[geminiwoe]

Well this is my first Russian Mechanical watch. I don't know much about it but when I saw it on ebay I fell in love with it. I have watches of higher end and this watch has a few discrepancies but, some how it adds to the charm.
Some pictures..

All kinds of comments are welcomed. I have a taste for watches of obscure brands and for watches between 34mm to 38mm diameter because I have small wrist.

I have heard it may be a chinese copy, I also heard it is legit. I actually don't care because it has grown on me. I hope you like...

 

[Stone Hill]

I am too new to tell you if it is real or not. But it is good looking.

 

[Seele]

Geminiwoe,

I had my eye on that one but when I was about to pull the trigger someone bought that! :-d So Victor got a black one for me and it's on its way... and the gold-tone finish one somehow just doesn't cut it in the looks department I reckon.

I feel sure it is all kosher. First, the Chinese pretenders are marked "Slava Sozvezdie" in Cyrillic and never with the original Slava logo. Second, the display back shows the twin-barrel Slava movement, something the Chinese pretenders never use. Third, the outer ring around the display back says "Second Moscow Watch Factory" in Cyrillic so it was made by Slava before the company was re-grouped, so this explains why it is not in the current catalogue.

Would you mind telling us what the discrepancies are?

 

[geminiwoe]

Geminiwoe,

I had my eye on that one but when I was about to pull the trigger someone bought that! :-d So Victor got a black one for me and it's on its way... and the gold-tone finish one somehow just doesn't cut it in the looks department I reckon.

I feel sure it is all kosher. First, the Chinese pretenders are marked "Slava Sozvezdie" in Cyrillic and never with the original Slava logo. Second, the display back shows the twin-barrel Slava movement, something the Chinese pretenders never use. Third, the outer ring around the display back says "Second Moscow Watch Factory" in Cyrillic so it was made by Slava before the company was re-grouped, so this explains why it is not in the current catalogue.

Would you mind telling us what the discrepancies are?

Wow! Thanks so much for that info. Well I did get it on ebay from

zenitar and he seems to have a great reputation here so I pulled the trigger. I am totally satisfied with his handling by the way. The discrepancy that is rather minor but do to the fact of my OCD ways. The 60 is not aligned with the 12 under it. As a matter of fact all the numbers on the 15 minute markers aren't aligned. Other then that it is totally fine. By the way I would love to see the black one that you speak of. It must be a beaut..

 

[Unix Nerd]

The 60 is not aligned with the 12 under it. As a matter of fact all the numbers on the 15 minute markers aren't aligned. Other then that it is totally fine. By the way I would love to see the black one that you speak of. It must be a beaut..

I could be wrong, but I would've assumed that outer ring rotates. Is there an intermediate crown position?

 

[Beau8]

Looks terrific~Congrats! ;-)

 

[sci]

It is absolutely nice, and it is not chinese. Is the case all stainless steel? It would be great if it is...

 

[Oldheritage]

Case is chrome coated brass, which is nice because chrome has a much nicer polish then stainless steel but of course, watch out for scratches...

I have one of these as well and they're genuine. Do a search on this forum and you'll find a thread where Ramil and I are talking about the new Slava watch factory. These are genuine watches that can be found on the new Slava.su homepage.

Wear it in good health :-!

 

[ecalzo]

nice watch...;-)

 

[Seele]

I could be wrong, but I would've assumed that outer ring rotates. Is there an intermediate crown position?

The outer chapter ring does not rotate, and the markings are sort of redundant because the inner black ring has the minute markers already. Belt-and-braces really: I feel the presence of the black ring is quite unnecessary.

Do bear in mind that this watch was made during the time when Slava was facing uncertainty in its future, I do not know if this affected the detail workmanship in assembly, but it works very well as a watch and I reckon it is most attractive too.

 

[Unix Nerd]

The outer chapter ring does not rotate, and the markings are sort of redundant because the inner black ring has the minute markers already. Belt-and-braces really: I feel the presence of the black ring is quite unnecessary.

That's what I was thinking; seems odd to have two sets of the same numbers - although I think it looks right aesthetically. The ring also looks very much like the one on other watches that does rotate.

 

[michele]

The watch is totally original. It's one of the few Slava watches equipped with a display back. Slava used for a lot of years the same cases, just recently began to use also new cases, anyway the "new" models are in production since 5 years or more.

Also, Slava never made huge efforts to modernize the models and improve the QC, as Vostok, Poljot, Volmax and others did in the recent past. But it's a nice watch anyway :-! I have the same watch...but in another dress.

It's a "Spetznatz Sturm" model, bought some time ago directly from Moscow, with the help of Andrey (Andy_I) |> Same case, but with different crown and "pseudo-PVD" painted case.

 

[Seele]

Michele,

Nice-looking watch indeed

Unix Nerd,

Just to see how it looks without the belt-and-braces, I did a bit of quick and dirty photoshopping to Geminiwoe's picture:

 

[Oldheritage]

I actually like the black ring. It's a bit unnecessary, but it gives the face some nice contrast and in harsh lighting conditions it provides contrast for the silver hands :-!

 

[Seele]

I actually like the black ring. It's a bit unnecessary, but it gives the face some nice contrast and in harsh lighting conditions it provides contrast for the silver hands :-!

Yup; I am really looking forward to the arrival of my black dial version

 

[geminiwoe]

Yup; I am really looking forward to the arrival of my black dial version

I even can't wait. That is going to be such a nice piece. We may even have to swap for a weekend or two.

 

[Seele]

I even can't wait. That is going to be such a nice piece. We may even have to swap for a weekend or two.

Pity I am not in NYC; but I reckon you can start a Slava enthusiasts circle among your friends, as I am sure they have been very impressed by yours. Support the good guys :-!

Home page:

http://slava.su

http://slava.su/Hand_watch.php

http://slava.su/index_product.php?meh=gold&vis=noyes

By the way I found the page in the Slava site which shows yours (and what is to be mine):

http://slava.su/index_product.php?vis=yes&meh=retro&corp=201

 

[Seele]

It's here b-)

 

[geminiwoe]

That is a stunning watch. I knew it would be beautiful. I cannot believe that Slava watches are not popular. Thanks for all the links, I wish they had a English site. The watches are stunning and the sizes are perfect for me.

I noticed that many models are similarly offset just like my watch. Is that by design or is that because they are just inexpensive watches and I should stop comparing then to other watches. Well I love mine and now I want more... lol

 

[Seele]

That is a stunning watch. I knew it would be beautiful. I cannot believe that Slava watches are not popular. Thanks for all the links, I wish they had a English site. The watches are stunning and the sizes are perfect for me.

I noticed that many models are similarly offset just like my watch. Is that by design or is that because they are just inexpensive watches and I should stop comparing then to other watches. Well I love mine and now I want more... lol

Our fellow member Ramil talked to the Slava management a little while ago, they're hoping to build an English version of the website and hopefully it will get off the ground soon. One thing I'd like is to get the navigation a bit more intuitive, of course. I feel sure that Slava would love to expand its distribution internationally too; I have shown some of their watches on their website to friends and they were all salivating: "how do I get one?"

Being sloped all the way round, it is inherently tricky to have the chapter ring printed with absolute precision, but of course it can be done. Do bear in mind that it's very likely that our watches were built during a time when morale at the Slava works was not at an all time high, this could be an explanation.

An interesting thing: when mine arrived the strap was fitted the wrong way round: the buckle end was at the bottom. My local watchmaker fixed it within seconds though. From your photographs, your strap appears to be less thick than mine, which is well-padded and about 4mm thick. I will look into replacing it with a thinner one, which should give the overall appearance a slight improvement, making it less "bulky".