Cameras and watches.

Kai-san said:
Checking on ebay I found 5 watches of this particular model with the same bezel as the one I've ordered. The sellers are from Belarus, Ukraine, Australia, UK and the US. There are some variants of the hands, mostly the third (seconds). I wonder if watchmakers have had these bezels made for replacement, but would not put the Vostok logo on it in fear of being sued. Anyway I have not spent a lot of money on it, there are Amphibians on ebay that cost eight times as much. Next time I'll get a KGB model. 😊
Click to expand...
Because of the difficulties in figuring out what "official" Soviet product was, I might not worry too much - just buy whatever pleases. Even in recent years, I'd see oddball stuff offered by Russian sellers, such as "Lomography x Zenit Mercury" lenses, which AFAIK were never offered by Lomography. I guessed they were samples for a canceled project which somehow made it into private hands.

My hunch is that the green-and-white watch face is authentic enough, and designed to appeal to western tastes. The Vostok clock factory did something similar in the 1990s with submarine clocks (as sold by USA retailers such as Sharper Image) emblazoned with Soviet-era icons such as red stars and submarines, while the domestic product seems to have been plainer.

Funny, but stuff which appears to be bona fide KGB spy tools can easily be found on That Auction Site, such as the Ajacs F-21 camera and it's accessories (but I understand that Robot cameras were preferred).
 
JeffS7444 said:
Because of the difficulties in figuring out what "official" Soviet product was, I might not worry too much - just buy whatever pleases. Even in recent years, I'd see oddball stuff offered by Russian sellers, such as "Lomography x Zenit Mercury" lenses, which AFAIK were never offered by Lomography. I guessed they were samples for a canceled project which somehow made it into private hands.

My hunch is that the green-and-white watch face is authentic enough, and designed to appeal to western tastes. The Vostok clock factory did something similar in the 1990s with submarine clocks (as sold by USA retailers such as Sharper Image) emblazoned with Soviet-era icons such as red stars and submarines, while the domestic product seems to have been plainer.

Funny, but stuff which appears to be bona fide KGB spy tools can easily be found on That Auction Site, such as the Ajacs F-21 camera and it's accessories (but I understand that Robot cameras were preferred).
Click to expand...

Well, the watch is genuine, no doubt when you look at the back plate. But the more I look into this, it's beginning to look like a minefield. In addition to the different bezels I now see variations of the strap fixture, the ring around the clock face and I also found one with English text at the back. To me it looks like there is no single standard of this model.
Regarding the "KGB" watches I see that most of them are marked "Made in Russia", i.e. after 1991 when KGB had ceased to exist. This could be the case with other "KGB" paraphernalia as well.
 
JeffS7444 said:
Because of the difficulties in figuring out what "official" Soviet product was, I might not worry too much
Click to expand...
I disagree with the statement that identifying 'official' Soviet products is difficult because we have catalogues from the Soviet era that provide clear references for production. While it's true that the production of watches, like many other Soviet industries, suffered after the fall of the CCCP federation, causing some ambiguity. In any case, I support the suggestion to buy what pleases, but when dealing with vintage pieces, I believe it is important to be aware about the coherence of the piece.

Here the dial as it was sold on Aukro as standalone piece for modding, until few years ago.

file.php
 
NorpA said:
I disagree with the statement that identifying 'official' Soviet products is difficult because we have catalogues from the Soviet era that provide clear references for production. While it's true that the production of watches, like many other Soviet industries, suffered after the fall of the CCCP federation, causing some ambiguity. In any case, I support the suggestion to buy what pleases, but when dealing with vintage pieces, I believe it is important to be aware about the coherence of the piece.

Here the dial as it was sold on Aukro as standalone piece for modding, until few years ago.

file.php
Click to expand...
That style is still available from "fialochka2016", along with other styles. It's not uncommon to encounter decades-old NOS Soviet goods and components even now. It seems that little is thrown away if there is potential for making money.

If you have access to an official catalogs from state export agencies such as Mashpriborintorg (Внешнеэкономическое объединение Машприборинторг), great. But by the 1990s, my impression is that the FSU export marketplace of the era was pretty laissez-faire.
 
Last edited:
Kai-san said:
Well, the watch is genuine, no doubt when you look at the back plate. But the more I look into this, it's beginning to look like a minefield. In addition to the different bezels I now see variations of the strap fixture, the ring around the clock face and I also found one with English text at the back. To me it looks like there is no single standard of this model.
Regarding the "KGB" watches I see that most of them are marked "Made in Russia", i.e. after 1991 when KGB had ceased to exist. This could be the case with other "KGB" paraphernalia as well.
Click to expand...
Well I'm pretty sure that actual KGB operatives did not equip themselves with KGB-themed accessories :p Pretty much 100% guaranteed it's targeting a western audience.

