# New Strela



## Ullevi (Feb 7, 2017)

Introducing my new Strela TR40CY Chronograph that I got as a birthday present while we were on holiday last week.

Inspired by some of the members' lovely watches that inhabit this forum (you know who you are!) I wanted a modern tribute to a space watch that I could wear daily without concern.

This watch is a tribute to the watch worn by Alexei Leonov in open space when he performed the first EVA exiting the 'Voskhod 2' capsule on 18th March 1965 for 12 minutes.

The first watch worn in open space:










This particular watch has a great sized case for me- 40mm, with a sapphire crystal, and although I would dearly love an original 3017 Strela/ Poljot/ Sekonda, this one is robust enough to wear without too much worry. These modern Strelas are made by a German based company headed by Russian watch specialist Juri Levenberg.




























Anyway, the purists may dislike the idea, but I like it a lot! Actually, I love it.


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## mach 0.0013137 (Jan 10, 2005)

Kewl








MUST RESIST,MUST RESIST


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## al_kaholik (May 22, 2018)

Love it!


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## Pete wilding (Jul 13, 2017)

Very nice


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## it'salivejim (Jan 19, 2013)

Lovely. Is it the 3133 movement?


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## Bonzodog (Aug 29, 2018)

That's a fine looking piece.


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

nice looking watch


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

All of the above... :thumbsup:


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## Ullevi (Feb 7, 2017)

it'salivejim said:


> Lovely. Is it the 3133 movement?


 Some of Strela's older models have 3133 movements but 3133s have not been made for many years so supplies are running low. These new models have the ST19 column wheel Chronograph from Sea-Gull.

Pretty sacrilegious to some, but when you think the ST19 is based on the Venus 175 which is much closer to the original Strela's with the 3017 column wheel chronograph movements it's not so bad.

I've been very happy with the same movement in my Sea-Gull 1963 Re-issue which runs at +7 secs/ day.


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## Graham60 (Nov 2, 2018)

Lovely looking watch, and nice there is a story behind it. :thumbsup:


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## davidcxn (Nov 4, 2010)

Well done with your purchase, that's a great looking watch. :thumbsup:


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## PC-Magician (Apr 29, 2013)

Ullevi said:


> Some of Strela's older models have 3133 movements but 3133s have not been made for many years so supplies are running low. These new models have the ST19 column wheel Chronograph from Sea-Gull.
> 
> Pretty sacrilegious to some, but when you think the ST19 is based on the Venus 175 which is much closer to the original Strela's with the 3017 column wheel chronograph movements it's not so bad.
> 
> I've been very happy with the same movement in my Sea-Gull 1963 Re-issue which runs at +7 secs/ day.


 No reason not to like it so well done you. :thumbsup:


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## brummie1875 (May 2, 2016)

Great looking timepiece, I do like that style of pusher on a chronograph. :thumbs_up:


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## JayDeep (Dec 31, 2016)

I've looked these over so many times over the years. Really wishing I had bought something with the 3133 in it now. Lovely watch, truly, awesome acquisition!


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## bowie (Mar 12, 2005)

still, have mine that I got for my 18th quite a few years ago now.


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## tixntox (Jul 17, 2009)

bowie said:


> still, have mine that I got for my 18th quite a few years ago now.


 I had the same watch and have regretted selling it ever since!  Enjoy. Gorgeous watch. Mike


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

I think I'm way too much of a purist to like a Strela with a Chinese movement inside


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## Ullevi (Feb 7, 2017)

JayDeep said:


> I've looked these over so many times over the years. Really wishing I had bought something with the 3133 in it now. Lovely watch, truly, awesome acquisition!


 Can still get watches including Strelas with the 3133 in them although they are not cheap.

There are some reliable Russian watch specialists that still have stock (based in Munich) of 3133 Strelas or other Russian chronographs. I've been very happy with the Poljot Buran that I bought from them a while back. I do fancy a Sturmanskie or 'OKEAH' 3133 chrono in the future.


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## Jet Jetski (Feb 10, 2019)

Ullevi said:


> the ST19 is based on the Venus 175 which is much closer to the original Strela's with the 3017 column wheel chronograph movement


 much closer to the original than, for instance, a new speedmaster is to the pre-moon version

The pushers are better than the 3133 cam chronographs too, in terms of being close to the original

Most watches are, after all, conversation starters, and this is a terrific one: looks, movement, practicality, legacy - it is definitely not a poor relation.



Lampoc said:


> I t﻿hink I'm way too much of a purist to like a Strela with a Chinese movement inside


 Russian watches and 'purists' don't really mix

american, french, swiss, german - if it was going, they'd have it!

Dueber-Hampden , Lip, Venus, Valjoux, Tutima

I have a 3133 'strela' and there is no way I can find out where the movement was made ...

Let's not talk pedigree about Vostok either!

