I Bought a Friend for My Other Two Russian Watches
I saw this Komandirskie ("Commander") in an auction and thought it looked like a cool vintage mechanical Russian piece. I love the double-headed eagle on the dial (reminds me of my German heritage) and the black & gold color scheme as well.
I've only had a few hours with it so far, and from my brief research it doesn't seem to be a newer redial - the patina on the brass case is way too honest, as is the wear on the crown, and the band (which I have already replaced) seemed ancient. Also, the case back looks nothing like the newer ones - this one seems more ornate. Inside is the venerable 2414 movement, as far as I can tell. The dial has applied numerals, hour indicators and logo. The rest of the dial is printed. The crystal cleaned up with some Polywatch.
I really don't know how old it is, but the case is brass. I was hoping to narrow down its age via the movement but couldn't find any information about the Vostok 2414 that discusses when it was manufactured and how it was employed. Again, I just started. I'll update this post when I know more about its manufacture.
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Eric
@Pallet_Fork
~Father ~Christian ~Husband ~Gearhead ~Fisherman ~Ailurophile ~Woodworker ~Gun Collector ~Photographer ~Watch Collector ~Caribbean Traveler ~IT Professional: MS-ISM, BA-COMM, SOC
Chesterfield, Virginia
Member since
Last active: 32 min ago
This model is still made as the 219770 . While the indices and such appear to be applied, the closeup pic suggests that they are instead embossed then printed, which is fine since they won't fall off as I have seen on a few well-worn Vostoks for sale.
An interesting find. I don't see a lot of 21 cases in the 9 (titanium nitride) finish.
Nailing down the age can be difficult as the runs of the case designs and movements are so long, which in a way is part of the attraction.
Very nice vostok, i also collect them. I recommend you, to look into the kremlyovskie vostoks. They are very rare and hard to find as it was a limite production, but they are also very ornate and beautiful
Nice, it reminds me a lot of the pics I've seen of those elaborate Moscow subway stations, which I think are very cool.
This model is still made as the 219770 . While the indices and such appear to be applied, the closeup pic suggests that they are instead embossed then printed, which is fine since they won't fall off as I have seen on a few well-worn Vostoks for sale.
An interesting find. I don't see a lot of 21 cases in the 9 (titanium nitride) finish.
Nailing down the age can be difficult as the runs of the case designs and movements are so long, which in a way is part of the attraction.
Yeah, I saw that Amazon sells this model new and was quite surprised!
I believe you are right about the numbers being embossed, good call.
Your reference to the "21 case" and "9 finish" are over my head. Is there a reference you can share that explains what they mean? Also, titanium nitride finish? I had no idea, I'll have to see what can be done to polish it up.
Thanks for passing along your knowledge! 🤝
Very nice vostok, i also collect them. I recommend you, to look into the kremlyovskie vostoks. They are very rare and hard to find as it was a limite production, but they are also very ornate and beautiful
Whoa, I just looked at them, they're beautiful! Thanks for putting them on my radar! 🍻
Very cool! Almost looks like a military medal. Congrats!
Do you already have a copy of this book...
Russian Wristwatches: Pocket Watches, Stop Watches, Deck Watches & Marine Chronometers (A Schiffer Book for Collectors): Levenberg, Juri: 9780887408731: Amazon.com: Books
I don't know of an up to date reference for the past and present case styles. The majority of what little I know has been inferred from the Meranom website and the Vostok factory's website .
A typical Vostok reference number is 6 characters long, "aabccc".
"aa" is the case style and there are lots of them. Some case styles may use more than one bezel style but there seems to be no provision in the reference number for different bezels.
"b" is case and bezel material and finish. 0 is unplated stainless steel. 1 is chrome plating on brass. 6 is titanium oxide nitride coating (sort of speckled dull grey) on brass. 9 is the goldy coloured titanium nitride coating on brass. There is a 3 finish which is some sort of gold colour over stainless steel and this seems be used on a couple of ladies Amphbia models and not much else.
"ccc" is the dial and hands design combination. There are so many of these that Vostok are now starting to use letters as well as numbers here e.g.: 55093A
The Komandirskie Classic line has 342 variations of dial and finish in 11 case styles listed but not all of them are the inexpensive manually wound brass cased versions this line is best known for, some of them are stainless cased with an automatic movement and 200m water resist so a de facto Amphibian.
This is my 819121:
The 81 case style tends to get the weird lumpy bezel. While this bezel does a fair job of protecting the lucite crystal, I'm keeping a lookout for a bezel which is not so prominant, like the one on this 439524 .
Years ago it would have been possible to buy a complete case without the movement quite cheaply and just swap bits over but a lot of those Komandirskie Classic spare parts are out of stock and will probably stay that way for a long time.
Very cool! Almost looks like a military medal. Congrats!
Do you already have a copy of this book...
Russian Wristwatches: Pocket Watches, Stop Watches, Deck Watches & Marine Chronometers (A Schiffer Book for Collectors): Levenberg, Juri: 9780887408731: Amazon.com: Books
Just ordered it, at your suggestion.
Thanks! 🍻
I don't know of an up to date reference for the past and present case styles. The majority of what little I know has been inferred from the Meranom website and the Vostok factory's website .
A typical Vostok reference number is 6 characters long, "aabccc".
"aa" is the case style and there are lots of them. Some case styles may use more than one bezel style but there seems to be no provision in the reference number for different bezels.
"b" is case and bezel material and finish. 0 is unplated stainless steel. 1 is chrome plating on brass. 6 is titanium oxide nitride coating (sort of speckled dull grey) on brass. 9 is the goldy coloured titanium nitride coating on brass. There is a 3 finish which is some sort of gold colour over stainless steel and this seems be used on a couple of ladies Amphbia models and not much else.
"ccc" is the dial and hands design combination. There are so many of these that Vostok are now starting to use letters as well as numbers here e.g.: 55093A
The Komandirskie Classic line has 342 variations of dial and finish in 11 case styles listed but not all of them are the inexpensive manually wound brass cased versions this line is best known for, some of them are stainless cased with an automatic movement and 200m water resist so a de facto Amphibian.
This is my 819121:
The 81 case style tends to get the weird lumpy bezel. While this bezel does a fair job of protecting the lucite crystal, I'm keeping a lookout for a bezel which is not so prominant, like the one on this 439524 .
Years ago it would have been possible to buy a complete case without the movement quite cheaply and just swap bits over but a lot of those Komandirskie Classic spare parts are out of stock and will probably stay that way for a long time.
That's great info, thanks for taking the time to provide it for me!
And a beautiful watch you have! It's perfect on that strap.
🍻
Whoa, I just looked at them, they're beautiful! Thanks for putting them on my radar! 🍻
I managed to get one brand new kremlyovskie couple months back mint condition. A incredible watch. It's actually puzzling for me why Vostok doesn't make more of them, they clearly can make nice dress watches that are stupid underpriced.
I managed to get one brand new kremlyovskie couple months back mint condition. A incredible watch. It's actually puzzling for me why Vostok doesn't make more of them, they clearly can make nice dress watches that are stupid underpriced.
That is indeed a special piece. You can see the amount of labour that must have gone into it.
If it were all gold tones it would have been a gaudy mess but keeping it mostly steel tones has stopped it crossing the threshold.
What an absolute masterpiece. The dial and the caseback are marvellous.