Cardi Vostok Chronoscope Racingtime GP
Yet another strange mouthful arrived from the house of Cardi Vostok via Ukraine. The Cardi collaboration was branch of the Vostok family tree that withered and died in the harsh winds of change.
I fancied the look of the cream dial with the gilt and pastel green printing (now faded somewhat). There is still a remnant of this colour scheme to be found in the Vostok cataloge in the Partner series, so it seems there is, decades later, some lingering benefit from the Cardi connection:
A Racingtime GP may sound like a sporty machine but the only sporty aspect I can see is a difficult to rotate bezel. No fancy chronograph here, not even a date wheel in this basic but proven 2409A movement. If you wanted a date complication you had to spend the extra money for a Cardi Vostok Capitan 4-Star running the 2414A movement.
The Racingtime GP is mostly a Cardi Vostok MVM Sport with different makeup and lipstick.
I'm not sure how these watches were named, but I suspect the process involved the Cardi creative team stress-testing the company credit card during a long, liquid lunch and their local bar.
This GP is fitted with a domed crystal and the MVM Sport has flat. I don't know which was factory issued but I think I prefer the flat to take more advantage of the slim case resulting from the lack of a date wheel or auto winder. The dome adds around 2mm to the thickness.
One slightly interesting difference I can see is on the backs:
For some reason the GP has the locating slot for the caseback on the opposite end. Looking at other GPs on eBay the slot can be on either end but usually at the 12 o'clock.
The aging but dependable 2409A movement seems to be running nice enough:
Now I have to decide what strap will look nice on it. Black leather works nicely on the MVM Sport but on the GP it looks wrong. Decisions, decisions.
So many watches, so little time.
This is a great history lesson much appreciated. I had never heard of Cardiff vostok so thanks for publishing!
I have a scuba dude and a Komanderski but plan on adding to these.
This is a great history lesson much appreciated. I had never heard of Cardiff vostok so thanks for publishing!
I have a scuba dude and a Komanderski but plan on adding to these.
Yeah, the Cardi Vostok watches are a subculture within the Vostok subsulture but are a fairly safe bet since they use common-as-muck movements that you can still get parts for 30 years later.
From the limited information out there, in the mid 90's Cardi started their own watch production using not Vostok movements but Raketa and (from what I have seen) some chinese movement. Those watches are just labelled as Cardi Mechanique. Around year 2000 the Cardi watch business was sold to Interex-Orion.
Vostok Europe in Lithuania started out in a similar way casing Vostok movements, then with some success migrating to other brands of movements.
I'm just an accidental collector. I had purchased a Komandirskie out of curiosity and was happily amused by it without any desire for more of them:
then there was a special military operation on the other side of the world. Ukraine needs foreign currency, I have a curiosity about cheap, obscure russian watches, deals are done. I blame the president of a superpower for turning me into a collector, possibly the only good thing he has done this year.
For the record, the only colour strap that works for me is this "honey tan" pigskin from Fleurus:
This oozes charm like crazy. Thanks for an informative post as well. I am yet to get into Vostok and learning of a subculture within a subculture which is also, if we’re being honest here, within another subculture, has truly piqued my interest. Maybe it’s time to dive into Vostok after all.