# Two Komandirskis



## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

Hello All!

to my delight, the postie brought me a small package this morning. I'd fished in the Bay on Wednesday evening and it was here in less than two days!

Inside the cardboard box was a small plastic box, 6.5 x 5 cm, with a small 'B' in the corner.



Komandirski_3_01small by wotsch, on Flickr

Opening up the box, a Komandirski.



Komandirski_3_02small by wotsch, on Flickr

But what's that underneath the watch? Papers!



Komandirski_3_03small by wotsch, on Flickr

Let's have a look at the watch first. A lovely light dial with stripes and stars. A couple of things stick out:




it's "ÑÐ´ÐµÐ»Ð°Ð½Ð¾ Ð² Ð Ð¾ÑÑÐ¸Ð¸" (made in Russia) not "ÑÐ´ÐµÐ»Ð°Ð½Ð¾ Ð² CCCP" (made in USSR), so it must be post-Soviet. On the back is also "Made in Russia" and "Waterproof" in English - was it made for export?

it looks to be (gold?) plated - a little bit is rubbed off on the bottom left horn

the second hand is unusual, with the circle half-way along


Looks to be in good condition and runs straight away on winding.



Komandirski_3_04small by wotsch, on Flickr



Komandirski_3_05 small by wotsch, on Flickr

In the next post, we'll look at the papers - too many pictures for one post...


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## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

Now, let's have a look at the papers. All in Russian, but I can pick out the odd word, e.g. "Boctok Komandirski 2414 A", "17 Jewels", something about temperature.

 Boctok Doc A small by wotsch, on Flickr

 Boctok Doc B small by wotsch, on Flickr

I'd be really interested to know what these papers are - instructions? Especially interesting is the information along the bottom - what is it telling us?

 Boctok Doc A extract small by wotsch, on Flickr

Can anyone on the Forum read Russian?

Also, can an expert tell me if the box and papers fit to the watch?

In the next post, another interesting Komandirski...


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## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

Here's another Komandirski I picked up a while back - as I'm on the subject, I'd like to show you this one too:



Komandirski_2_01 small by wotsch, on Flickr

This one has "3AKA3 MO CCCP" at the bottom of the dial - so it could be a military one. The design fits with a few I have seen in various corners of the internet (see, for example, here and here), so the indications are promising.

However, the lume has partly come out of the minute hand - remarkable: it looks like it wasn't painted on, rather filled in. Does anyone know if that is usual? Also, I can't turn the bezel - at least not without forcing it, which I'm loath to do. It might be stuck. Does anyone have an idea of the best way to free it?

Are there any experts who can tell if this is a genuine "3AKA3 MO CCCP" or not?

The watch strap it came on is ugly, but also quite interesting:



Komandirski_2_02 small by wotsch, on Flickr

Any ideas who is represented in the picture and why he would find his portrait on a watch strap?

Hope you like these two. I think I've been bitten by the Vostok bug. Oh dear...

-wotsch


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## taffyman (Apr 26, 2011)

some nice watches there mate njoy!!!!!!!!1


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## ong (Jul 31, 2008)

From my very limited knowledge of Russian and looking at the numbers on the papers for the first Kommandirskie, the watch dates from Nov 1992, which of course then fits with the ' Made in Russia '. I think the English denotes it as an export model but I will stand corrected if anyone else knows better.


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Looks like Yuri Gagarin to me.










Nice watches btw


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## KevG (Dec 15, 2008)

Hi

From what little I know your watches are both type 34 cases the first one appears to have a later dial, from what I can gather watches made for a couple of years after the break up of the CCCP had no writing below the 6. The serial number on the back dosen't match the one on the paper work (six figure number in the left hand box on the paper work 341289. The first 2 digits are the case type 34 and the 3rd the finish 1 for chrome it should read 34 and 9 for Titanium Nitride finish. The second hand is from an Amphibia. Saying that it's still a good looking watch and could have easily been made that way by Vostock as they have a habit of using up parts. The second one looks dead right as commissioned by the USSR version of MOD and sold through their version of the NAFFI they weren't issued but were of a better quality than sold to the public and only available to the military.

But then again I could be completely wrong.

Kev


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## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

Very interesting...

Putting together a couple of replies here and in a German forum, it looks like the papers and the watch don't go together.

As Kev says, the serial number indicates a chrome finish, which also corresponds to the entry "ÐŸÐ¾ÐºÑ€Ñ‹Ñ‚Ð¸Ðµ ÐºÐ¾Ñ€Ð¿ÑƒÑÐ°", which I am told means along the lines of "Case finish" and which also has "XPOM" (chrome).

