Top Russian Watch Brands
Russia’s watchmaking industry developed largely with its army and World Wars. That’s why the vast majority of Russian watches are not particularly stylish and are generally not suitable for official business. However, since they are produced for the military class and are the best watches in the world in terms of durability, their deficiencies in terms of design are not noticeable.
Russia is known in many areas around the world, but Russian watch brands do not come to mind. In this article, we will get to know the best Russian watch brands.
1. Poljot Watches
The brand, which started to manufacture watches in 1930, was formerly known as First Moscow Watch Factory. In 1959, the production of Poljot 3017 watches began. In Russian, this name means flight.
At that time, the establishment of the Poljot brand was not possible. At that time, the company was producing official watches for the Russian army and intelligence personnel.
The brand became known worldwide when the Poljot brand used the Ocean 3133 on cosmonaut Alexi Leonov’s first spacewalk. Successfully exiting all high-level assignments, Poljot has become one of the most well-known watch brands around the world.
Even today, the Poljot watch brand continues to produce extremely durable timepieces and watches that can survive abuse. Poljot watches may be lacking in style, but their military quality definitely makes up for it.
2. Vostok Watches
Officially registered as Vostok Watch Maker Inc. The headquarters of the brand is located in Tatarstan, Christopol and Russia, which gives the right to its name. The brand’s name was shaped by the USSR’s progress in the space program in previous years.
The Vostok watch brand first started production in 1942, but in the 1960s it started to use the name Vostok as a brand. In 1965, this young watchmaker brand became the official supplier of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. Subsequently, the Komandirskie (Commander) watch model was launched. Since it was the official supplier of the Ministry of Defense, Vostok watches were only sold to personnel with military identification.
Over the next 20 years, Vostok had the capacity to produce 4.5 million watches per year.
The Vostok watch brand now specializes in durable navy watches and mechanical diver watches. Watch collections include Komandirskie K-34, Komandirskie K-46, Kemlevskie, Amphibious and Retro series. The Vostok Amphibious Scuba Dude model is among the affordable automatic watches.
3. Sturmanskie Watches
While Sturmanskie initially produced watches only for the country’s air force pilots, it gradually entered the industry in 1949.
The Sturmanskie watch brand became part of a historical event in 1961 when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s Vostok-1 orbited the earth on April 12 of that year. This success proved that the company’s watches were successful, as Sturmanskie watches withstand zero gravity, strong accelerations, and unpredictable vibrations.
Since then, Sturmanskie watches have been known for premium quality, meticulously designed, meticulous craftsmanship and a high degree of durability. The latest watch collections of the brand include Gagarin 24-Hours Automatic, Mars Lady and Stingray Automatic models.
4. Raketa Watches
The Raketa watch brand is Russia’s oldest and probably among the world’s firsts for the watch industry.
This watch company first started production as the Peterhof Factory when it was founded by Peter the Great in 1721. Until 1830, the factory was known as one of Europe’s leading sources of luxury production.
By 1945, the factory, on Stalin’s orders, launched Probeda, the watch brand dedicated to victory. Stalin ordered these clocks to be ready for the first year of victory celebrations.
In 1961, the factory began producing watches bearing the Raketa brand, to commemorate and honor Yuri Gagarin’s success in the space mission. Since then, the brand has been producing highly durable watches suitable for polar explorers, the army, navy, cosmonauts and Russian citizens.
Raketa watches are not only renowned for their durability, but also for being accurate and reliable. By 1980, the Raketa was serving as the official clock of the Soviet Olympic Games. Another contribution of the brand to the watch industry is the great mechanical movement it developed in 2015.
5. Slava Watches
This watch company started production in 1924 as the “2nd Moscow Watch Factory”. Founded before the Second World War, the company was the second non-military Russian watch factory. Later, the brand changed its name to Slava, which means victory in Russian, in honor of Russia’s victory over the Germans.
The Slava is known for its in-house movement, which is uniquely different in that it uses two main spring gears connected by a blank gear. This unique movement is produced in different versions such as manual winding and automatic winding. This movement may be quite interesting and one-of-a-kind, but such a mechanism is highly sensitive and prone to failure.
Regardless, Slava watches are still equipped with such movements. In the 90s, some models were exported from China and Hongkong. Japanese Miyota movements are also used in some models.
6. Zlatoust Watches
The Zlatoust was first produced in 1930 at the first state watch factory named after Kirov.
The Zlatoust watch factory first launched its products in 1941. Like most Russian brands, the Zlatoust watch brand initially produced watches for the army, pilots, sailors and even army officers. Today, Zlatoust continues to produce watches with robust and retro designs for men.
7. Luch Watches
Luch, the last Russian watch brand on our list, is unfortunately no longer available in Russia. The brand was produced in Minsk in 1953. Similar to other Russian watch brands, the Luch watch brand also produced durable watches for the military grade.
After the war, Luch watches continued to be produced. This time, the brand not only worked on the durability of its products but also on its style and designs. Besides, they started to focus more on pilot hours. The brand, which managed to produce quite a variety of watch collections in a short time, offered products with many different designs to the market.
Crucially, the Luch watch brand has more than 30 patented movements, from quartz to mechanical movement to automatic.
In 2010, the Luch watch brand sold most of its rights to the Swiss luxury watch company Franck Muller to avoid bankruptcy.
If you are looking for durable watches for your field use and outdoor hobbies, Russian watches are one of the best brands to meet your needs, as Russian watches were first produced for military purposes. They may not offer much choice and elegance in terms of design, but when it comes to durability and reliability, Russian watch brands are among the best choices. Remember that Russian watch brands were first tested by the Russian military.
You can also review our website for the Best Watch Brands.
