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Russian Evolution Russian Evolution

As more watches from the former Soviet Union enter western markets, it’s time to review their long-running history

By CHester Hopkins

n closed societies, like the case-back, and the movements in former Soviet Union, vertical between, Russian watchmakers structure were Imanufacturing is a natural out- churned out utilitarian timepieces driven by price growth of the inherent isolation- for their military and citizenry like and mass production, ism. When imports are restricted by a ballistic missile factory without not necessarily quality. So, choice, you literally have to make the radiation—well, at least af- the words “good enough for every part of an end product. ter the radiated luminescent dials government work” spring to mind The Soviet watchmaking ap- were eliminated. when veterans of Russian watch paratus reflected this as much as While there also existed sig- collecting think about those days any other manufacturing indus- nificant export to Asia and parts before the true free-market open- try before 1992. From crystal to of Europe, the dynamics of this ing of Russia.

186 www.finelifemedia.com NOVEMBER 2006INTERNATIONAL WATCH Aviator watches, by Volmax, are the “We were too complacent,” In a collapse reminiscent of official watch of the SWIFTS – the Rus- says Igor Zubovskij, the managing the Union itself, the First Mos- sian equivalent of America’s Thunder- birds. Pictured here are three of their director of Vostok-Europe, a Rus- cow Watch Factory (1st MWF) MIG 29 Fulcrums in formation during sian watchmaker based in Lithu- and the ubiquitous Poljot Com- a recent show near Moscow. ania. He’s referring to, or perhaps pany dismantled in the 1990s un- lamenting, the past culture of Rus- der the weight of not being able sian watch companies, which lin- to survive as it once was—es- gered even for several years after sentially a mass government and the destruction of the Berlin wall proletariat supplier. While there and the end of the Cold War. had been significant export to What a difference a decade Asia and Europe as well, the new makes. open market altered forever the dynamics of this structure.

Poljot At it’s zenith, Poljot, which means “Flight” in Russian, em- ployed some 7,000 profession- als. As a comparison, there were only 910 companies in the U.S. employ- Russian Evolution ing more than 5,000 people in 2003, ac- cording to the census bureau. Poljot was no small enterprise. Indeed, Russian watch production in general remained massive throughout the Soviet pe- riod. In 1980, Vostok—the other major name in Russian timekeep- ing—produced 4.5 million pieces. That’s enough watches for every man, woman and child in Colo- rado to wear the name Vostok on their wrist. Vostok itself grew from the original breakup at the 1st MWF in 1942, ultimately end- ing up in Chistopol to escape the war’s impact on Russia’s capital city. The firm still makes watches and movements there. Out of the later splintering of Poljot, many aggressive young watchmakers emerged, develop-

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Igor Zubovskij, managing director of Vostok-Europe, works at his desk in Vilnius, Lithuania.

A SWIFTS pilot walks across the tarmac wearing his uniform adorned with the Aviator watch logo.

ing their own brands and learn- For instance, all Soviet battle In April 1945 the factory ing from past mistakes. They airplanes of the WWII era were stopped ammunition produc- are now truly competing on the equipped with the airborne clocks tion and started preparation for a world stage, with interesting, not- made by the 1st MWF. The Red new K26 Pobeda (Victory) watch so-utilitarian designs, vastly im- Air Force pilots and navigators model. Production of the Pobeda proved quality, and prices that are flew with watches on their wrists with a side seconds hand started remarkably affordable. with the “The 1st MWF Kirova” in 1946. Josef Stalin approved and later the “Poljot” trademarks. the name, design and specifica- Aviation history During the Second World War tions of this watch personally. No discussion of Russian watch- even defense production—in- The watch became quite popular, making is complete without cluding ammunition, aviation as the 1st MWF was making the exploring its rich aviation and glass, aviation clocks, navy and K26 model until 1953. Today, it is military history. Just look at the aviation chronometers and some still in production in other facto- names of the brands – Aviator, parts for the first Katyusha rocket ries around the country. In 1949, Buran (which bears the name of launcher—was conducted in the the Sturmanskie (Navigator’s) the Soviet space shuttle), Poljot, watch factory. watches were put into production. Vostok (named for the Gagarin But the war had not yet ended They were specially designed for space orbiter) and Sturmanskie, when the factory started peace- military aviation and were not which means “navigator,” just to ful production. In 1943 it started available in the general market. name a few. to make machining tools for the Russian aerospace history and watch industry again, and in 1944 The 1950s Russian watches are indissolubly it made fireplace, table and auto- By 1955, 1.1 million mechanical connected. mobile clocks. wristwatches were made by the

