[Un4Seen]

Hi!

I'm wondering why some Russian mechanical pocket watches which look ALOT like Molnija pocket watches, are named "Kristal" (or "Krystal", "Kristall", "Crystal" - btw, what is the correct way to spell it?).

Here is an example:

To me it looks like they are in fact Molnijas. Does anybody know the story/history of such Kristal pocket watches?

Thank you!

 

[pmwas]

Kristal is a version of Molnija, also made in Chelyabinsk. It has an 18 jewel movement, often (always?) fitter with micrometric regulator. So it's just a slghtly higher grade Molnija so to say

 

[S.H.]

Here is a picture of my Kristall, compare it with the standard Molnija movement, you will see some differences :

 

[Un4Seen]

Thank you for your answers!

Strange thing, I have a Molnija pocket watch which has a movement very similar to the one shown above by S.H. Actually, to my untrained eye it looks exactly the same...

Perhaps it's actually a Kristal movement inside a regular Molnija case? Or maybe some Molnijas had the same movement?

 

[pmwas]

15 jewels on dial, 18 on movement. Surely this watch is not all original...

 

[S.H.]

I'd say anything is possible: they take the same dial / case /hands anyway, so swapping parts is not a problem. I also saw Kristalls with regular movements.

 

[jmreynolds]

Good catch, I looked at that and it did not register. Too much work and not enough sleep......

 

[Un4Seen]

Yeah, I noticed too that the dial says 15 jewels but the movement has 18... so it's definitely not all original. But I think it's made of original parts and I enjoy the watch very much, so I don't mind that it's not 100% genuine, especially for the price I got it for (34$ including shipping, 2 years ago)... Now I've set my mind on buying a Kristal too for my collection, one that does not only have a Kristal movement, but also a Kristal dial

 

[pmwas]

Yes, but I don't believe in such mismatches in that early period. I think it's a kristal with swapped dial (possibly moisted and irrepairable). As for Kristal with rgular movements - many watchmakers swap the enbtire balance cock and wheel, so perhaps that's the answer. Or even the entire movement somehow to save the effort. Once my watchmaker simply replaced the Rossiya movement with a later raketa branded one which made me quite angry
So I believe most of what does not match the catalog was simply made that way

 

[Un4Seen]

Does anybody know the time period in which Kristals were made? Also an estimate about how many of them were made. I expect that quite many were produced, but not as many as regular Molnijas by far,

 

[S.H.]

The Kristall I saw while searching for mine were roughly 1960-1964. (they have a date stamp on the movement). I do not know the number, they are not rare but uncommon compared to standard Molnija on ebay.