Comments on: A Russian Gains Prominence Among Fine Watchmakers

A Russian Gains Prominence Among Fine Watchmakers

winecork — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:49:13 -0800

Soviet-era Russia was not a particularly friendly environment for aspiring fine watchmakers. For Konstantin Chaykin, who was born in St. Petersburg in 1975, there was no school where he could learn the craft that he dreamed of pursuing. So he taught himself.

By: jquinby

jquinby — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 14:59:29 -0800

There's a fantastic close-up of the transparent watch here. That is pretty cool stuff.

By: fightorflight

fightorflight — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:00:33 -0800

"Typical ways to describe time in Russian include phrases such as 'I woke up at 7 in the morning' or 'I will stop by at 2 in the afternoon' or 'Someone was making a lot of noise at 11 at night" These are also typical ways to describe time in British English. Not in American?

By: jquinby

jquinby — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:03:26 -0800

Those are fairly common here, too. Maybe languagehat will drop in and explain.

By: enn

enn — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:08:06 -0800

Soviet-era Russia was not a particularly friendly environment for aspiring fine watchmakers. Kind of a weird angle for the NYT to take. Compared to what? In Soviet Russia there were many types of mechanical watch movements in widespread production and use, some of them very interesting, although it's true that they were mass-produced and not "fine watchmaking." Vostok, Poljot, Slava, Raketa, Zarya—and if you include the greater USSR you've got Prim, Orex, probably more I don't know about. Most of these brands are still producing new watches using movements designed in the Soviet era. And his claim that "No one near us produces any watch parts or watch-making tools" isn't true if you take "near us" to mean "in Russia." In comparison, AFAIK there are zero mechanical movements currently being made in the US. Somehow I doubt that if they were writing about a US fine watchmaker, though, the lede would be, "Capitalist-era America is not a particularly friendly environment for aspiring fine watchmakers."

By: Keith Talent

Keith Talent — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:25:23 -0800

GIS of his stuff here. Yikes, not my taste, but whatever floats your boat.

By: bfranklin

bfranklin — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:44:00 -0800

AFAIK there are zero mechanical movements currently being made in the US I think Kobold's Spirit of America is the closest to a 100% american watch you can get. The dial is German, and the movement is Swiss.

By: Burhanistan

Burhanistan — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:55:29 -0800

"That was a Russian copy of a 1969 Timex Digital!"

By: sldownard

sldownard — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:56:07 -0800

Has anyone got €30k they can loan me? I need to go by this shop in Moscow real quick.

By: Joakim Ziegler

Joakim Ziegler — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:26:37 -0800

jquinby: "There's a fantastic close-up of the transparent watch here. That is pretty cool stuff" Ah, finally a watch that will let me see how sweaty my wrists gets when wearing a watch, without taking it off.

By: LogicalDash

LogicalDash — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:37:06 -0800

The usual 12 numerals are replaced by letters from the Jewish alphabet, from which a numerical value can be extrapolated according to Kabbalistic teaching. Hebrew letters are Hebrew numbers. That's the way you write numbers in Hebrew. There is nothing especially Kabbalist about it.

By: young sister beacon

young sister beacon — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:53:34 -0800

This is really interesting, thanks. And for people who are like me and have no idea what a torbillion or a complication is, this interesting article may help. Also, his Quartime (morning, day, evening, night) watch is pretty neat.

By: symbioid

symbioid — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:18:44 -0800

Quartime? Yeah, I think I've seen that before.

By: young sister beacon

young sister beacon — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:22:35 -0800

what fresh hell is that

By: eurypteris

eurypteris — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:08:09 -0800

Ah, finally a watch that will let me see how sweaty my wrists gets when wearing a watch, without taking it off. Wealth doesn't sweat, it glows.

By: symbioid

symbioid — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:43:59 -0800

In all seriousness, I started looking at watches now and realized that 1) Fucking bourgeoisie and their expensive watches 2) Goddamned, I really like them 3) OK, so let's see if there's something cool within my price range. 4) OK, there's some funky digital watches at Tokyoflash. Not nearly as sophisticated, but hey, I can afford it. 5) Besides, we all know those watchmaker types end up going all Sylar and start ripping people's brains out, so we don't want to give them all that money anyways, right?

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:00:59 -0800

what fresh hell is that For the uninitiated: posts tagged with timecube

By: fredericsunday

fredericsunday — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 08:59:41 -0800

----AFAIK there are zero mechanical movements currently being made in the US I think Kobold's Spirit of America is the closest to a 100% american watch you can get. The dial is German, and the movement is Swiss.--- Very incorrect. Check out RGM watches in PA. rgmwatches.com

By: bfranklin

bfranklin — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:08:11 -0800

Check out RGM watches in PA. Wow, those are some nice watches. I really like the 222. Thanks!

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:21:01 -0800

"Mr. Chaykin had already shared his national pride in 2010, when he presented his Lunokhod model, a timekeeping homage to the Russian moon rover program of the early 1970s. At the watch's dial center, a black rhodium-plated silver mask covered a 12-millimeter, or almost half an inch, Wootz-steel orb, accurately portraying the earth's shadow cast on the surface of the moon." No.

By: caphector

caphector — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:38:58 -0800

FatherDragon, I'm glad I wasn't the only one to notice that.