Watches from Eastern Europe

If you view a watch as simply a utilitarian device to accurately tell the time, then these watches aren't for you. Go out and buy a plastic $10 quartz digital. It will keep time even better than a Rolex.

But to most people, a watch isn't just a functional object. People choose watches for all sorts of reasons. Style. Interesting appearance or construction. Materials used - some people like gold watches. I remember a few years ago wood or rock watches were available. An elegant look. A substantial feel. A sporty look. A masculine look. A feminine look. Some people are into brand names - I'm not one of them, but some people are.
Many of these Russian watches are styled differently to the watches I see in the shops. The 'tonneau' Poljots and Vostok Century Time range are particular favourites of mine. In the past, 'style' wasn't the first thing that sprang to my mind when I thought of Russian consumer goods. But in the watch shops in my city, I haven't seen anything as good looking as my watches. Not at any price. The more expensive ones sometimes get covered with more gold, but still end up looking like they are derived from a Rolex design, and look pretty much the same from brand to brand.

A lot of this is to do with the outer casing. Other people value what is inside a watch too. To be blunt, even an expensive mechanical watch probably won't be as accurate as a cheap quartz. They will need to have the time set more often. Yet the most expensive Swiss and German watches still use mechanical movements rather than quartz. Many people enjoy knowing that inside their watch there is an intricate mechanical system with all its tiny precision parts working together. And they enjoy the craftsmanship behind such a device. That's why watches are sometimes made with transparent 'display backs'. And there's the occasional watch that is transparent front and back.

If these things matter to you, and you don't care about brand names... or can't afford brand names... or want a different style and brand name to what's in every watch shop in the country, then a mechanical Russian watch may be what you're after.