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My love affair with Russian watches continues

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d4m.test

Guest
Here is my favourite. It's a "Radio Room" Vostok Amphibia, but I changed the bezel and insert, and went for a colour matched nato strap.

I have 3 others, and will post up once I get some photos.



eb2e0a9a2dfd65ad968a45c9f07a3332.jpg


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d4m.test

Guest
Wow that is awesome modded Amphibia. The bezel mod is simple but I think it adds so much to the overall look of these Vostoks. The radio room dial is one of my favorites. I am a big fan of the no date Amphibias because I find the date changing system of the 2416b to be troublesome to use.

Still, I agree with you, that the Amphibia is one of the best divers that you can buy at this price point. It even comes with it's own in house movement.
 

Radman

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How do you guys buy these vostok watches? I see them all over ebay but it seems like they could be not reputable/ fake sellers. There is some seller "russian federation" that seems to sell new ones. Most watches seem to be in $50 range.
just curious about the basics on buying these...
 
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d4m.test

Guest
Those are the Meranom Special Edition watches and they typically sell for around 160 USD. Quantity is scarce too like 1967 Amphibia as they are both Special Editions. Here's one that is currently for sale on Meranom's website.
https://meranom.com/en/amphibian-se/960se/vostok-watch-neptune-se-960b27.html

You can purchase these Vostoks at Meranom or at Zenitar in eBay. There are also tons of Aftermarket parts being produced so you can mod your Vostok to look like anything you like pretty affordably.

The cheap Vostoks have pretty decent water resistance. However, their lume are pretty bad and I don't really like the stock bezel. The bracelet that comes stock on these things are really cheap feeling too. I recommend you buy a higher quality bracelet or put it in a NATO Strap.

Here's my Vintage Zakas Mo Komandirskie with 2234 movement. Zakas Mo means if I remember right that it was produced by "order of" the state for use by the military during the USSR years. Therefore it is a little more higher quality than standard Vostoks of the time.

The 2234 movement in this watch is also special as it has a hacking feature that stops the seconds hand while you are setting the time. I really love these Russian watches way too much. :adoration:


View attachment 106274
 
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d4m.test

Guest
The automatics have hand wind though, do they not? Unlike the 7s26.

Vostok automatic watches are typically powered by the 2416b movement which has hand winding. The typical trade-off with Russian movements is that they don't have a quickset date feature.

If you only use only one watch, this is ok. However once you have several watches, it is a pain setting the date to the correct time. That's why I prefer no date dials for Amphibias and Vostoks in general.
 

Waspy

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Vostok automatic watches are typically powered by the 2416b movement which has hand winding. The typical trade-off with Russian movements is that they don't have a quickset date feature.

If you only use only one watch, this is ok. However once you have several watches, it is a pain setting the date to the correct time. That's why I prefer no date dials for Amphibias and Vostoks in general.

All you say is good, but they do have a semi-quickset date don't they? i.e. wind through 12 to change date, wind backwards to 8, then back through 12, repeat.
 
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d4m.test

Guest
Yes the 2416b and other derivatives have this semi quickset date change. However, if you have several Vostoks on rotation it kinda gets annoying doing this. This is especially annoying if some of your Vostoks are 20 days behind, and you have the urge to wear them.

Still, my opinion remains that Vostoks are pretty good watches for the money even if they have no quick date change.
 

Waspy

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Still, my opinion remains that Vostoks are pretty good watches for the money even if they have no quick date change.

Absolutely. I must have been having similar thoughts about no-date watches because I recently added this Amphibian to my 'Watched Items' list in eBay, £53!

6VruIPZ.jpg
 
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d4m.test

Guest
Nice choice, I haven't seen that dial before. Maybe it is one of the new dials that Vostok is producing. It also has nice blued hands and that is a stainless steel bezel too.

Blued hands typically have Noctilumina which is way better than stock Vostok lume. I am not sure what lume this model uses, but I think it would be pretty nice if it is Noctilumina.

If you do decide to purchase that watch, I think it is a good decision. I like nice clean dials :adoration:
 

Waspy

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I do have a couple more Russians but no pics atm.

I do have this pic of my three Sekonda badged Poljot 17 jewel hand-winds from the 1980s

A shame Sekonda dropped the Russian mechanical movements and switched to Chinese quartz movements.

6h6dyq2.jpg
 
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d4m.test

Guest
View attachment 106343
My Vostok Kommandirskie with replacement olive green nylon strap. 21600 bph, manual wind, bi-directional bezel

A nice classic Komandirskie with a very good looking dial. It looks like your watch has a 2409 manual winding movement which has a rate of 19800 bph.

While Komandirskies have a lower water resistance rating than Amphibian, they are still pretty darn tough. I used one Komandirskie of mine while swimming in the sea and the pool quite regularly and I didn't get any water ingress. The chrome plating on these things are pretty tough too. :adoration:
 
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d4m.test

Guest
I do have a couple more Russians but no pics atm.

I do have this pic of my three Sekonda badged Poljot 17 jewel hand-winds from the 1980s

A shame Sekonda dropped the Russian mechanical movements and switched to Chinese quartz movements.

6h6dyq2.jpg

Nice collection of Seconda watches. Secondas nowadays are made with crappy Chinese movements. They must have been bought out by a Chinese firm.

I have a Raketa watch that looks similar to your watch in the middle. I'll try to take a picture of it when I have time.
 

Lliu31

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It looks like your watch has a 2409 manual winding movement which has a rate of 19800 bph.
Good to know, thank you.
While Komandirskies have a lower water resistance rating than Amphibian, they are still pretty darn tough. I used one Komandirskie of mine while swimming in the sea and the pool quite regularly and I didn't get any water ingress. The chrome plating on these things are pretty tough too. :adoration:
Agreed. I had a Vostok Amphibia before I joined this forum. Thing was built like a 90s nokia phone. Unfortunately for this Kommandirski, its been a box queen since I bought it a few months ago. Just can't seem to find the occasion to fit in my wrist rotation.
 
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d4m.test

Guest
One suggestion I have for your Komandirskie is to use it as a beater watch. I have used my Vostoks in applications where other people would most likely use G Shocks instead, such as hiking, sports and swimming. I haven't had one of my Vostoks fail yet despite of the abuse I have put them through. My reasoning was that these watches are so inexpensive, I can just buy a new one in case mine does fail.

My Komandirskie's chrome plating did start to fade after a couple years of hard use. However, the movement was still ticking. So I bought an Amphibia case and transplanted the movement. I did not have this problem with the Amphibia as they have a stainless steel case which resists corrosion really good.
 

jaredjohnson

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How do you guys buy these vostok watches? I see them all over ebay but it seems like they could be not reputable/ fake sellers. There is some seller "russian federation" that seems to sell new ones. Most watches seem to be in $50 range.
just curious about the basics on buying these...
meranom.com is an official Vostok factory website, they sell worldwide.