Is this a knockoff?

Perdendosi said:

+1. Believe it or not, you can get mechanical Russian watches, that still keep good time, for less than $40 on a good day. (Most watches depreciate in value, and except for a few models, antique watches of famous Swiss and American brands can be had for very reasonable prices (unless they're gold). One of the reasons is that the condition will deteriorate. Another reason is that mechanical watches will often need to be serviced-- that is taken apart, lubricated, made sure that everything works, and reassembled. Modern watch companies suggest a service every 5 - 10 years, but it's not a requirement. Many of these old watches may not have been serviced, and that may mean that they'll either not keep very good time, or they may stop in the relatively near future. To service a watch could cost $100 or more. So that's one other cost of ownership to consider. (Though, these watches are so cheap and plentiful, you may not need to worry about service.)

But to be sure it's authentic, we'd need a picture of the movement. (It's usually not worth it to "fake" these watches, because originals aren't that much more expensive than the fakes.) What sometimes happens is that parts from some watches might be thrown in others, we call them "frankens," or someone might use a newer set of hands, or a new face, to refresh an old watch. Someone with more skill than I can tell you if that has happened with this watch.

I'm impressed that a 15 year old would be conscientiousness enough to look for vintage watches to wear. One thing to note, though, is that these Pobedas are quite small by today's standards -- usually 32 mm in diameter. That is about the size of a standard woman's watch today. That's not a big deal, and it might go with your fashion very well. I just didn't want you to be surprised if you bought it online and it came and was considerably smaller than you thought it might be.

Welcome, and enjoy!

Click to expand...