Mark, i must apologise wholeheartedly.

in no way did i intend to demean the soviet watch industry. what i wrote was poorly written and not intended to sound as it did.

when i refer to copies of Swiss movements i was only speaking from my limited knowledge. i was aware of their use of swiss products and then their versions of those products, but i knew nothing about licencing so i happily stand corrected. that is the reason i put the header as a question as i wanted better information which you have kindly provided.

with regard to my comment on poor finish, that was poorly put. what i meant was that soviet watches makers dont concentrate on perlage, cote de geneve, engraving or skeletonisation. they concentrate on functionality.

i'm very interested in finding out which of the soviet watches are licenced versions of chronometer grade swiss watches as i like anything unusual. its great to be able to say that this obscure or unheard of watch keeps better time than a high end swiss chronometer.

if you live in UK which i suspect you do, i'd love to come over one day to look over your collection and learn more, rest assured when your book is finished i'll be getting a copy.

i'm now full of humble pie with no room for my evening meal so i hope you will forgive me my ignorance

best

Graham

Sometimes It's Worth Looking On The Other Side...

By: asiaassoc : April 21st, 2009-03:13

Sometimes it pays to look on the other side of things. For example, this pocket watch that I just received. It is a 7-jewel Type-1 pocket watch in a presentation case with floral bezel produced around 1935 by the First Moscow Watch Factory. The dial is si...

Type 1

By: MTF : April 21st, 2009-04:56

Mark, As these were Type 1 time pieces from the Commissar of Railways - no less - does it mean that they were top grade chronometers as required for the timing of railways? Regards, MTF

There were better quality watches for railroad and technical applications

By: asiaassoc : April 21st, 2009-08:34

This was a presentation piece. In the 30s and 40s factories also produced a 15-jewel version of the Type-1 movement for industrial and military applications. A photo of a typical early 15-jewels railroad piece is attached. This one was made by the 1st Mos...

Mark, were these basically copies of high quality swiss watches?

By: G99 : April 21st, 2009-14:40

from what i've seen of Soviet watches and their watch industry they are very good at buying high end swiss pieces then producing their own pieces which are the same, but without the finish. i had a Poljot deck watch which was identical to a UN Deck Chrono...

Previous USSR watch postings....

By: MTF : April 22nd, 2009-02:52

Check out previous postings about Mark's USSR collection: click here AND click here Please use PM for specific re-directions to other sources and materials. Regards, MTF...

my apologies MTF for referring...

By: G99 : April 22nd, 2009-03:11

my apologies MTF for referring to 'that auction site', but it was deliberately kept in very general terms. best Graham

Sorry Graham, You're Wrong...

By: asiaassoc : April 22nd, 2009-06:53

Graham -- Your characterization of Russian movements as poorly finished copies of Swiss calibers is both unfair and inaccurate. Firstly, while the Soviet’s did indeed import technology periodically from French, Swiss and German sources. It almost invariab...

Mark, i must apologise wholeheartedly.

By: G99 : April 22nd, 2009-11:30

in no way did i intend to demean the soviet watch industry. what i wrote was poorly written and not intended to sound as it did. when i refer to copies of Swiss movements i was only speaking from my limited knowledge. i was aware of their use of swiss pro...

No Worries...

By: asiaassoc : April 22nd, 2009-19:02

No worries, Graham. I took your comments in the positive spirit of discourse, as I am sure they were intended. Unfortunately, because I am in Singapore, our face-to-face will have to wait. In all fairness, I should also point out that the Soviets were not...