Vostok Komandirskie Automatic Self-Winding Mens Russian Military Wristwatch WR 200m # 650541

I initially gave this watch a 2-star review because of several problems, and because I didn't believe the 200-meter water resistance claim. Let me explain. 24-hour military watches date back at least to the early 1900s, when submarine crews needed to tell time without seeing whether it was night or day. They can also be used to track time following a "zero hour" for up to 30 days by starting at midnight (zero-hour or H-Hour) on day 1. It's a useful idea, although it takes getting used to as one must learn to read a 24 hour dial, where 12:00 noon would be 6:00 on a traditional 12 hour watch face, and where extra hour marks can lead to mistakes (every odd-numbered hour is at 2 1/2 minutes, half way between every even numbered hour, and the extra pip can be confusing).However, this particular watch by Vostok suffers from some problems. The biggest problems are that the bezel rotates freely rather than clicking from position to position, so it can easily be moved by mistake, making it unreliable. And the date in the date window is not aligned making it difficult to read for dates greater than the 9th day of the month. The acrylic crystal scratches easily. My watch ran slow out of the box, losing about 20 seconds/day brand new, whereas most mechanical watches run fast when new and slowly lose time as they require maintenance. And, setting the time is a pain because there's a lot of loose play with the stem, on top of the fact that the movement is non-hacking (i.e., the second hand does not stop when you pull out the crown). Setting the date requires moving the hands past midnight -- there's no way to quickly set the date directly like on most contemporary watches.At this point I was fairly unhappy with this watch. But then I did some research into its history. In 1967, the Soviet government requested that Vostok design a diver's watch that was comparable to Western makes like Rolex, Omega and Seiko, in that it could operate at depths up to 200 meters. They could not make use of existing patents because of Soviet policy not to pay Western patent licensing fees; so they had to start from scratch. Two designers at Vostok, Mikhail Novikov (their chief of design) and Vera Belova (a female engineer), analyzed various Western watch designs to see how they worked and to come up with novel solutions to create a watch that could withstand extreme pressure and shock. They made three basic innovations, with the crystal, the caseback, and the crown. Using a curved Lucite plastic crystal, they used the flexibility of the plastic to create a seal in which compression causes the crystal to expand in diameter and actually strengthen the seal, eliminating the need for special rubber seals. They developed a two-piece steal caseback that does not stretch out the O-ring when it's tightened, and that compresses under pressure providing a better seal. Finally, the crown screws on like a cap on a bottle, and is loose when unscrewed, by design, so that shock to the case won't bend or break the stem. The resulting production watch was tested in the North Sea during a simulated submarine rescue in the late '60s, with no problems.At this point, my respect for Vostok watches increased dramatically. For under $100, you get a unique watch with an interesting history and some great design features. Also, there's a big modding community of people who replace parts of the watch to create unique watches, and who post on YouTube (just search for "Vostok watch" and you'll find many how-to videos for all aspects of watch assembly and maintenance). It's got problems, too, as I've mentioned above. But I've increased my review from two to four stars. Cheers!

I really like Russian watches. I think you get a lot for your money.I love, though some hate, this watches 24 hour dial. It takes a little experience to learn how to read it at a glance .Accurate to 10 seconds per day,I've read criticism that Vostok keeps the cost of there products down by using nickel plated brass for the cases, which would easily tarnish and plastic for the crystals. My watches seem to have stainless steel cases, but they do have plastic crystals. I'm not fond of the plastic crystal, but they can be polished when scratched. If its beyond polishing a nice sapphire crystal could probably can be fitted easily enough.I have no direct experience with water resistance, but it does have a screw down crown. Once un-screwed the crown post really seems flimsy but the manufacturer advertises that as a trait used to determine authenticity. Go figure. To return the crown to a winding mode from time adjusting, it must be fully screwed home then un -screwed again. If you didn't know, the best way to tighten any screw, especially very fine threads is to rotate the nut, in this case the crown, anti-clockwise until you feel a slight click, before rotating it clockwise. This will prevent crossing the threads. The crown has a gritty feel during tightening.Like all Russian watches I have seen, there is no quick way to set the date. You either must move the hours hand back and forth between 2300 and 0100 or continue straight around the dial once for every day you need to advance the date. I just ignore that complication as I wear a different watch everyday.I have two versions of this watch. A traditional link bracelet and the mesh bracelet .The mesh bracelet is a true chainmail type of item, that's super comfortable but does NOT have any inherent way to be adjusted and will require the owner to CUT the steel in order to make it fit. I used a Dremel. I was afraid of F$#@^*G it up and it was quite the slow process to get it just right. Once cut the mesh bracelet will never be longer, but it's easy to add a strap if you put on weight.You likely won't see it on another wrist all day, at least in the USA.

