My WUS Thread - Poljot President 2940 with ST1940

My thread on WUS about my ST1940 / TY2940-based watch



Poljot President 2940 with ST1940



Also makes an appearance in this thread:

Any desiderable watch with seagull st1940 inside?

Also see this post on my blog - Poljot President Automatic Chrono with ST1940 Movement

TY2940 movement

Photo movie of the TY2940 chronograph movement in my Poljot President 2940 watch.

Poljot President 2940 with ST1940 / TY2940 Many Movement Shots (About 30)

My watch Poljot President 2940, which already made an appearance on this blog in this post, is an automatic chronograph.

It is my most worn watch at the moment. I also use the chronograph a lot -- to time certain improving activities.

The stopwatch is actually on now.

I made an educated guess about what movement is inside as it was not stated anywhere in the papers. I was sure that it had an TY2940 aka ST1940 inside -- like this one with 33 jewels (and 33 jewels is not too shabby either).

But it is one thing to deduce even if with certainty and it is quite another thing to see for yourself.

So the back is off and the movement is photographed. Quantity has quality all its own, as the saying goes. In other words, what the photos lack in quality I hope they will compensate by their quantity.

Boy, was I right. It IS the ST1940/TY2940 and a decorated and a polished ST1940 at that. (Chemically) Blued screws are a bonus too. Enjoy.

Montre du Jour April 21, 2014

Here is meine Armbanduhr des Tages heute - my watch of the day today the twenty-first day of the month of April in the year 2014.

Poljot President 2940

It's sunny in Moscow today (or was as of this writing) and + 23 Celsius but feels a lot hotter -- especially in the car.

It is an automatic chronograph (self-winding) powered by the Chinese ST1940 (TY2940) movement with roots going all the way to the famed Venus 175.

You can read more about this movement here -- Chinese ST19xx chronos.

My blog entry on the Poljot-President 2940 is here (link).

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. 

Chinese Mechanical Chronographs ST19 (TY29) Series

The Chinese ST19 (TY29) chronograph is one of the three mechanical chronographs currently manufactured in China. It differs (in a good way) from the other two in that it is not a clone of Valjoux 7750 but is derived from Venus 175, a famed Swiss chronograph movement of yesteryear.

Some time in the 1960s, equipment for the manufacture of the ST19xx chronograph was sold to China by its original Swiss maker. The Sea-Gull factory of China started using it in its pilots' watches. Its production was suspended for some time; however it was resumed recently and the chronograph movement is now available in many watches made by Sea-Gull, by some other Chinese companies, by foreign companies such as Ingersoll, to name just one, while its cheap versions can even be found in some fakes.

Usually this particular chronograph movement is designated ST19xx - the designation used by Sea-Gull itself to refer to its chronographs - or TY29xx - where the letters TY stand for the city in which the company is located -- Tianjin. It is possible that the latter designation is used to mark movements sold for use by third party manufacturers.

ST19 is a chronograph with hand-winding based on Venus 175. According to this excellent Chinese horology resource, seven variants are currently in production:

• ST1901: 2 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3
• ST1902: 3 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, 12 h register at 6 that mirrors the time-keeping hour hand
• ST1903: 3 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, 24 h register at 6 that is not affiliated with the chronograph function
• ST1904: unused model number, possibly being reserved for an automatic winding or true 3 register chronograph version
• ST1905: 2 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, decentral power reserve at 4:30
• ST1906: 2 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, decentral power reserve at 6
• ST1907: 2 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, central power reserve indicator
• ST1908: 4 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, date at 12, real moon phase at
• ST1940: 2 register, small seconds at 9, 30 min counter at 3, automatic.

I am interested in this type of Chinese chronograph, in addition to all other reasons, for the following reason: I noticed -- as others also did -- that some time ago (two or three years back) some offshoots of the former Poljot, and namely, TD Poljot, Poljot-Stil and Poljot-Chronos made a series of automatic chronographs. TD Poljot designated such movements in its watches as Poljot 2940 while Poljot-Chronos preferred to call them 3140 (possibly intending to slightly mislead the buyers as to its relation to the cal. 3133 which is not there).

Almost certainly the movement used in those chronographs was and is ST1940 (TY2940). There are simply no other options considering the layout of its sub-dials and the fact that it is automatic.

However these chronographs are already sold out and are out of stock. 

For example, this specimen (they were all in the same style, with a peculiar way to attach the strap to the case).

Out of stock.

ETA (December 26, 2013):
I now have in my collection a Russian watch similar to the above (same case & strap, also stopwatch hand) with an ST1940 (TY2940) movement - an automatic chronograph with a seconds subdial at 9 o'clock, a central stopwatch hand and a 30 minute accumulator dial at 3 o'clock. Below is the link to the main entry on the watch.

Poljot President 2940 Automatic Chronograph with an ST1940 inside.