Slava 2427 Automatic

Slava 2427, automatic, day-date calendar.

RDR

It is a current offering from Slava (what's left of it). Personally, I like it. 

The watch has a sporty-, heavy duty look about it -- but it's all for show, just style no substance, Slava made many such watches in the 1990s-2000s. But I still like them for some reason. 

A promo photo from Slava's website.

One look at the back will tell you the watch is an automatic.

It is.

The Slava caliber 2427 in a later years version... soon there will be no more of them. I think they will disappear before the handwind (i.e. S2409, S2414 and S2428) versions. The S2416 is already no more.

Twin barrels... only by Slava.

Swatch Sistem51

With SISTEM51, Swatch has opened up an exciting new world. Unprecedented technological innovation (17 pending patents) enabled the development, in less than two years, of a self-winding mechanical movement with only 51 parts in five modules. SISTEM51 is 100 percent Swiss made and features an exceptional 90 hour power reserve.

Photo Gallery: Antique Watch Movements

A website with pictures of antique watch movements

Photo Gallery: Antique Watch Movements

Some handwind movements, automatic movements, chronograph movements, pocket watch movements, etc.

I am adding a link to it in my links collection on the sidebar.

Ten Years + After: My Seiko 5

From my collection is this Seiko 5, an affordable automatic watch and now more than 12 years old, ref. SKWX55K, with a cal. 7S26 movement, and namely Seiko 5 7s26-8760 (first series of numbers (and one letter) stands for the movement caliber, the second designates case modification).

 

Bought by me personally in early 2002 here in Moscow and it cost me RUB 1,590 which is about US$50.  

It was sold without a box or anything just a little clear plastic bag but there was a seiko manual and a tag with the ref number and the caliber designation as you can see below. 

A stainless steel case.

There is even some water resistance as you can see on the back -- WP which stands, most likely, for water protected which is Seiko's most basic water protection strictly against splashes and rain, nothing more.

There is also a number -- 155021 -- which allows you to date the watch, 1 stands for the first year in a decade, which in this case has got to be 2001, while 5 stands for the month of May. No idea what the other cyphers stand for (if anything), and I bought it in March 2002.

Seiko 5's cheap bracelet which I found to be not quite as cheap as people make out. It is an OK bracelet as far as I am concerned. 

Out of curiosity I made some searches on the internet to see if I could find the watch. Well I found lots of similar watches but not quite the same. But then in 2009 someone in Belgium was selling the same watch, but with a white dial and in a condition much worse than mine for the whole of US$ 100.

Also on Rakuten another Seiko 5 7s26-8760 with the same watch case (to which the number 8760 attests) but with a different dial and markers and minus the bracelet was sold for US$ 120, with the strap being not original, someone nicked the bracelet.

So does it mean that I bought my watch for US$50 in 2002 and now -- 12 years later -- can sell it from US$100 to US$120?

What can you say about the caliber 7s26?

The movement is very popular, strictly meaning -- widespread, because Seiko used to put it in many of its watch models and apparently continues to do so, even though there is already a replacement. And it was used not only in cheaper Seiko 5s but also in rather more expensive real diver's watches such as the Seiko Monster.  

It is an automatic movement, which winds from the motion of your hand, the autowind module is very reliable and simple -- consists of only three parts. But there is no handwinding. The lack of handwinding makes this movement also one of the cheapest, especially taking into account its automatic assembly line production.

However the absence of the handwinding feature opens Seiko to accusations of excessive cheapness.

This watch will not suit every one. As it happened to me. I don't wear watches 10-12 hours a day every single day of the week. So the autowind was unable to maintain power. Also the lack of handwind is unlikely to be appreciated by those who have multiple wearable watches and rotate them as I do too. For this reason I did not wear this watch much and it spent upwards of 10 years in my desk. But it looks almost like new and you just have to move it a little for it to start counting time.

This 7s26 caliber has no hack feature either, but you can imitate it to good effect using so called back-hack (or poor man's hack), all you need to do is to make a little pressure on the winding crown while it is in hand-setting position, in reverse to the movement of hands. For example, you may want to do it if you want to set your watch very precisely (to the second). Though it is not recommended apparently.

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. 

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

Is This the New Raketa Amphibian?

About a week back a French watch forum did an exclusive with pictures on the new Raketa Amphibia, automatic, with Raketa 2615 movement.

New Acquisition: Vostok Troika 2416B

My new acquisition is this NOS 2004 Vostok Troika with a Vostok 2416B movement, with tags.
Here are some quick and nasty photos with my cheap point and click camera. 

Troika is a brand which may have been owned by Vostok not by itself but together with its partners, specifically a certain firm styled ChasProm of Belarus was mentioned. But the brand seems to be more or less discontinued now.

This particular series of Troika watches all have a nice (and rare for Vostok) display caseback with a view on its Vostok 2416B movement.

I have only had it since yesterday - so far so good. It IS working (it's a 2004 watch) without a service history. 

The movement as seen through its display caseback. I think it is a good-looking movement, even if undecorated. The rotor in particular is well shaped and rotates very happily and easily and also noiselessly, fun to watch actually. In fact, you can play a little game with it by trying to make it go full consecutive circles by moving you watch.

I am going to add a review later based on my use of this watch. That is, IF I use it and not just retire it straight to my watch box on account of me having too many wearable watches already. Competition for my wrist time gets real fierce.

I am attaching some more pictures below.

Flyer: Vostok 2416 Movement

A promotional flyer of the Vostok 2416 movement, with specifications.

The movement is currently in production and is widely used by Vostok. It is used in all classic and new Vostok Amphibias and in some Vostok Komandirskie and other Vostok watches -- those that are automatic because the movement is.

h/t molnija.eu