Poljot alarm revisited
I’m sure you’ve seen me post picture of this - my Poljot alarm more than once. I’ve had it now for approaching ten years and I’m still can’t get over how much I still like it.
It was one of my first forays into buying a watch that was a bit more interesting, I started to realise that you could have a watch that did more than just tell the time. Somehow I became aware that you could have a watch that made a sound, but soon realised minute repeaters and the like - were and still are way out of my budget. Though truth to be told my Grail watch is a minute repeater - the probability of getting it is just vanishingly remote.
When I started looking I realised that perhaps I could get an alarm watch - which would combine getting a watch that had a complication and also one that made a sound. But also one that I could afford. After a bit more searching Poljot alarms started to pop up with a degree of regularity - the good thing was that they were cheap (not even relatively) and that there was a range to choose from.
Why choose this one ? Well the Blue dial stuck out at the time and it still does - its almost iridescent. Love the wiggly hand for the alarm function, which adds more character to the watch for me. Its mean’t to be part of a limited edition of 500 - but I still see some like it, do I care - not really. For me its just a nice watch that had a function that I wanted and it was, looking back, unbelievably cheap. There are other versions with the same case and look - I’ve seen both a black dialed version and a rather wonderful burgundy dialed edition too. The case itself has a mixture of polished and brushed surfaces the case back has the legend Poljot on it and limited edition of 276/500. The case back has always been a bit scratched - but that never bothered me either. It also has crown horns for each of the crowns, which always struck me as a bit odd, as it was never going to go anywhere near water or isn’t really a tool watch.
From what I can gather the movement is a Poljot 2612.1 and is considered to be a Soviet copy of an AS1475 (Being a fan of Alarm watches I’ve got The Alarm Wristwatch by Michael Philip Horbleck, where this info is from). Though there are a number of changes to the AS1475 design the main one being its 0.6 mm bigger . There are other changes & I’d recommend you to read the book, as I’m no expert I’d refer you to the original source material. Looking at the pictures in the book I think it would be safe to describe the finishing as industrial!
When I was looking at getting this I searched the web and one or two reviews stuck out - there’s a really good one on a burgundy dialled version of the watch and a few others that I read through before hand. Think the summation was that the variability in what you got was quite significant - I’ve always thought I’ve got a ‘good’ one. It recently started loosing time so it was time for a service and I’m pleased to say that I’ve got it back quickly & in fine fettle. The only thing to note was that the service cost more than the watch did originally - but its given me back a correctly working watch so thats all good. Its also worth noting that the service was still cheap, especially when you compare it to some of the more expensive watches that I have.
To sum it it up, its a great watch that was cheap, its durable and its performs and looks like it cost a whole lot more. If there’s a downside - its that it got me interested in alarm watches in general & a Lanco Fon, Vulcain, Oris Wrist Alarm later I’m still going. There’s definitely something about a small mechanical alarm that’s strapped to your wrist.
Cheers
JML
Thank you for this post, JML!
Thank for your review of your Poljot Alarm.
I hope the next person searching for reviews will land on your post which will definitely validate their purchase.
Thanks
Bill