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Quartz
Quartz
- Not in working condition because of battery corrosion.
1st Watch Factory n.a. S.M. Kirov. Moscow
(7 jewels)
- Inscribed on back: "To leading Stakhanovets-Krivonosovets comrade A. C. Borisenko from People Commissariat of Communications. 17th of April 1936"
- Alexei G. Stakhanov was a Soviet industrial worker (miner) who in 1935 was awarded special recognition & special privileges for extraordinarily exceeding his mining quotas.
- Pyotr (Peter) Krivonos was steam-engine driver who was similarly rewarded for twice developing methods for increasing the average speed of locomotives.
- Both of these men became propaganda symbols of the "heroic worker", to be emulated by the Soviet workforce.
- The People's Commissariat of Communications was responsible for railroads and other means of mass transportation.
- The collection contains a total of more than 90 inscribed pieces.
1st Moscow Watch Factory
Case & Dial
1956
(Q-4)
Replacement Movement
On Case
18yC
Replacement Movement
On Case
41483
Replacement Movement
- Radium dial.
- Apparently, at some point in time, the original movement was removed & replaced with a newer one; probably because it was no longer functional.
- This model case & dial was produced from the late 1930s through the mid 1940s.
(Zaria)
(30 jewels)
automatic
- Inscribed with a birthday greeting dated 1965.
- Small & thin. The movement itself is about 20mm in diameter & the rotor is about 22.5 mm wide (caution: these are very close but not exact measurements.)
- Unlike all other Soviet automatics (& the vast majority of foreign automatics too), the auto-winding mechanism has been integrated into the base movement so that it sits on the same plane as the rest of the works, with only the rotor sitting above the top plate. This makes for a much slimmer movement while still allowing the components to be made with a reasonable thickness. The tradeoff is that there is less width available for critical components like the balance wheel and mainspring. (Thank you Chascomm!)
- See also No. 1528 for an equally rare and very small Chaika automatic movement from the Uglich factory.
Kirov
(21 jewels)
- Completely original, with no restoration or repair.
- Radium dial.
- In 1941, Glashütte-based Tutima began producing a fly-back chronograph for the German air force (see No. 0438). At the end of the war, the Soviets seized the factory, took the designs, remaining parts & manufacturing machinery as war reparations & shipped them to Moscow. Starting in 1947 the First Moscow Watch Factory produced Tutima-Urofa chronographs using original parts taken from Glashutte, but with a FMWF-signed dial & a Russian made case. By 1949 the captured German machines were fully operational & Tutima-Urofa chronographs were produced with parts made entirely in Moscow.
- For an original German piece, see number 0438.
- For Soviet-made variations see numbers: 0199, 0307, 0437, 0455, 0825, 1225, 1390 & 1391.
(11 jewels)
model number
20Б
- Inscribed: "To Professor M.S. Belenkiy from thankful patient Mrs F.A. Vidershine. Odessa, July 1955."
- 'Professor' in this contest refers to an experienced doctor who teaches at a university.
Movement dated
1940
(15 jewels)
- inscription reads "In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution for Stakhanov-Krivonosov work to comrade A.S. Goncharenko from the Peoples Commissar of Railroads."
- Alexei G. stakhanov was a Soviet industrial worker (miner) who in 1935 was awarded special recognition & special privileges for extraordinarily exceeding his mining quotas.
- Pyotr (Peter) Krivonos was steam-engine driver who was similarly rewarded for twice developing methods for increasing the average speed of locomotives.
- Both of these men became propaganda symbols of the "heroic worker", to be emulated by the Soviet workforce.
- The anniversary mentioned in the text dates the inscription to 1937.
- This watch was repaired on 30 October 1942. At this time the original 1st Moscow Watch Factory movement was probably replaced with the present one.
- Watch came to me with a leather pouch, possibly vintage original.
(18 jewels)
- Movement marked with a Vostok 'B' logo under the balance wheel.
- Blued hands.
- Metallic dial.
- Although there is a possibility that this timepiece is a recently made mule, I have seen 2 or 3 other very similar pieces that point to the possibility that it is genuine.
- See No. 1543 for a similar watch.
(15 jewels)
- 2-part back cover (lid plus screw ring).
- Unusual groove around circumference of case, similar to the groove on the waterproof version of the 2nd Moscow Watch Factory 2-hand Rattrapante stopwatch (no. 1515 on this site).
- Very heavy, 112gm compared with 72gm for this movement in the standard case.
- Almost certainly military.
- 'T' embossed on back cover.
- This is the only example of this case I have encountered.
Electric
(12 jewels)
- A very early electromechanical watch.
- This movement and model was already on offer for export in the 1960 Mashpriborintorg catalog & in shops in Moscow by 1962.
- It is not a tuning fork or transistor watch. It utilizes a 'magneto-electric' technology powered by a small 1.5 volt battery.
- Original 1960 Soviet-produced battery is preserved.
- IN WORKING CONDITION.
- The design for this watch seems to be derived from the pioneering Epperlein 100 - 500 series of electric watches & Hamilton 500 electric watches produced in the late 1950s. Soviet engineers have copied elements from both & added some of their own unique features.
- Scans of an early Russian newspaper report & the Mashpriborintorg catalog entry can be seen in the photo section.