Wow, that is a beautiful recreation of the originals, and they really got the bits of color to pop, my favorite part. If I had one of the prior 3133 models I'd be sore seeing these.
Thanks. It was and is a long way to there, and we don't even think it is over now at all. We think the older 38 Strelas will age with dignity and the newer watches are still fresh and are something totally else.
The page mentions other projects using Russian movements, which makes me wonder why this doesn't have one too?
One factor is price. Strelas were very affordable a few years back. MakTime was a good, reliable and affordable source for movements, the same for us as manufacturer. These times are long over since 2012. The last projects we can make with NOS Russian movements are really limited. They all have to be on the spot, and combine the best bang for the buck. The ST19 will hopefully release some pressure on our stock so we find more time for new designs and watches that are really something you expect from a watch, even when it costs a lil more then a few years ago, or even now. Depending on the movement type of course. Now people can get a decent chronograph from us again, and are not having an empty fridge the following month. Because they like to wear a mechanical Strela, like the look and are not totally focused on the Russian heart. If you are after that, we still offer what we have, but can also release some Russian driven gems with more ease from time to time.
Another factor is time. We use a heavy amount of time for our Russian chronos now. We hope the ST19 can speed things up, to put a bit more watches in the hands of shops and POS stores. This can help us to invest more time in better products (with Russian movements as well) and developing them to the end.
The missing link: The ST19 column wheel matches the Strela very well. The movement is close to 3017. I was in contact with Seagull factory a few times. We tried to get a raw and totally undecorated OEM version of the movement with our stamp. We really tried everything. Then we had the go for this. Some head engineer though halted the order because he mentioned structural and quality problems. Well, maybe to complicated and that is why our glass case back for this watch is optional with no number, the steel case back will get the ongoing number and is the standard case back for this watch. Maybe one day we get these movements done, then this will change. At the moment it's almost too decorated for a Strela.
Anyone who likes to see the movement from time to time, can get a fair priced window to it, and interchange.
As said, the ST19 is an addition to our watches. Not a replacement. We are still committed to Russian movements. That's what we are and will try as much and long as we can.
Not sure how I feel about the textured dial models, the cream models looking too much like those well known fake dials, and the case height possibility being a bit much.
The textured dial came out too much. The black is pretty ok, almost like the vintage, my wish was just slightly less texture so the logotype will not crumple. White is like the 42mm white dial. The silver dial is something else. The plan was no texture for white, and white as soft matt silver, but it came out like this anyway, small eyes are shiny silver now. That looks cool though. We think the vintage white cosmos was some matt silver white mix, hard to tell. We have a lot of them in bad, or good, but not in perfect mint condition.
