# New Volmax Strela



## Draygo

This one isn't for the puristsâ€¦

Like any right-minded person, I love Strelas. I've never owned a 3017, but only because finding one in good condition (and not frankened) without paying a fortune is pretty tricky. I do have a couple of 3133 reissues though and really like them. However, at 38mm diameter I've always found them a bit too small to be 'perfect' for me.

So in my pursuit of 'perfect', this 44mm Volmax version has always appealed to me. Idly trawling the web a few weeks back I came across this one at a really good price - much, much less than the usual Â£500+ asking price - and couldn't resist.

It's a lovely bit of kit, as I expected given Volmax's reputation. Seems nicely made, with good finishing, nicely decorated 3133/31659 movement, and sapphire front and back. It came on a custom Hirsch dark brown croc strap, but I've replaced this with a Toshi.

The dial is off-white, which I really like. Unlike the 'original reissue', the grooves on the dial are limited to the subdials.

Downsides? Well, the Sturmanskie branding isn't 'authentic', but I can live with it. And the lack of lume isn't ideal â€¦and silver hands on beige dial wouldn't suit the poor-sighted. And, to be honest, 44mm is a bit too big - I'd prefer a 42mm. So I'd be tempted by a slightly smaller, paddle-handed version. But in the meantime, this will do just fine.

So here's a few photos that don't quite capture how lovely it is. I'll have another go when the weather's nicer and it's not so cold. (It really deserves a macro shot, as the detail is lovely, but that'll have to wait too.)





































Here's the two reissues side by side, for easy comparison.










Thanks for looking.


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## martinzx

Congrats on the purchase, I always thought the Strella was a little small, love the pictures :thumbsup: It looks great!

Cheers Martin


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## mrteatime

That is stunning....could you pass me a pm as to where i might get one please?


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## MerlinShepherd

What a gorgeous watch, lovely!

A PM for me too please, as I'm somewhat interested....you never know...


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## mach 0.0013137

Draygo said:


> Here's the two reissues side by side, for easy comparison.
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> Thanks for looking.


Very nice but I prefer the 38, the 44 is too big IMO, but each to their own :wink2:


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## Kutusov

That is BEAUTIFUL!! And let me disagree... 44mm is just right and you photos show it! Congrats!

I don't think there's a 42mm Strela, is there? The only ones I know of are the Moscow Classic P-7s, which are clearly and heavily Strela inspired. Rumours have it that those 42mm cases were meant to be Juri's Strela brand... errr... Strelas. But he never came up with one and suddenly MC has the new model, the P-7. There's some kind of cooperation between the two.

Anyway, a 44mm pilot chrono (well, that's what they were...) is just about right!


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## jezz59

I think you do yourself an injustice the pix look fine to me, I think its a stunning looking watch, especially enhanced with the saphire front and back,let us know in the near future wont you? what the ordinary time keeping accuracy is.

Regards

Jezz


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## Kutusov

jezz59 said:


> what the ordinary time keeping accuracy is.


Well, it's a 3133 made by Maktime, just like all the other 3133s from other brands. Official accuracy tolerances for this movement is -10 to +20 seconds a day. They usually preform much better and some sellers actually verify its regulation electronically before shipping a watch out. It's not rare to get a 3133 performing under chronometer specs right out the box (+2/+3 seconds a day).


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## Chascomm

Draygo said:


> Here's the two reissues side by side, for easy comparison.
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Very nice modern variation on a classic. A bit too big for me, but it's good to see that you can get something Strela-like to suit most wrist sizes. And best of all the size allows the date at 6 o'clock rather than the date-at-4:30 which is angled for wearing on the right arm.

A colleague of mine was recently showing me his big new Shturmanskie Strela. It was the date-at-12 model with the wide date window. Quite far removed from the original.

Do Buran still do a smaller-sized Strela-like model?


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## Kutusov

Chascomm said:


> Do Buran still do a smaller-sized Strela-like model?


Yes and no... Yes they did several models and you still can find plenty around. AFAIK, they used the same cases as the 2004 Volmax reissues . They certainly look the same and the sizes are also the same (but I think they are all golden PVDed). Plus, Buran was a Volmax sub-brand at the time, so I'm pretty sure it's the same case...

...and that brings us to the no. They don't do it any more because Buran was sold to some Swiss and is no longer part of the Volmax group. I'm not even sure that the Swiss Buran (Buran S.A., the Russian brand was Buran V.M.) is still going but they seemed to be interested only in the more radical new designs (the Flagman, the Stingray, etc).


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## Draygo

Thanks for all the comments and PMs.

It seems to be running about +5 secs a day at the moment. :thumbs up:

JL does seem to have a 42mm Strela in the pipeline, but a) it might never emerge, B) it ain't Volmax/Sturmanskie Strela and c) it's JL which might put a few people off.


