"ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT!"

Russia Insider into watches now?

ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT!

Smaller Pobeda 2602 by ZiM

A small later-years Pobeda by ZiM factory.

An iconic Russian wristwatch, the Pobeda was produced from at least 1945 until about 2003 at various watch factories.

The Pobeda was longest produced at ZiM.

This watch is one of those later years ZiM Pobedas.

Pobeda 2 MChZ 2602 Decorated and Dated Movement 4-58

Another Pobeda watch from my collection.

This Pobeda was made by the Second Moscow Watch Factory (2MChZ) in the late 1950s.

Nothing much to look at on the face side.

It is in need of restoration (unlikely, it'll get it), the crystal is cracked and the small seconds hand is missing.

Worth noting that it says 2nd MWF on the dial.

Pobeda Cars at a Car Exhibition

Another car show at Moscow's VDNKh that I visited -- Cars of Our Back Yard -- USSR cars.

Not the first car-themed show I saw at the location -- in August last year we saw Car Industry of the USSR.

But that time I was lazy to make too many photos. This time however I made over 200!

So it is in parts.

Part 1 - the Moskvitch -- is here -- Part 1 Moskvitch Cars.

Part 2 -- ZAZ cars -- is here -- Part 2 Zaporozhets Cars.

Part 3 -- Moto -- is here -- Part 3 Old Russian Motorcycles, Mopeds, etc. 

Part 4 - Lada cars -- is here -- Part 4 Lada Cars. 

Part 5 - Volga cars -- hit this link -- the Volga automobile.

And now - Part 6 the Pobeda GAZ M-20 Automobile. 

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Pobeda М-20 "Second series"

Similarities were noted between the Pobeda and certain Western cars, both American and British. For example, Standard Vanguard was mentioned in this connection. Some even deduced that there was a bit of copying going on. Well, they deduced wrong. The Pobeda was developed throughout 1945 and entered production in 1946 whereas the aforementioned Standard Vanguard thing was announced in 1947. The same can be said about other Western Pobeda look-a-likes -- the Pobeda predates them all, so the reverse engineering was likely going in the other direction.

Pobeda GAZ M-20D "Third Series"

Second and third series together.

And this is for those of this blog's readers who have no Russian -- try to find familiar letters at least, will you. But this is Pobeda specs and a short description.

The Pobeda, in early Russian noir crime films.

The Case of the Motley Gang, 1958.

Same movie as above.

Case No. 306

Pobeda 2602 ZiM... the Last One?

A Pobeda 2602 ZiM wristwatch... made by ZiM as in Zavod imeni Maslennikova aka the Maslennikov Factory.

This one is actually the last of the Mohicans of the Pobedas. As you can see, the manual states it was made in March 2003... quite a few years after the factory was supposed to have gone into bankruptcy. 

And this makes it the latest documented Pobeda 2602 watch. And I have it of course. 

Nice two tone dial.

Nice gold toned hands and hour markers.

The case back.

A view on the movement.

The Pobeda 2602 movement... developed most likely on the basis of the Lip R-26 (below) but with improvements (picture courtesy WUS). 

Even though this movement was the most mass produced and one of the cheapest movements (especially in later year versions) in Russia, it hails from premium movements and has certain elements, such as the Breguet hairspring, that are only found in top of the line, expensive watches.

Pobedas are very collectible... though not necessarily ZiM versions.

Most collect late 1940s - early 1960s Pobedas with decorated movements which this one isn't.

New Pobedas by Raketa (pictures)

As was reported earlier - elsewhere and on this blog too, the Raketa factory, Petrodvorets, Russia, decided to re-launch the old USSR's famous Pobeda watch.

Recently first photos appeared on watch forums (borrowed pics). 

Pobeda Red Twelve, Pobeda Crimea (too soon?), Pobeda Victory Day.

 

Pobeda Crimea

The look: not as bad as it might have been. The question of the price remains as the original Pobeda was one of (if not the) the cheapest watches in the USSR and then Russia. And also the fact that there is no small seconds hand at 6 o'clock is almost... almost a fail which is only redeemed to a degree by the fact that there were original Pobedas with the central seconds hand using so-called tall movement. So its design is not entirely out of keeping with tradition... Unless, of course, these are going to be quartz watches -- that will certainly do it... The best one can hope for is that they are going to be using Raketa's 2609 movements (which are of the same size as Pobeda's 2602). 

 

The new poster. Says "Crimea 1944-2014 - 70 Years Without Fascism". No more no less.

The Return of Pobeda?

As was noted elsewhere, the legendary Soviet Pobeda wristwatch may be about to make a comeback.

The new (so-called) Raketa may have purchased rights to the Pobeda brand and says it is preparing a run of Pobeda watches for the year 2015, promising to make the first ones available some time in 2014.

They even went so far as to set up a dedicated website, even though not everything works on it, and you can't find the new Pobeda watches on sale yet.

Link to the website: New Pobeda by Raketa

Personally I am not convinced. For one thing, I don't see Pobeda wristwatches without the cal. 2602 movement. Secondly, even though it was once the most widely produced Soviet and then Russian movement, it still is more technically complex and more difficult to make than the simple Raketa calibers, such as the cal. 2609. Then there is also the issue of the sub-dial second hand which is not offered by any of the current Raketa movements.

For this reason, I fear this will be a failure and an insult to the image and memory of the true Pobeda. But we shall see. In the meantime, I am going to stick to late-period Pobedas by ZiM -- my favorites.  

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.

Ex-Collection Scarface3133: Another Pobeda ZiM 2602

Another Pobeda ZiM 2602 from my already extensive collection.

This one has a minimalistic dial design and is still a "Made in USSR".

More pictures after the break.

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.