It's been many years since I visited this amazing thread with all its amazing experts. I've been devoting these years to mostly Swiss and Japanese watches, but my love for Russian watches has never faded.
Anyway, I would really appreciate your help and/or opinions about the following Raketa Big Zero. I've been on the lookout for a Big Zero for a long time and a few weeks ago I found an attractive option on tradera.com (Swedish eBay). Having done some research, the case, dial, crystal (flat), and hands looked legit to me and the outer condition looked near flawless. So, I decided to pull the trigger and paid approx. $120 for it.
However, yesterday I opened the case back to begin servicing it as it was running extremely poorly and I almost flinched when I saw the state of the movement (see the picture). As you can see it is absolutely filthy and looking at it through my stereo microscope it was like looking down into a grave of decay. Also, the barrel bridge has been marred by a way too large screwdriver at one of the case screws.
So, my questions are two. Is this really a legit Raketa Big Zero? I'd be more than happy to provide additional pictures if needed. Why is there such an extreme discrepancy between the outer and the inner (movement) conditions?
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