Totally as an aside, this is an interesting article

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/style/07iht-rwatchruss.1.8637651.html

and the 'chinese' strela is a stunner - by far the best tribute watch, and best successor. IMHO



bowie said:


> still, have mine that I got for my 18th quite a few years ago now.
> 
> ﻿


 best example I have seen


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Jet Jetski said:


> Russian watches and 'purists' don't really mix
> 
> american, french, swiss, german - if it was going, they'd have it!
> 
> ...


 I'm not sure of your point. You can be a Russian watch snob too you know!

Soviet watch companies often bought the tooling from Swiss companies in order to produce their own movements. Yes, Poljot knocked out some ropey knock-offs in their later years but the company was on the verge of bankruptcy after the collapse of the Soviet Union

All 3133 movements were made in USSR/Russia. What's the confusion?

And what's this about Vostok pedigree?


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## Jet Jetski (Feb 10, 2019)

Lampoc said:


> this about Vostok﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ ﻿pedigree


 I do a lot of work with pharmaceutical companies, and to ensure every inhaler, which has comparatively few moving parts, is identical, you should see the procedures, paperwork, critical point holds, QA dept, external audits etc. right through the supply chain. Just saying that to expect factories producing millions of watches to adhere, in whatever manufacturing straits may afflict them, to an identical recipe for every single watch of a type is an expectation I, (who have designed and manufactured medical equipment too, in 'GMP' supply chains,) would find difficult to endorse. And I love me my Russian watches, so I do! Even my Zim, the unregulateable watch! It's accurate over 24 hours, but it has, as we say in the 'controlled environment' world ... 'excursions'. But I'm not snobby about it.

And if it quacks like a Vostok!


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## Jet Jetski (Feb 10, 2019)

Lampoc said:


> All 3133 movements were made in USSR﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿/﻿Russia.﻿


 Thanks, you are the first person to unequivocally state that, could you cite a few sources, and any which indicate where they were cased, and how they got there? Omega are quite easy, and others, you can get an extract from the contemporaneous records sometimes, but I am really struggling to get a steer, or any primary written source to quote, on the provenance of 3133 driven watches.

WRT 3017, I heard about some black dial paddle-hand 'Strelas' being issued as gifts or prototypes in Russia too, before the Sekondas came to Europe, so also be interested in any back-up on that story.


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Jet Jetski said:


> Thanks, you are the first person to unequivocally state that, could you cite a few sources, and any which indicate where they were cased, and how they got there? Omega are quite easy, and others, you can get an extract from the contemporaneous records sometimes, but I am really struggling to get a steer, or any primary written source to quote, on the provenance of 3133 driven watches.
> 
> WRT 3017, I heard about some black dial paddle-hand 'Strelas' being issued as gifts or prototypes in Russia too, before the Sekondas came to Europe, so also be interested in any back-up on that story.


 3133 movements were always made in the First Moscow Watch Factory, just like Omegas have always been made in Bienne. I don't think anyone has ever said they weren't made there. I'm really lost here as to what your point is?

From probably the world's biggest 3133 movement expert/nutcase: "The cal. 3133 movement and chronographs were for the most part produced at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory, located in the central south-east part of the city, since 1975. Poljot is an international trademark for watches produced at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory. However, many of the other chronographs not branded with the Poljot name were also produced at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory, and are often referred to as Poljot watches no matter what the branding (e.g. "Poljot" Strela). *One thing is certain, all of the cal. 3133 movements were produced at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory through 2004. Beyond that, the were produced by the MakTime company, at their factory in the south-east end of Moscow, until production ceased in 2011.* "

Here: http://polmax3133.com/


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## Jet Jetski (Feb 10, 2019)

Lampoc said:


> The cal. 3133 movement and chronographs were for the mo﻿st﻿﻿﻿﻿ par﻿t ﻿


 For the most part. That is my point. I have looked into this closely, and been reading around Maktime and ChasProm, and my conclusion is also 'for the most part'. No-one seems to be unequivocal about which factory mine was made, or assembled, in. "One thing is certain" is not evidence. If you check my post about my watches, I refer to my sources for every statement of 'fact' however obvious, and invite people to give me feedback on the reliability of that source. I am thankful to you posting that paragraph, a bit of googling around it will surely pay dividends. Cheers, J


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Jet Jetski said:


> For the most part. That is my point. I have looked into this closely, and been reading around Maktime and ChasProm, and my conclusion is also 'for the most part'. No-one seems to be unequivocal about which factory mine was made, or assembled, in. "One thing is certain" is not evidence. If you check my post about my watches, I refer to my sources for every statement of 'fact' however obvious, and invite people to give me feedback on the reliability of that source. I am thankful to you posting that paragraph, a bit of googling around it will surely pay dividends. Cheers, J


 Did you deliberately ignore the part I quoted in bold? I thought it was obvious that for the "most part" the watches were produced at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory until 2004, and those that weren't were produced in the Maktime factory (also in Moscow) until 2011.

Seriously, what kind of evidence do you need?


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## rhaythorne (Jan 12, 2004)

I can't even remember where I bought half my watches, let alone be worried too much about forensic levels of proof of where they were made :laugh:


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