So the watch and the papers don't fit together. Shame about that, but not too surprising. Fortunately, it cost less than a tenner, so I can't really complain.

...now, if anyone does have the watch that goes with the papers (chrome case, serial number 341289), then let me know ;-)

-wotsch


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## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

KevG said:


> The serial number on the back dosen't match the one on the paper work (six figure number in the left hand box on the paper work 341289. The first 2 digits are the case type 34 and the 3rd the finish 1 for chrome it should read 34 and 9 for Titanium Nitride finish.


@KevG: are you sure that the number (341289) on the paper work is the serial number of the watch and not a reference number for the model? I ask, because I found this website (click here) when searching for '341289'. This bloke lists his Komandirskis with a reference number as well as a serial number, one of which is 341289. It would make sense that the reference number includes the case type, material, etc.

It doesn't change the fact that the watch and papers don't fit (the chrome part is still wrong), but it does mean that I wont be looking for the right watch with the serial number '341289' on the back, but just for the right model to go with the papers - like the Komandirskie "Submarine" shown on the linked site.


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## KevG (Dec 15, 2008)

To be honest that is a nice looking watch and I would wear it regularly without hesitation. I have a sneeking feeling that the back could be from a Sekonda but I can't back it up at all just a feeling. For a tenner you have a watch that is superior to any Swiss made watch up to Â£500 or so in value, except for the finish, with a style unique to it's country of origin. Just be honest if you decide to move it on. Enjoy it they are cracking watches.

Just caught your post as I posted hence edit, I'm reasonably ( as reasonably as you can be with USSR/ Russian Serials) sure that the serial on the paperwork should match the number on the back BUT the Russians where known to ship with any paperwork that was handy after the break up circa 1992.

Kev


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## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

I did some more digging and I have some more information for you.

As we concluded above, the watch and papers don't go together. However, thanks to Nuno from Portugal I now know the type of Komandirskie that would fit the papers. Nuno has a fantastic collection of Russian watches, including 34 Komandirskies, all documented on his website NHT watches - click here. I found this resource by searching for 'vostok 341289'.

Regarding the number on the papers:

As I suspected above, the number at the bottom left of the papers isn't the serial number of the individual watch, rather the reference number for the watch model. As such, the reference number on the papers does not need to be the same as the serial number on the case-back.

I learned that Vostock model reference numbers have 6 digits XXYZZZ in a standard format where:


XX is the case type code

Y is case finish type

ZZZ is dial code


As Kev said above, my Komandirskie has the type 34 case, which corresponds to the first two digits of the reference number on the papers.

There is an astonishing thread on the watchuseek forum (astonishing in the level of detail collated there), that describes the different case types that were made for Komandirskie and Amphibia watches. See especially the links to pdf summaries at the end of the thread. Thanks to Nuno for this reference, and much credit for his contribution to it!

Furthermore, the third digit of the reference number, in my case '1', refers to the case finish. In the reference number system, these could be:


0 - stainless steel

1 - chrome plating

3 - gold plating

6 - black finish

9 - Titanium Nitride plating, which has a golden colour


According to the watchuseek thread, Komandirskies were only made with 1- and 9-type finished cases.

In the case finish, we can be sure that the papers I have (case finish type 1) don't match the watch they came with (case finish type 9).

To round off the story, we can also deduce something about the dial of the watch that would belong to my papers. Again from Nuno (what a great source!) I now know that the dial code (ZZZ in the reference number) is unique for every dial design. In particular, the watch that would match my papers would have a '289' submarine-design dial, as shown here.

So I have acquired a nice-looking, post-Soviet Komandirskie with a gold-coloured, Titanium Nitride plating and a set of papers that correspond to a post-Soviet (Nov. 1992) Komandirskie with a chrome-plated case and Submarine dial.

Now I just need to find a chrome-plated, post-Soviet submarine-dial Komandirskie to go with the papers... Anyone got one for sale?

-wotsch


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Hi wotsch,

somehow missed this thread, great couple of watches you have there &

thanks for all the info & links you have provided, most helpful

Cheers Martin :thumbsup:


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## howie77 (Jun 21, 2009)

wotsch said:


> [IMG alt="5842259380_ef8b0b8284_z.j...kr.com/3288/5842259380_ef8b0b8284_z.jpg[/IMG]
> 
> Komandirski_2_01 small by wotsch, on Flickr
> 
> ...


Yes I do like. That is freaking ace!


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