# Red Faced Russian Fraud



## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

I blame it on subliminal suggestion caused by exposure to Red Rekord images - made me want a watch with a really red face. So, in recent months, I have bid on several and finally got what purported to be a Vostok for a mere Â£3:00.

Watch arrived this morning and a very red face peeped through the layers of bubble wrap - delighted!


















With the wrapping off all did not seem so well.

The watch was too light in the hand, the crown did not screw down and did not wobble about when fully extended, the bezel was uni-directional, the back cover had only the faintest of patterns and is a press fit. Not looking so good









Pinged the back off, no effort required, and ...................


















To my inexperienced eye that looks to be a standard Chinese movement







??

I'm turning into a clone magnet









Julian L


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## raketakat (Sep 24, 2003)

The hands are Chinese too.

How do you find these interesting oddities Julian







? I'm jealous  .

Nice MOD dial though  .


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

raketakat said:


> The hands are Chinese too.
> 
> How do you find these interesting oddities Julian
> 
> ...


I use the following technique;

1. scan e-bay for really fuzzy pictures of Russian watches

2. make sure you're not wearing glasses (that's only if you actually need them)

3. don't ask the vendor any leading questions - just bid

...... couldn't be simpler really









Julian L

P.S. keep the tip to yourself, if too many people try it it could bump prices up


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

what with my timex and now this ebay is coming up trumps!

btw the bezel looks right to me, the crown however looks a tad small


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

pg tips said:


> what with my timex and now this ebay is coming up trumps!
> 
> btw the bezel looks right to me, the crown however looks a tad small


The bezel is a very good likeness, but on all my other Vostoks the bezel will rotate freely in BOTH directions, this is a distinct improvement in that it will only rotate anti-clockwise. Must take it off and see if it will fit on the real thing.


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## raketakat (Sep 24, 2003)

Julian Latham said:


> I use the following technique;
> 
> 1. scan e-bay for really fuzzy pictures of Russian watches
> 
> ...


Thanks Julian, I'll try it







. You can trust me to keep it under my hat  . Don't tell Mac or he'll blab it all over the net  .

Was the seller in the U.K. ?


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## Chascomm (Sep 9, 2005)

Ouch! The infamous fake Vostok.

The crown is the big give-away, but these dials with the wrong spelling sometimes turn up in differnt cases (I think I've actually seen a picture of a genuine Komandirskie with the fake dial







).

The story I heard was that these watches first appeared back in the Glasnost era, when Soviet-chic was at it's height in the West. A Swiss company started selling genuine Vostoks under the brand name 'Ostwok'. Then Gruen came out with the Raketa quartz-powered 'Soviet' model. So some enterprising Chinese state-owned factories got in on the act and started pumping out fakes. You're luck the bezel actually rotates on yours. Sometimes it is cast as part of the case.

Given that cheap genuine Vostoks were soon to become easy to find in Europe, this scam can't have been very successful. Strangely there are still new ones being sold, so either they're old stock, or somebody still thinks there's money in making them.

Even stranger are the rare _high grade_ fake Vostoks, sometimes made with genuine Vosotok cases. Surely there can't be any profit in that


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

raketakat said:


> Thanks Julian, I'll try it
> 
> 
> 
> ...










Sir, I`m deeply offended by the suggestion that I would pass on such a valuble secret









I demand satisfaction, hand bags at dawn I think


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

of course if you really want to go red & can`t get a Rekord there`s always (if you can find one) the ultimate Red Russian....

*Raketa `Hammer & Sickle` Slava cal2428 26 Jewels*


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## raketakat (Sep 24, 2003)

mach 0.0013137 said:


> I demand satisfaction, hand bags at dawn I think












It's not much of a choice Mac. I'll let you have first pick  .


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

raketakat said:


> mach 0.0013137 said:
> 
> 
> > I demand satisfaction, hand bags at dawn I think
> ...


Not fair Ian, making *me* have to choose between 3 horrible old leather bags


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