Vostok Amphibia 710058 SCUBA Dude

Восток Амфибия 710059(Vostok Amphibia 710058)

My first Vostok Amphibia - the 710059 with teal "SCUBA Dude" dial and custom teal bezel insert.

BTW, Vostok model numbers if you don't know - the first three numbers are the case model (in this case the 710) and the second three numbers are the dial. So a real coloured SCUBA Dude is dial 059.

Knowing your favourite Vostok dial numbers can be useful if 6ou are searching online for a particular dial but want to see it in different cases.

🌈...the more you know...⭐

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Clockwise from top left: a historical anachronism (especially given the current situation), 50th anniversary of WWII, Yuri Gagarin, 80th anniversary of Bio/chemical/radiation troops.

The 710 is a cushion case watch i.e., a roughly square case with rounded edges. In the early 80s the 710 was a lot squarer:

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710 from about 1983 (L), current 710 (R)

The 710 is also sometimes refered to as a "Ministry" case because, when it was first produced, it featured dials commemorating various government ministries (Source). These are the dials you often see with KGB, GRU insignia etc.

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Various incarnations of the KGB dial.

The 710 is powered by a Vostok 2416B automatic movement developed in-house, with 31 jewels, hand winding, a mechanism to prevent overwinding, and a power reserve if approx. 31 hours. The movement is robust if not accurate with accuracy rated at -20 +60 sec/day (bit the best by modern standards). However, they are fairly easy to adjust.

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Vostok movement.

At 41mm wide and 45mm lug to lug (22mm lug width) it's on the larger end of the spectrum for watches, and it is 15mm tall which is quite big compared to modern watches but that includes the domed acrylic crystal which is twice the normal thickness of most dive watches at 3mm!

(A note on measurements - Soviet Russia had a ...bear... of a time not being able to milk stainless steel as accurately as other European industrial nations which led to some of the design innovations the Amphibia is known for, but it does mean that individual cases can be upto ± 0.5mm different in terms of measurements and quality control is not one of Vostoks strengths...)

All Vostoks are built like the proverbial soviet tractor and as such are fairly easy to repair, even with non-vostok parts. My uncle, a keen horologist in his own right, tells stories from his time in Russia in the late 90s and early 2000s of rotors made out of fishing weights and mainsprings fashioned from fencing wire...but I reckon he might be bullsh*ting me!

They are heavy though, and Vostok braclets are well known for their ability to give your wrist a Brazilian, hence mine is on a khaki G10 (NATO) strap

All in all you can't go wrong with a bone fide dive watch for AUD$60 or less for older models depending on rarity and condition. I have I have at least three in my rotation that came to me third or fourth hand, 20+ years old and keep time without any issues btw. eBay, local markets if you're in Eastern Europe and Etsy are your friends.

Finally, given the current situation please don't think I'm carrying water for Putin! That whole thing is really sh*tty for everyone. However it doesn't reflect everyday Russians like the good people of Chistopol in Tartastan where the Vostok factory is located. Peace = watches. Let's work to make watches = peace!

Images from the internet - © various.

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