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1st MWF. With this foundation developed an elite Antarktida netic with a 24-hour dial, and of success they followed in 1956 (Antarctic) watch, under govern- the watch movement was based with production of the first Rus- ment order, for the participants of on the Pobeda (Victory) watch sian automatic watches, under the the first Soviet expedition to the movement. Rodina (Fatherland) brand. With South Pole. little break in speed, in 1957 they These watches were antimag- The Space Race: In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial Every SWIFTS aerobatic plane carries the Aviator logo. satellite into space. The whole world peered at a slightly flashing light in the night sky. To mark this event, the 1st MWF produced the Sputnik (Satellite) watch, based on the Pobeda model. Then, in 1960, the first Poljot (Flight) brand watch with the 2414 caliber appeared. A Shturmanskie (then under the Poljot banner) made history on April 12, 1961, when the Soviet Union launched the first successful manned space flight and ushered in the era of space travel. Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, wore the Stur- manskie watch on his wrist during that celebrated flight. The watch operated flawlessly in a weightless environment and became the first watch ever to go into the cosmos. Later, this legendary watch was given to the factory museum. Astronauts from France, Rus- sia, Germany and the Ukraine took Poljot watches on space flights. The 3133 chronograph movement actually set a record for the longest duration of a space flight when cosmonaut V.V. Pol- jakov wore it. A commemorative edition of the Gagarin watch flew in space on the wrist of current cosmonaut Yuri Shargin in just the last two years. Cosmonauts Pavel Beliaev and Aleksej Leonov also wore

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these watches when they became the first in the world to walk in space. During the next twenty years, 100,000 of the 3017 watch- es were made. The Antarktida and the Sputnik have become much- Below: Vostok-Europe is the official watch to the Expedition Trophy, the longest winter sought-after collectors items be- off-road race in the world. Tested in these rugged conditions, each watch comes with a cause they were in production for certificate of authenticity and reliability from Expedition Trophy and Vostok-Europe. just one year. Around the same time, the attention to its reliability, techno- For this development, the fac- Strela, another Russian watchmak- logical aspects and reparability. tory staff was awarded with a State ing achievement, came along. A In 1976, the factory started Bonus Reward. At the beginning, wrist chronograph with a stopwatch production of new wristwatches watches were intended for the function and a 45-minute counter, with a stopwatch function: chro- Navy officers and were produced the watch was exclusively designed nograph model 3133. under the Okean (Ocean) brand for the officers of the Air Force and name. produced according to strict mili- Later, the factory started to tary specifications. This case and make modifications intended for face style is still widely used today the Air Force, with a Shturman- in Russian watch production. skie brand name (model 31659, a watch with a second hand ar- The 1970s and 1980s rester and pointer of time zones) In 1971, the 1st Moscow Watch Factory produced 2.5 million wristwatches, and 1.6 million were exported to sixty-three different countries. In 1972, the factory increased production of mechani- cal wristwatches up to 2.7 million. Since up to seventy percent of the production was sold on the export market, the factory decided to de- sign and to put into production a number of new watch movements which could satisfy the require- ments of exacting foreign custom- ers and would be useable for auto- matic technological processes. As a result, in 1972 new de- signs of watches with the 26 series caliber movement were developed and had a distinct mark of a letter “H”: 2609H, 2614H, 2616H, etc. The factory’s designers, technolo- gists and stylists paid particular

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Watch assembly line at Vostok-Europe in Vilnius

ever, it had become clear to Sturmanskie and redefined itself as Volmax that the range and the leading watchmaker in Russia. quality of products provid- From the outset, Volmax ed by Poljot were actually watches differed from other Russian stifling its ability to grow watch brands. Their chief goal was, and expand. and remains, to produce, market Knowing that Poljot and sell their own watch brands, could no longer compete but to also change the generally with the European watch- negative attitude toward Russian makers, Volmax made the watches outside the borders of Rus- bold move of launching sia. Unfortunately, this negative its own watch production image was in many ways all too jus- and another Shturmanskie watch and brands. Initially they manu- tified by poor quality control and a with a pointer of time zones (mod- factured the Aviator and Buran residual Cold War mentality. el 3133). The production of these watch lines they created for the Volmax, on the other had, watches was limited and subjected Poljot Company. Even this proved has strict quality and distribution to strict military inspections. to be burdened by the Poljot name. control methods, and is striving Only nine years later, in 1983, Then, in the year 2002, Volmax watches with a 3133 movement registered the trademark names of were made available to the public. the watch lines Aviator, Buran and At the end of the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, the factory The 31681/6773778B Avia- put into production the quartz 30 tor. The standard bear- er of the Aviator series caliber watches, and later, 24 watch line. Price: and 16 calibers. The quartz move- $530. ments were mainly exported to Hong Kong and Singapore. In some years, export achieved up to three to four million pieces per year.

