# Green-Eyed Sekonda



## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Got this in a job lot for a song, and was rather pleased to find it runs really well (-5 secs/day). Not often you come across one which is basically unmarked either, and I Haven't even polished up the acrylic yet.










I haven't seen such a vivid green lume before, nor the half-second markers. Bit OTT, not sure I'm very keen on it, but the cross-hairs are OK..


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Hey it looks cool, I doubt that the lume works though.

I have a Poljot that is similar, it certainly has the blue cross hair, but silver hands i think,

cheers Martin


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## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

martinzx said:


> Hey it looks cool, I doubt that the lume works though.
> 
> I have a Poljot that is similar, it certainly has the blue cross hair, but silver hands i think,
> 
> cheers Martin


I'll have to take it out tonight to see if the lume works!

Anyway, it's certainly keeping damn good time, and I also noticed my affluent-looking old watch repairer wears a vintage Sekonda himself. Funny, because he looks as though he could well afford something much 'better'?


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

I keep making the same comments over and over again but these Russian watches are amazing! Even the ones you get from ex-USSR countries who never saw any servicing keep on working just fine! Just the other day I was reading some comments about Russian watches on some other forum and how a member kept going and going at how poor they are, how they are not good mechanical watches and how much better a Swiss watch is... well, here's the proof it's not quite like that.

The lume thing, I'm also guessing it's just regular paint, not lume at all. The old lume sometimes falls off the hands and dials and the watch is retouched with regular paint...


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Kutusov said:


> The lume thing, I'm also guessing it's just regular paint, not lume at all. The old lume sometimes falls off the hands and dials and the watch is retouched with regular paint...


The lume is original, I have seen this on at least 3/4 different Sekonda's/ Poljots, :thumbsup:










It is listed in Poljot's catalogue as a 1977 model, number 6 :thumbsup:, but lume looks a different colour, could be a chemical reaction over time ...............


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

martinzx said:


>


Doh!... I have a few catalogues stored somewhere in my HD, I could have looked it up before posting rubbish...


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## AlexC1981 (Jul 26, 2009)

Nice watch and I like the green lume a lot. There's a similar Poljot on page 49 of the USSR watches thread.


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## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

martinzx said:


> Kutusov said:
> 
> 
> > The lume thing, I'm also guessing it's just regular paint, not lume at all. The old lume sometimes falls off the hands and dials and the watch is retouched with regular paint...
> ...


Thanks for the info, it's nice to know the vintage year. The 'lume' no longer glows (if it ever did). I expect the colour discrepancy could be down to repro difficulties..

BTW it keeps damn good time too, +26 secs over the last 6 days.


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## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Kutusov said:


> I keep making the same comments over and over again but these Russian watches are amazing! Even the ones you get from ex-USSR countries who never saw any servicing keep on working just fine! Just the other day I was reading some comments about Russian watches on some other forum and how a member kept going and going at how poor they are, how they are not good mechanical watches and how much better a Swiss watch is... well, here's the proof it's not quite like that..


I wholeheartedly agree. Being basically a 'Roamer Man', I'd naturally be biased towards the Swiss, but credit where it's due. My 'Russian' interest is just in certain Poljots rather than Sekondas, purely on styles and personal taste. To me they produce some truly vulgar and tasteless designs, but occasionally they got it right. These are the ones I collect, and it's amamzing you can still pick up bargains on eBay for <Â£8 (incl postage!). E.g today arrived one such. A 17J manual in superb condition, except for needing a new acryilic - peanuts to fix. The movement is a 'engraved' 2609, and it's clean as a whistle.

I haven't got a picture yet of my new acquisition yet, but here's the kind of watch I like..










Obviously, this style of watch looks better in gold plate. nevertheless I do collect the odd Roamer in chrome or S/Steel. The part-shown one at the top is one such. It's a rather cute little gents Roamer Brevete 3/4 size. Likewise in fine condition, which I picked up for about Â£9, and it just needed a new glass. There are bargains, both Russian and Swiss, to be had.


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Roamer Man said:


> Kutusov said:
> 
> 
> > I keep making the same comments over and over again but these Russian watches are amazing! Even the ones you get from ex-USSR countries who never saw any servicing keep on working just fine! Just the other day I was reading some comments about Russian watches on some other forum and how a member kept going and going at how poor they are, how they are not good mechanical watches and how much better a Swiss watch is... well, here's the proof it's not quite like that..
> ...


