This is a review on my
Watch Collection No.7:
Boctok Komandirskie/Amphibia 1970s
Watch SpecificationsBrand: Boctok
Model No.: -
Origin: Russian
Date of Purchase: Jan 2011
Package: Watch
Movement Type: Manual Winding (17 Jewels)
Display type: Analog
Water Resistant: -
Diameter: 42mm with crown (40mm without crown)
Case thickness: 8mm
Strap Width: 20mm
Pre-Purchase Evaluation
1. Vintage 1970s military watch
2. Russian Watch
3. Manual Winding (17 Jewels)
4. Affordable Price
5. Made by Boctok Russian, a reliable & reputable watch-maker
Picture Gallery
Post-Purchase EvaluationMy first exposure to Russian watch was through a watch forum (Watchuseek) where everyone was singing praises on the affordable and good quality Russian Watch- Boctok. But what makes me sit up and take notice, is the history behind these Boctok watches. A company founded in 1942, started off producing military equipment during the World War II and when war was over, they focus on producing wristwatch for goverment and military personell. On 1965, Boctok was appointed as the offical supplier of wristwatches to the Soviet Union’s Defense Department. This bring the birth of their well known “Komandirski” (Commander’s) watch. Watches issued to the military were marked “”3AKA3 MO CCCP”” (By Order of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR).
How cool it will be to actually owned these russian watch that was used by the military! From my knowing, Boctok also sells watches to the public that comes without the marking of ””3AKA3 MO CCCP””. I wanted to get my hand on their military issued watch rather than those issued to the public as it will be more meaningful to own a watch that has gone through military training or even combat war, which a person like me born in the 1980s, will never experience.
Since it is a vintage watch, my only source of purchase will be through the internet. After days of searching, I managed to obtain this watch from a vintage watch collector and Yes! , ””3AKA3 MO CCCP”” is indeed marked on the dial.
SummaryA vintage 1970s Russian made Boctok watch measuring 42mm with crown. It is a manual winding watch running on 17 jewels. Due to the old age, the lume has long been gone. However the mechanism inside is working perfectly, still keeping good time. Winding is surprisingly quite smooth. The watch has a black colour dial and comes with Arabic Marking with a date window. Underneath the dial, ””3AKA3 MO CCCP”” is clearly shown, which indicate a authentic military issued watch. I have no idea how to remove the never seen before case-back as it seems that some special tools is needed to unlock it. Build wise is quite bad as I believed the watch case is make from chromed steel instead of stainless steel. Any slight scratch will remove the chrome and makes the steel underneath expose to rust easily. Given the bad casing quality, I seriously doubt this military watch can handle the amount of abuse from a military soldiers. Surprisingly, the piece I purchased was in very good condition, given the age. The dial clearly shows a 1970s conditon watch, however the chrome on the casing was still perfectly intact with minimal scratches. How is that possible for a military watch to be such a good condition after all these years? My initial thought was, during recession, Boctok might have secretly sold these military watch to the public which can fetch a higher price since these watches are only issued to the military and are not obtainable by any civilian. However, having such a false claim against the reputable Russia watch maker- Boctok is too laughable to be true.
My only and best answer to my own doubt is, it is true that the watch with dial marked “”3AKA3 MO CCCP”” is purely issued to the military, however since it is not compulsory to wear it, soldiers end up selling off to the public to make money. This is why the casing of these watches are still in good condition after all these years since it is used by a civilian instead of a soldier. I hope I am right, but do enlighten me if any of you reader do know the answer!
It might seems that I have such a negative perception on this vintage Boctok watch but the truth is, I like it so much that I went searching for my next Boctok watch which is their “Amphibia” series, designed for diving purpose.
A vintage 1970s Russian Boctok Diving watch measuring 42mm with crown, gold dial with Roman marking that has no date window. It is a manual winding watch running on 17 jewels. It is known as “Amphibia” series, designed for diving purpose. Just like any other diving watch, it has a lumed second hand and lumed bezel with a crown guard to protect the crown. However, it uses the same bad quality casing like the”Komandirskie” (watch case is make from chromed steel instead of stainless steel). It does have all the attributes of what a real diving watch should have, but given the bad quality material used on the casing, I doubt the watch can last long in sea water condition.
Although my impression on this 2 watch might not be as good as expected, given the historical valve of these Russian vintage watches and their affordable prices, it is definitely worth collecting.
For more pictures: http://bergkamp10watchsite.wordpress.com/2011/10/13/review-boctok-amphibiankomandirskie-1970s-vintage/
