> In fact, aside from a few obsessive collectors, the impressive quality of vintage Soviet watches has mostly been forgotten.
If you lurk around watch forums, watch blogs, YouTube channels, auctions and speak with watch collectors, that is not the case at all. There are many people interested in old Russian watches.
However, there's a problem, many old Russian watches are forged, Frankenstein-ized and you need due diligence to find an original watch in good condition.
A similar problem befalls any name that gets well associated with Western collectors. Fake HMT watches are all over eBay as well.
If you think you're getting a genuinely 20-30 year old, still in working order Soviet era mechanical watch that runs well (meaning it was serviced by a human) for like $30-$60, no way.
You can buy Vostoks new from Russian factories direct today, and those will be guaranteed to be real, plus they have not changed much since Soviet times, even the designs are the same. It's kind of kitschy like that.
If you genuinely want to buy a vintage Soviet watch like this collector, it's best to find some catalogs, make sure the watch you want was actually produced by the given company. Find pictures of the movement online, and ask your eBay seller to show you the watch with the case back taken off. When it comes to Frankenstein watches, I don't really care if the dial is repainted, so long as the movement is real and from the era.
This is a pretty decent forum. The link is for the Russian watch section. BUt over time some good posts and dicussion has happened in the past on identifying fakes and franken watches.
If you lurk around watch forums, watch blogs, YouTube channels, auctions and speak with watch collectors, that is not the case at all. There are many people interested in old Russian watches.
However, there's a problem, many old Russian watches are forged, Frankenstein-ized and you need due diligence to find an original watch in good condition.