And I want to buy them all :) but no hurry.

ETA: May 08, 2015
Adding pictures from this post - Watch of the Day: Black Scuba Dude Vostok Amphibian 2416b Watch

 

Watch Crime: Hundreds of Luxury Watches Stolen from Hong Kong Store

AFP: Masked men stole around 240 luxury watches worth a reported $1.29 million from a Hong Kong store in a matter of minutes early on Friday, police said.

The three burglars, who were also wearing hats, snatched the watches after they used a hammer to smash the glass door of the ground floor shop at around 6:30 am local time.

Watch shop robberies are rare in the southern Chinese city of seven million people, where only one such incident was recorded last year among a total of around 76,000 reported crimes.

"We believe they were experienced because the incident took place within around three minutes," police chief inspector Ma Kai-keung told reporters. Police have not made any arrests but are looking into it.

The watches were reported by the South China Morning Post to be worth around HK$10 million ($1.29 million).

Footage from Cable Television News showed heavily damaged glass display tables and a metal hammer at the shop, which was littered with glass fragments.

The trio made their escape after they boarded a grey van parked around the corner of the store, Cable TV reported.

Source

Slava in Action

Bought a discounted copy of Red Dead Redemption some months ago and now going through it... at rate one hour a day.. and using the Slava pictured to keep the time in the real world as opposed to the funny time in the game. Hope to finish it before GTAV hits the fan.

More on that Slava 2427 and my other 2427 Slavas in one of the future posts.

Montreal Diary: Repairman of mechanical timepieces decides it's high time for retirement

 A human interest article about watchmaker Iwao Tsumura in Canada.

Montreal Diary: Repairman of mechanical timepieces decides it’s high time for retirement

Vostok Ship Cabin Clock

My Vostok ship cabin clock 5-ChM MZ.

On the wall in my log cabin in the woods, keeping (a very accurate) time since 2007.

Three hands, including center mounted seconds hand, a regulator switch, hand-wound with a key which also opens/locks the case, 8 days power reserve, dust-proof, moisture-proof, some even claim, water-proof.

More pictures (and words) later.

Celebrity Watch: Johnny Depp with a Komandirskie Tank Black Dial Watch

Johnny Depp in this picture with his (?) Komandirskie black tank dial watch.

The bezel strongly suggests it is still a USSR watch, probably a 2414 manual wind movement.

I have a Komandirskie tank watch too, a current Russian version, and am going to post some pictures soon.

ETA:

Full (?) 1998 Michel Haddi Johnny Depp Komandirskie photo shoot.