I recently acquired a GUB 64. The watch is not Soviet nor Russian, thus the OT label, but still I prefer to present it here instead of the German forum, because it is a relict of the Cold war.
Its first owner was a Bulgarian military who received it as an award after joint military exercises with the Soviet army. After the exercises some Bulgarian officers were invited to Berlin for a final analysis and distribution of honors and decorations. Unfortunately, the heirs of the old gentleman couldn't remember the exact year.
GUB cal. 64 was produced in 1954 - 1961 (http://www.glashuetteuhren.de/kaliberuebersichten-modelle/glashuetter-uhrenbetriebe/kaliber-64/) which narrowed the options. After some investigation, the most plausible years seem to be 1958 - when parallel military exercises were organized for Soviet and Bulgarian troops in Bulgaria, and Soviet - German in DDR. A second, less likely option, could be the "Buria" (Storm) exercises in 1961. "Buria" were probably the first large-scale military exercises of the Warsaw Pact, but no Bulgarian troops took part in them, so it is less likely for a Bulgarian military to receive an award there. But maybe there were some minor-scale exercises in Bulgaria in parallel to "Storm''. One can't be sure with all this Cold war secrecy.
The movement is piece of history on its own - it is a flyback chronograph based on Urofa 59, used by German pilots during the WW2. Interestingly, it seems closer to the earlier versions of the movement. As far as I understood (it is in German), by the end of the war some minor modifications were introduced in Urofa 59 mostly in order to make it easier and cheaper to produce. For example, a reset spring was made of wire instead of die-stamped. (Kaliber 59 - Uhrenhersteller und Uhrwerke aus Glashuette). This modification was kept by all the post-war heirs of Urofa 59 (if I understood correctly the German text), including in USSR. See a perfect illustrated comparison by Mark Gordon here (https://www.watchuseek.com/f10/1949-chrono-urofa-59-a-421839.html). However, the engeneers from Glashutte decided to move back to the original die-stamped version in GUB 64. Maybe the most important change from Urofa 59 to GUB 64 is the size - 28 instead of 34 mm, and the shockproof device.
You can read a lot about this movement on this excellent sites:
(Kaliber 64 - Uhrenhersteller und Uhrwerke aus Glashuette)
(64 - Jean Neef)
(GUB 64)
For me the historical context is equally important. Imagine - the 1958-1961 era, Berlin crisis and "Storm" exercises with new Warsaw pact military doctrine (offensive one!), Iranian crisis and military exercises in Black sea area, and this WW2-based watch being produced and awarded to officers from the allied armies... Cold war images coming alive, that is why I post it here.
No, really, what a piece of history!
Its first owner was a Bulgarian military who received it as an award after joint military exercises with the Soviet army. After the exercises some Bulgarian officers were invited to Berlin for a final analysis and distribution of honors and decorations. Unfortunately, the heirs of the old gentleman couldn't remember the exact year.
GUB cal. 64 was produced in 1954 - 1961 (http://www.glashuetteuhren.de/kaliberuebersichten-modelle/glashuetter-uhrenbetriebe/kaliber-64/) which narrowed the options. After some investigation, the most plausible years seem to be 1958 - when parallel military exercises were organized for Soviet and Bulgarian troops in Bulgaria, and Soviet - German in DDR. A second, less likely option, could be the "Buria" (Storm) exercises in 1961. "Buria" were probably the first large-scale military exercises of the Warsaw Pact, but no Bulgarian troops took part in them, so it is less likely for a Bulgarian military to receive an award there. But maybe there were some minor-scale exercises in Bulgaria in parallel to "Storm''. One can't be sure with all this Cold war secrecy.
The movement is piece of history on its own - it is a flyback chronograph based on Urofa 59, used by German pilots during the WW2. Interestingly, it seems closer to the earlier versions of the movement. As far as I understood (it is in German), by the end of the war some minor modifications were introduced in Urofa 59 mostly in order to make it easier and cheaper to produce. For example, a reset spring was made of wire instead of die-stamped. (Kaliber 59 - Uhrenhersteller und Uhrwerke aus Glashuette). This modification was kept by all the post-war heirs of Urofa 59 (if I understood correctly the German text), including in USSR. See a perfect illustrated comparison by Mark Gordon here (https://www.watchuseek.com/f10/1949-chrono-urofa-59-a-421839.html). However, the engeneers from Glashutte decided to move back to the original die-stamped version in GUB 64. Maybe the most important change from Urofa 59 to GUB 64 is the size - 28 instead of 34 mm, and the shockproof device.
You can read a lot about this movement on this excellent sites:
(Kaliber 64 - Uhrenhersteller und Uhrwerke aus Glashuette)
(64 - Jean Neef)
(GUB 64)
For me the historical context is equally important. Imagine - the 1958-1961 era, Berlin crisis and "Storm" exercises with new Warsaw pact military doctrine (offensive one!), Iranian crisis and military exercises in Black sea area, and this WW2-based watch being produced and awarded to officers from the allied armies... Cold war images coming alive, that is why I post it here.
No, really, what a piece of history!