The USSR Sekonda's pre 1991/2 are excellent watches IMHO, Sekonda was an export brand name for all USSR Watches, so they could be Poljot/Raketa/Luch watches etc but branded Sekonda,

Sekonda's are now made in China & are not a patch on the USSR peaches made back in the day,

IMHO of course :thumbsup:

Cheers Martin


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## Xantiagib (Apr 22, 2005)

very nice - needs a nice green and black striped Nato strap!


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

martinzx said:


> Sekonda's are now made in China & are not a patch on the USSR peaches made back in the day,
> 
> IMHO of course :thumbsup:


Not just your opinion at all! Sekonda is now a British owned brand and has nothing to do with the Soviet/Russian Sekonda. Their line up includes almost exclusively quartz watches made very cheap. Prices are usually around 50 quid for a watch, so now it's pretty much a brand that contests again Accurist, Lorus, etc.


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

Xantiagib said:


> very nice - needs a nice green and black striped Nato strap!


What??? :jawdrop: No it doesn't!! That's the last thing it needs!! A nice USSR watch on a NATO?? That's just wrong!! :crybaby: :crybaby:


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## Xantiagib (Apr 22, 2005)

Haha! you're right -

lets call it a Zulu strap then....












Kutusov said:


> Xantiagib said:
> 
> 
> > very nice - needs a nice green and black striped Nato strap!
> ...


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## Kutusov (Apr 19, 2010)

Xantiagib said:


> Haha! you're right -
> 
> lets call it a Zulu strap then....


...with the white, red and blue of an American flag! Stars and stripes and everything! :to_become_senile:


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## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Kutusov said:


> martinzx said:
> 
> 
> > Sekonda's are now made in China & are not a patch on the USSR peaches made back in the day,
> ...


This is doing my head in! First they're Russian, then Chinese now British. That's globalisation for you..

Anyway, today I had another little gem drop through my door. Mind you, it wasn't supposed to be a diamond, because I only paid my 99p for the two things I needed - the lovely (but grubby) Guilloche dial, and the second hand, which I need for the Poljot De Luxe auto I'm about to fix (if I can).

It was sold as 'for spares/repair', but the only things wrong were no crown (easily sorted) and a floppy minute hand. Inspection revealed it was not a cannon pinion problem at all, but simply a defective hand. The movement is the 2409 and seems to run OK now that I can wind it with the spare crown I had.

Relegated Job no.2 was to clean up the dial. Being a criss-cross pattern it's been tricky to get the brush stroke direction right. The centre has come up nice, but I still have stubborn dirt on the edges to finish off. It's a bit tiresome having to move the brush round in tiny circles for ages, so I'll have another go - with decorators sugar soap next time. That's supposed to be really good on paintwork.

I was intending to replace one dial for the other on my other 17 jewel Poljot with the boring dial, but seeing as the 'scrapper' is OK, I might as well keep it on the same watch now, and rob the minute hand from it instead of the other way round, if you see what I mean? I haven't checked yet, but maybe the dial posts are in a different position as the movements are different anyway.

Whatever, before and after pics of the cleaned up dial would have been nice, if I'd thought of it before I started (and if my camera wasn't broken)..

I will post pictures of the finished article somehow.

Hours of fun...


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## martinzx (Aug 29, 2010)

Sorry for the confusion Roamerman 

Sekonda is a British owned company whose watches are made in Hong Kong, , below is a text copied from their website as there is no direct linking to watch sales allowed, hope this clears up any confusion.

'Sekonda is a British brand which was established in 1966 to offer a collection of mechanical watches which were manufactured in Russia. With extensive marketing support and superb customer service Sekonda quickly became a household name. The introduction of the quartz movement saw manufacture moved to Hong Kong and this enabled Sekonda to introduce more fashionable styles. This combination and continued marketing support led to Sekonda becoming the best selling watch brand in units in the UK in 1988, a position that is still held today.'

I look forward to your pictures

good luck

Martin


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## Roamer Man (May 25, 2011)

Well, I'm glad that's been cleared up now.

Cheers Martin...


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