The Zenit 122 camera spanned the Soviet and FSU eras, and there are a crazy number of variations out there, all from a single factory. Supposedly, cameras with cyrillic markings once denoted inferior quality domestic-market product, while latin lettering denoted "export quality", but in the case of the Zenit 122, the cyrillic version seems scarce in all markets.
 
JeffS7444 said:
That style is still available from "fialochka2016", along with other styles. It's not uncommon to encounter decades-old NOS Soviet goods and components even now. It seems that little is thrown away if there is potential for making money.

If you have access to an official catalogs from state export agencies such as Mashpriborintorg (Внешнеэкономическое объединение Машприборинторг), great. But by the 1990s, my impression is that the FSU export marketplace of the era was pretty laissez-faire.
Click to expand...

For the moment it looks like I'm too late to the party for this particular model. On ebay there is none on offer with correct dial, hands or rotating bezel, apart from total wrecks from some previous Soviet states. There are two with the same design, but with a 119 tonneau case which I think is ugly. It's the same situation on Etsy, more than half of those on offer has the fake dial. The one I've ordered is in working order and very good cosmetic shape, so I can live with the fake dial.
 
JeffS7444 said:
Well I'm pretty sure that actual KGB operatives did not equip themselves with KGB-themed accessories :p Pretty much 100% guaranteed it's targeting a western audience.

The Zenit 122 camera spanned the Soviet and FSU eras, and there are a crazy number of variations out there, all from a single factory. Supposedly, cameras with cyrillic markings once denoted inferior quality domestic-market product, while latin lettering denoted "export quality", but in the case of the Zenit 122, the cyrillic version seems scarce in all markets.
Click to expand...

If there is one "KGB" watch that I would have liked to own, it would have to be this one.

KGB.JPG
 
IMG_0507.jpegThe Seiko diver watches are alluring. Somewhere around 2004-2005 there was a frenzy (virus?) in the TimeZone community where the Seiko “orange monster” was the hot thing to have. The bezel on the orange monster was just too overwhelming for me, so I got the more discreet ordinary orange dial Seiko diver shown above. Now, however, I see the appeal.

IMG_1641.jpeg

The interesting thing about these is that, although they are automatic, unlike most automatic watches, these cannot be manually wound if stopped: they can only be wound through motion.
 
Last edited:
Pál_K said:
View attachment 4823587The Seiko diver watches are alluring. Somewhere around 2004-2005 there was a frenzy (virus?) in the TimeZone community where the Seiko “orange monster” was the hot thing to have. The bezel on the orange monster was just too overwhelming for me, so I got the more discreet ordinary orange dial Seiko diver shown above. Now, however, I see the appeal.

View attachment 4823588

The interesting thing about these is that, although they are automatic, unlike most automatic watches, these cannot be manually wound if stopped: they can only be wound through motion.
Click to expand...
I like your earlier, more muted orange dial. Yes, I have a couple of the Seiko 5's, which have a 7S26 movement that can't be manually wound, or hacked (for precise time setting). Reliable and accurate movements, but not being capable of manual winding in particular is a drawback.
 
Pál_K said:
View attachment 4823587The Seiko diver watches are alluring. Somewhere around 2004-2005 there was a frenzy (virus?) in the TimeZone community where the Seiko “orange monster” was the hot thing to have. The bezel on the orange monster was just too overwhelming for me, so I got the more discreet ordinary orange dial Seiko diver shown above. Now, however, I see the appeal.

View attachment 4823588

The interesting thing about these is that, although they are automatic, unlike most automatic watches, these cannot be manually wound if stopped: they can only be wound through motion.
Click to expand...
Have an orange monster . Haven't worn in years.
 
KoNickon said:
I like your earlier, more muted orange dial. Yes, I have a couple of the Seiko 5's, which have a 7S26 movement that can't be manually wound, or hacked (for precise time setting). Reliable and accurate movements, but not being capable of manual winding in particular is a drawback.
Click to expand...
agree
 
Pál_K said:
View attachment 4823587The Seiko diver watches are alluring. Somewhere around 2004-2005 there was a frenzy (virus?) in the TimeZone community where the Seiko “orange monster” was the hot thing to have. The bezel on the orange monster was just too overwhelming for me, so I got the more discreet ordinary orange dial Seiko diver shown above. Now, however, I see the appeal.

View attachment 4823588

The interesting thing about these is that, although they are automatic, unlike most automatic watches, these cannot be manually wound if stopped: they can only be wound through motion.
Click to expand...
I must admit, the orange is certainly interesting… and Amazon has them on sale for $210. And other colors…

Just noticed it is not a GMT though. Not that I would ever use that feature…🤷🏼‍♂️… but Amazon has the GMT with orange dial face for $348.

It’s amazing how many choices there are for watches in the affordable range these days😃…
 
Last edited:
I got mine in 2005. if I remember correctly, they cost a lot more then and the dollar was worth more then.

Orange is not a color I like, other than on Lamborghinis and watch dials.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom