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Further Notes on the development of the Russian watchmaking industry
Russian Horology
The history of the development of watchmaking in Russia is fascinating. The horology-chronology page previous gave an indication of it's birth. The following though gives an example of how it developed.
The industrialisation of watchmaking in Russia, and the former USSR, has had to endure greater turmoil than perhaps the operations and factories of any other country.
Prior to the 1930's Russia had no great, or widespread, tradition of watchmaking, although, what there was, had some 'real' historical significance to it.
The birth of Russian horology can be traced back to the raising of the first Carillon in Moscow's Kremlin complex in 1404.
Around the Upper Volga reaches, in towns such as Uglich there had been craftspeople such as blacksmiths and jewellers, ... and this area had been producing clocks from the mid-17th Century. But generally, this was but one area in the vast expanse of Russia where fine mechanical skills had developed.
Following the Revolution, where adornment with gold was seen as being a symbol of the decadent past, and something to be actively discouraged, the new USSR lost many of it's undoubted skills in areas such as jewellery. Much of the horological skills at that time had been vested in, or related to, the work of such important jewellery concerns as Faberge. All the important workshops had been closed following the revolution, and the transfer of the skills had been thus both interupted and lost.
By the middle fo the 1920's the fledging USSR authorities had recognised that watchmaking was an area of engineering that had a great many spin-off benefits, and they planned then to embark upon the industrialisation of watchmaking across the USSR.
To foster this planned growth in precision engineering the USSR looked to buy in the skills and facilities from the rest of the world.
Their plan began with the birth fo the 'First Moscow Watch Factory' (1Mchz). To 'kick-start' this enterprise the authorities agreed to purchase the American facilities of the 'Deuber-Hampden Watch Company' and the 'Ansonia Clock Company'.
The First and Second Moscow Watch Factories figured large in the Russian State Plans, but their success, and survival, was far from easy in a country which was undergoing almost continual political struggles, and was also under real, and imagined, threats from outside it's borders.
Nowhere is the element of 'real' threat from outside it's borders more clearly illustrated than in the history of the birth of the 'Vostok' brand and factory.
It came into being in the face of military threats from Germany during the Second World War.
In June of 1941, as 3 million German soldiers and 3,300 tanks thundered across the Russian border, the Soviet Union scrambled to move her factories eastwards away from the front.
Whole sections of industrial towns were packed into trains and sent far away towards the east.
Among those in the mass industrial exodus was the Second Moscow Watch Factory.
The plant was relocated to Tschistopol, a town on the Kama River in the Republic of Tatarstan, nearly 500 miles (800km) east of Moscow.
The factory was renamed "Tschistopol Glavpribor watch factory NK MV 835".
The Tschistopol factory was originally established to produce mainly (but not exclusively) military equipment in support fo the Russian war effort, but moved back to watch production at the end of the war.
Because of their strong ties to wartime production, they landed several contracts with the USSR's Defense Department, and Chistopol became one of the preeminent timepiece suppliers to the Soviet military during the 30 year period from the 1950's to 80's.
Their styling has always been 'rugged' to western eyes, but there is no escaping their general quality.
This was especially so at a time when some of the other Russian factories were producing watches of practically no quality whatsoever, either in terms of manufacturing processes, or horological engineering.
Tschistopol is perhaps most famous for three ranges, the Kommandierskiye (Commander), the Amphibia, and the VOSTOK. These all shared the Russian approach to external design, they were straightforward (most in the west would say crude) and functional, but they also combined durable construction with high levels of reliability.
The Kommandirskie became the factory's flagship timepiece. This model was available in 3 distinctions 1:Commander 2: General, and 3: Admiral. Tschistopol was also noted for its production of marine clocks, which became a fixture on Soviet Navy warships and submarines. The Amphibia was first produced in 1968, and owes much to the experience gained while producing models for the army (and the copying of a Rolex Submariner case).
The Amphibia's stainless steel case is water-proof to a depth of 200 metres. (19.35 Atmospheres) Note: A good quality 'waterproof' or 'divers watch' is tested to only 3 Atmospheres which is approximately 31 metres
But of most merit was the development of a high quality wristwatch which it exhibited at the Leipzig International Fair in 1962.
This watch was awarded the prestigious Gold Medal and was responsible for the Factory becoming almost overnight the Official Supplier of 'Officer grade' watches to the entire Soviet Military.
The watch was named 'Vostok', and the name became forever associated with the factory from then on. The name VOSTOK (BOCTOK in cyrillic) having been chosen for the simple, but rather boring and obvious reason that Vostok means 'East' in Russian. Vostok continued to produce timepieces throughout the Soviet-era and has survived the turbulent times of the post-Soviet economic shift.
However today, the factory enjoys a mixed reputation with some doubt over the models produced; --- i.e. there are currently, - 2006 -, two streams of manufacturers using the Vostok brand name.
One produces traditional quality watches which appear to have the same quality standards ads the original Vostok brand, whilst the other, produces relatively low grade watches which are sold largely into Europe and regularly appear on internet auction sites such as Ebay.
If you are seeking a good quality watertight mechanical watch, which keeps excellent time, and its' case being manufactured from solid stainless steel, then we suggest you seek out one of the original USSR Vostok watches. These represent really excellent value for money and are built to last.
In the 1950's a new 'Second Moscow Watch Factory' was built near the site of the original in Moscow. This new factory produced watches under the trade name 'Slava' (meaning Glory). It's entire production of 2 million watches per year was for the domestic population, and this factory had no output of military calibres.
Other factories were established in the USSR and many survived through into the post-Soviet period (2003). However, the list is far from complete and infomation is somewhat 'sketchy'.
These other factories are less well known, and if anyone has any information regarding these and their history, we would be delighted to hear/read of it. (Any information ... please email).
These factories included :-
* The Chaika ('Seagull') brand factory located in Uglich. This factory could be thought of as the true hereditary home of horology in Russia because clocks have been produced in and around Uglich since the 1650's
* The Petrodworzowy Watch Factory. This was located in the town of Petrodworzowy which is about 30 kilometres from St.Petersburg. This factory traditionally made only gentlemen's calibre watches under the Trade Name 'Raketa' (Rocket), however it went into bankruptcy in 1999 and is no longer trading. The 'Raketa' range included the 24hr dial watches intended for use by people who spent their days isolated from the effects of daylight.
* The 'Maslennikov Watch Factory'. This factory is traditionally referred to as '3HN' (ZIM : 'Zavod Imeni Maslennikova'). It was located in the town of Samara (previously called Kuibischev) and produced watches under the Trade Name 'POBEDA'# (Victory). It's watches were generally of poor quality.
#This is an unfortunate fact for the First Moscow Watch Factory-KIROV-1Mchz which also produced watches under the same name but were of generally high quality.
On June 16th 2004 it was reported that Bankruptcy proceedings had commenced in the Samara courts against the Maslennikov organisation; therefore it must be presumed that this factory is no longer in production, and the ZIM brand name is no longer in use.
* The Pensenki Watch Factory. This factory located in the town of Pensa produced Ladies Calibre watches under the Trade Name of 'SARJA' (Red Morning -or- Morning Red).
It seems that no matter what comes its way, be it revolution, war or economic chaos, the watchmaking industry of the USSR/Russia, and the 'Tschistopol-Vostok Watch Factory' in particular, appears to be able to stand the test of time.
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