Volmax For decades, the name Poljot re- mained synonymous with Russian watches. Outside of the Vostok company, (the largest and old- est continuously intact Russian watchmaker in Chistopol,) Poljot held the number-one worldwide brand recognition of all the Russian watch companies. A key player in building this brand, the Volmax Com- pany spent years as the chief wholesale distributor of Poljot watches abroad. By 1997, how-

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Gennadij Sukov, Vostok-Eu- ing the best designers and watch sive and qualitatively higher-end rope technical designer and technicians in Russia from the for- watches. This indicates that Vol- engineer, can test as many as 1,000 watches in this unique mer Poljot Company. Each of their max products, which were regard- mass winder. watchmakers has many years of ed as exotics for collectors at the professional experience. beginning, have found acceptance Today Volmax has exclusive in the broader market. representations in North Amer- Since the Russian govern- ica, Germany, Austria, England, ment does not subsidize its watch- Portugal, Japan, Greece, Holland, making industry, unlike many Switzerland and the Baltic states. other countries, Volmax is forced As Volmax has strengthened its to finance everything indepen- position abroad, company leaders dently. That substantially weak- turned their attention to the Rus- ens the Russian watchmaking sian domestic market for cultivation industry on the international as well. At present, sales volumes playing field and leaves little chance abroad and in Russia are approxi- for a massive growth, which might mately equal. But two interesting be possible with increasing mar- trends have emerged in Russia. ket demand. First, interest in classical three-hand watches continues to recapture the earlier quality to grow. Second, there is an in- and popularity of Russian watch- creasing demand for more expen- es. Volmax now competes in the West with the best watches in the From the Buran gold collec- world and has the potential to tion by Volmax, this solid 18-karat open-heart break the shackles of its Russian chronograph retails watch heritage. for $5,400. At first, Volmax did not fear the risk of stepping out of the price segment of the mass-produc- tion manufacturers. The firm em- phasised the production of limited editions (between fifty and 999 pieces depending upon the model) related to different historic events. For example, the series “100 Years Aviation” garnered much success and recognition for the company in 2004. The production volumes at Volmax are relatively low. “Qual- ity and not quantity” is an oft-used motto for their efforts. Volmax uses only the best Russian movements, and puts its team together by lur-

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Designers Konstanin Markin and Gennadij Sukov work on new watches for Vostok-Europe. Vostok-Europe watch movement factory of Vostok Against a backdrop of with a groundbreaking design and emerging worldwide interest a marketing philosophy focused on in Russian watches, Vostok- good quality for the price. Europe debuted in 2003. Its Conceived with the intention striking new vision of cost to compete on the level of the effectiveness, inherent qual- finest and most aggressive West- ity and the pedigree of the ern watchmakers, Vostok-Europe oldest and largest Russian developed a sales and marketing watchmaker quickly estab- strategy with an unmistakable lished the brand among Eu- brand identity and a style to ri- ropean watchmakers. val anything in its category. Un- Since being unveiled at der the slogan “the best Soviet Baselworld in 2004, the brand has technologies for modern watch Future products steadily grown. The cornerstone of design,” each piece in the Vostok- Volmax plans not only to extend Vostok-Europe was the marriage Europe model line is its existing watch lines but also of the enormous potential of the inspired by, and some interesting new projects. One is the production of a lady’s watch collection with quartz The Sturmanskie “Gagarin” commemorative model movements, emphasizing chrono- worn in space recently graphs. Since there is no similar by cosmonaut Yuri Shargin. Price: product on the Russian market, $529 and Western customers have shown interest in this project, too, the management decided to try this experiment. Multi-func- tional watches are being devel- oped as well, suitable for extreme occupations and sports. Other brand names included in the Vol- max offerings include Aviator, a brand targeted at Aviation profes- sionals and enthusiasts, military personnel and those who appre- ciate sports mechanical watches; Buran and Buran VM, the clas- sic watch brand that has a tra- ditional dress-watch appearance in the rich heritage of Russian watchmaking; and Shturman- skie, a brand that represents the history of the Russian Space ex- ploration program and military- purpose timekeeping.