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## Kutusov

Draygo said:


> JL does seem to have a 42mm Strela in the pipeline, but a) it might never emerge, B) it ain't Volmax/Sturmanskie Strela and c) it's JL which might put a few people off.


I've just checked his Strela site. There's an update there on his older entry that I've missed. Early 2012 for the new 42mm Strela...










I'm a bit put off by being a JL but I must admit he has some really cool designs. Your smaller Strela is a good example, it's a beautiful, beautiful reissue of the classic one.

I'm also quite tempted by his JL Classic after seeing Dapper's photo on the Friday thread:










(sorry for nicking your photo Alan  )

There's also two new ones with a Miyota movement that I quite like and they are not very expensive.



















Two problems buying from him IMHO. Customers service (google it, too many horror stories) and his prices. He is supposedly the source of his own watches and still he manages to have much higher prices than other sellers who are his clients. The JL Classic costs â‚¬200 if you buy from him but you'll find other sellers selling it for â‚¬150. WTF is that all about? The supplier can't get better prices than his retailers?... Make your own conclusions, I have mine and it's not very faltering towards Mr. JL.


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## Draygo

Another small negative about the JL Strelas is that (so far) they don't have cyrillic text, which is a shame...


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## Kutusov

Draygo said:


> Another small negative about the JL Strelas is that (so far) they don't have cyrillic text, which is a shame...


Oh yes they do... http://www.strela-watch.de/strela-watches/3133-strelas/

Now I'm not even sure what a Volmax reissue is anymore... I thought mine was a Volmax but I can't spot any difference between his white paddle hand Strela and mine (on his site, the subdials son't seem to be sunken and engine turned but that can be just a case of too much photoshop. His black version does have the sunken subdials...)

Those are all from JL's Strela brand! And I'm afraid I have bad news for you (if you care for such a thing) ...your smaller Strela is definitely one of JL's...


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## Draygo

Kutusov said:


> Draygo said:
> 
> 
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> Another small negative about the JL Strelas is that (so far) they don't have cyrillic text, which is a shame...
> 
> 
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> Oh yes they do... http://www.strela-watch.de/strela-watches/3133-strelas/
> 
> Now I'm not even sure what a Volmax reissue is anymore... I thought mine was a Volmax but I can't spot any difference between his white paddle hand Strela and mine (on his site, the subdials son't seem to be sunken and engine turned but that can be just a case of too much photoshop. His black version does have the sunken subdials...)
> 
> Those are all from JL's Strela brand! And I'm afraid I have bad news for you (if you care for such a thing) ...your smaller Strela is definitely one of JL's...
Click to expand...

 Don't worry, I know mine's a JL ...as I bought it from JL...! And what I meant to type above was "...they don't always have cyrillic..." because I know mine does and I know it's from JL, so I wouldn't be that stupid, would I? 

I also have a black one which has paddle hands but non-cyrillic text.

Personally, I don't have a major problem with JL-Strelas - reservations about price and service aside, they look good to me - so I'd be interested if a 42mm version emerged.

As to what's a Volmax reissue and what's not... I start by assuming that if it has Sturmanskie on the dial, it's a Volmax (as they own that brand name, but no-one 'owns' the name Strela)...


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## Kutusov

Draygo said:


> Personally, I don't have a major problem with JL-Strelas - reservations about price and service aside, they look good to me - so I'd be interested if a 42mm version emerged.
> 
> As to what's a Volmax reissue and what's not... I start by assuming that if it has Sturmanskie on the dial, it's a Volmax (as they own that brand name, but no-one 'owns' the name Strela)...


Me too! I just don't wear mine more often because of it's "small" size. Well, it's not small, in fact the lugs are quite long and it wears as much bigger watch... still, once you start getting into these new bigger watches (dinner plates as Martin's missus seems to call them







), it's hard to feel right with a 39mm (or is it 38?) dial on your wrist. The P-7s just don't cut it, so I hope JL comes up with just a bigger scale watch of the ones he already has.

As to the 2004 reissues... Well, now I must look into that. Everybody claims they were made by Volmax, I now have my doubts! If they were, they are exactly the same as some JL's Strelas! At least the black one is!


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## bowie

That does look like a very nice watch big is better.

bowie


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## Kutusov

bowie said:


> big is better.


Read Roger the Dodger's sig and you'll realize it's not always the case


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## bowie

Kutusov said:


> bowie said:
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> big is better.
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> Read Roger the Dodger's sig and you'll realize it's not always the case
Click to expand...

on my hand big is better then.

bowie


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## freestyle_gus

Holy thread resurrection Batman! (sorry).