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Vladimir Shevchenko conducts final checks and delivery control before shipping at Vostok-Europe

Owing to the favorable the Vostok movement 2416, with business climate in Lithu- the addition of a central 24-hour ania, a European Union hand for the first time. The form member nation, the home of the N1 case is reminiscent base and chief operations of the first stage of the Soviet hub remains in Vilnius. rocket, built originally for imple- Harkening back to the menting a moon-shot program. styles of the sixties and Still today, this rocket remains seventies, the first models the largest and strongest of all drew inspiration from space rockets ever manufactured. The and jet-aircraft exploration additional hour-hand and rotat- pioneers of the then Soviet ing bezel with 24-hour indicator christened with, a Soviet techno- Union. Building on the concept made it possible for the first time logical, architectural or cultural of “Soviet Techno Design,” subse- to successfully carry out the “dual achievement. quent models honored Soviet and time” function based on a Vostok Russian nautical, automotive and watch movement as well. From Lithuania other aeronautic accomplishments, The seeds for this new brand among many others. Now in North America were sewn in Lithuania. There, a The rectangular sharp-edged Now, less than three years later, watchmaking team in Vilnius had stainless steel case of the “Arkti- Vostok-Europe is establishing a been building models for other ka” watch line is similar to the ship foothold in North America. major Russian brands since the trunk of the famous icebreaker that Vostok-Europe has garnered early 1990s. Realizing the grow- was the first to reach the North the distinction of serving as the ing interest in Russian watches Pole. Ship rivets on the case, the official timekeeper of the Expedi- and with intent to capitalize on wavy relief on the dial, as well as tion Trophy Rally 2005, the lon- a vast untapped market, teams in the second hand in the form of an gest winter race in a single country. Vilnius and Chistopol (the home anchor, stress the maritime style of This serves as a true test of reliabil- of Vostok) created a joint venture the “Arktika” model. ity under difficult to extreme road of tradition and innovation now Similarly, the AN-225 “Mri- and weather conditions in a rally known as Koliz-Vostok. ya” and the N1 Rocket models from Murmansk to Vladivostok, The two companies brought incorporate key elements of their covering a total distance of 12,000 together the brightest and most in- inspirations. At present the larg- kilometers. The Vostok-Europe genious of the talented watch and est transport aircraft in the world, performance led to a repeat as of- movement designers from both the Mriya airplane was developed ficial watch this year. bases of operation. Their collabo- at the Antonov design office and Within one and a half years ration resulted in the development was a natural choice for a Vostok- since the company’s launch, of original and exclusive case and Europe model. The rotating bezel Vostok-Europe has made its way movement designs to create the and crown are made to resemble from the stage of preliminary all-new Vostok-Europe line. the turbine impellers of the “jumbo technical drawings to a reliably Specifically, the first exclu- queen” and they sit on a 43mm case functioning watch company with sive movement grew from the to reflect the size of the plane. a sales network in fourteen highly approved 2416 to give all the The world’s largest rocket, developed countries, from the new Vostok-Europe styles a day the N1, as a basis for a model, led United States and Western Eu- & night and 24-hour indicator. to the new modification 2426 of rope to South-East Asia.

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Other Brands and Movements Time, Dennisov, Molnija, Raketa are now produced by MakTime in Without question, the universe of and Slava, to name just a few of Moscow and the balance of what Russian watch brands is much larg- the others. In fact, watches under was formally made by Poljot has er than covered in this article. In the Poljot name are being manu- moved to Vostok. fact, with the splintering of Poljot, factured again. However, Poljot Russian watches have made you really need a scorecard to keep and the 1st MWF no longer make the leap to players on the world up. Of course, there is Vostok, the movements. stage, and it is inevitable that the maker of movements for Vostok- As a part of the shake up of Western market will only see more Europe and their own watches. Poljot, it sold off the movement of these interesting and affordable Additionally there is Mak- manufacture. The chronographs timepieces in the years to come. C

A row of MIG fighters for the SWIFTS, whose tails are adorned with the Aviator logo.

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