I've just taken delivery of one of these from the Bay. Other than a slight issue with the Chrono (occasionally jumps forward on activation) it's in great nick and appears to be keeping great time. I may even like this more than my beloved paddle handed 38mm.

I can't get on with the blue strap (though it is very nice quality and matches the movement screws) so I'll be replacing with a brown one asap!

Draygo - it may finally help me get over selling that Strela back to you! Yes, it still hurts!


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## relaxer7

I haven't sen one of those before and they look great!


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## Draygo

freestyle_gus said:


> Draygo - it may finally help me get over selling that Strela back to you! Yes, it still hurts!


 It's lovely. Congratulations.

If you've got the wrists for it, then this is actually a better a watch imho. It was just too big for me - admittedly it took me a few year stop work that out! But my decision was made easier by buying back the small one :wink:

It's weird reading back through an old post like this. Like time travel. Thanks for the resurrection, Gus.


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## freestyle_gus

Draygo said:


> It's lovely. Congratulations.
> 
> If you've got the wrists for it, then this is actually a better a watch imho. It was just too big for me - admittedly it took me a few year stop work that out! But my decision was made easier by buying back the small one :wink:
> 
> It's weird reading back through an old post like this. Like time travel. Thanks for the resurrection, Gus.


 The truth is I don't really have the wrists for it! But I'm used to bigger watches now and can't go back


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## Caller.

This threads new to me, it was only when I got to the bottom that I noticed how old the original posts were! But great watches all round. :thumbsup:


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## rhaythorne

freestyle_gus said:


> Other than a slight issue with the Chrono (occasionally jumps forward on activation)


 Both of the Poljot 3133's I've had do that. It's a "feature" 

Going back to the original post where Draygo mentions that the Sturmanskie branding isn't authentic; although "Sturmanskie" was used as a brand for a while, the word means "Navigator", so in this application it's not really a brand name, just a description of the type/function of the watch (like "GMT" or "Chronograph") so is perfectly valid in my book.


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## Krispy

I get so confused with all the different versions and who actually makes them :wacko:

I love the look of the 42mm version, with cryllic (?) text. If only they'd put the date window at 6...


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## Kutusov

rhaythorne said:


> Going back to the original post where Draygo mentions that the Sturmanskie branding isn't authentic; although "Sturmanskie" was used as a brand for a while, the word means "Navigator", so in this application it's not really a brand name, just a description of the type/function of the watch (like "GMT" or "Chronograph") so is perfectly valid in my book.


 It's not actually even that. There were no brands/private companies on USSR but a factory would have sort of a brand name for some watches. Sturmanskie was a name present on watches aimed to the Air Force but they are not necessarily navigator watches. At least I don't see a "Gagarin" Sturmanskie as navigator watch like the B-Urh type B, etc is/was. You have to think about what the USSR was, there's no real parallel with what we call a brand here in the west or currently in Russia . It's was a branding but doesn't mean much beyond that.



Krispy said:


> I get so confused with all the different versions and who actually makes them :wacko:
> 
> I love the look of the 42mm version, with cryllic (?) text. If only they'd put the date window at 6...


 That's not a Volmax, it's a JL "Strela" Strela :wacko: What I mean is, JL bought the name Strela, so now that's the brand those sell under. It's a Strela by Strela. He bought a lot of movements, parts etc from dead or dying Russian companies (Molnija for example), so that's probably exactly the same design Volmax used, just with Cyrillic text (which I believe they never had on this late models with paddled hands)


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## Krispy

Kutusov said:


> That's not a Volmax, it's a JL "Strela" Strela :wacko: What I mean is, JL bought the name Strela, so now that's the brand those sell under. It's a Strela by Strela. He bought a lot of movements, parts etc from dead or dying Russian companies (Molnija for example), so that's probably exactly the same design Volmax used, just with Cyrillic text (which I believe they never had on this late models with paddled hands)


 My favourite Portu-Geezer! How the devil are you?

Poljot24 are selling them, with English text too. So he sells JL stuff? I could never work out whether JL was to be trusted or not? I guess he's an equivalent Eddie with his Smiths, Precista, etc..?


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## Draygo

He lives! :clap:


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## Kutusov

Krispy said:


> I guess he's an equivalent Eddie with his Smiths, Precista, etc..?


 Yes!! And no. All these Russian brands no longer exist as in Russian brands - save for Vostok, only one left. The problem with JL comes from a time where they still existed but Russia was chaos. He did sell some dodgy watches that some employees would cobble together. But as of right now, Strela, Molnija, etc are a JL owned brand, just like Eddie owns Smiths and Precista.

Poljot24... that's Julian's site, right? He does sell JL watches for a long time now. And as time goes by and more of the originals are sold, the more JL he'll be having in stock. :thumbsup:



Draygo said:


> He lives! :clap:


 ...one tries... artytime:


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