I’ve had this for a couple of weeks now and I love it. But, love it for what it is - a quirky and imperfect, but very cool watch. I enjoy the 24 hour dial. You have to mentally interact with the watch which I find to be fun. The history of the brand is also cool. I have the black dial version which looks great on a red, black and grey “James Bond” style strap I bought.One tip - It arrived in bag that was taped up around the Vostok red box. I dug into the bag a bit and found what looks to be a customs form in Russian and signed by someone. Very cool.As I said, this is not a perfect watch. The bezel just spins so it is kind of useless, other than for looks. The 30 on the bezel is also slightly off center on the date window when the triangle is at the 24 hour position. The acrylic crystal is gonna scratch and poly watch will be in my future, but so far so good. It seems to be running at about minus 12 seconds per day, which is on the poor end from what I’ve read from others. I was a bit unlucky there. That said, I don’t wear this every day or keep it on a winder, so I’m setting and winding it when I wear it anyway.The bracelet was not bad for the price point, but there are no micro adjustments and it was either a bit too tight or a bit too lose on me. Again, unlucky. But, as I mentioned, I took it off the bracelet and put it on a NATO strap anyway. The lugs are 20 mm so there are tons of options for straps.At the of the day, it’s a cool watch with a cool story. It has a in-house movement and you’ll get it delivered to you for about $100 to $120 with shipping. What’s not to love? Stop reading and hit the “buy now” button already.

Para los que siempre nos ha encantado el Glycine Airman, pero que estimamos que éste se encuentra fuera del presupuesto, Vostok tiene buenas noticias desde Rusia: un auténtico 24h, robusto, y muy accesible.Aunque este modelo es parte de la línea Komandirskie, sus specs corresponden más bien a las de la línea Amphibia.La caja:Algunos la describen como octagonal, pero a mí me parece mas bien que es una caja convencional a la cual le han rebanado los costados, para darle un aire mas angular y "rudo"... después de todo se trata del reloj del comanche, no?El terminado cepillado es ok, pero en las caras verticales que colindan con el brazalete el terminado se ve mucho mas burdo, como si fuera el salido directamente del maquinado... y además las aristas de esta zona se sienten filosas. Yo lo que hice fue matarlas con mucho cuidado usando una lija muy fina, pues uso el reloj con una correa NATO y no quiero que la dañen ó desgasten.Para mí lo anterior de alguna manera es parte del encanto peculiar de este modelo. Me produce una sensación similar a mirar los pilotes de armamento de un Sukhoi o un MiG... angulares, agrícolas, utilitarios, llenos de protuberancias y remaches.Debo aclarar que las aristas de las superficies "aparentes" de la caja sí son perfectamente suaves.Las asas casi no se curvan hacia abajo, pero la distancia LtL es de 49mm, así que no es tan grave.La tapa es la screw-lock de dos piezas peculiar de Vostok y que encontramos en los Amphibia. Esto, aunado a que la corona es roscable, hacen creíble la WR de 20 ATM.El bisel es de tiempo de inmersión, la cara es de aluminio, o tal vez incluso de plástico, bidireccional y sin clicks.El cristal es de hesalite de doble domo, con mínima distorsión en el perímetro.El movimiento:Es un Vostok caliber 2431.01 automático c/31h de reserva. Auténtico movimiento de 24 horas de origen. Encordable a mano pero no hackea ni tiene ajuste rápido de fecha.La corona es del tipo flotante peculiar de Vostok. Operarla es definitivamente una habilidad que es necesario practicar.En cuanto la desenroscas, aunque parezca estar suelta, puedes dar cuerda, pero con los movimientos de giro, tiende a enroscarse de nuevo. La solución? Volteas el reloj de lado de manera que la corona quede "colgando", y encuerdas suavemente.No hay ajuste rápido y tienes que poner la fecha a la vuelta y vuelta como en el Pleistoceno? La solución: Avanzas la manecilla horaria hasta que rebase apenas las 24h, sientes el click que hace la fecha al cambiar exacto al pasar la medianoche, y luego la atrasas la manecilla horaria hasta que rebasas el indice de las 21h, hasta que sientes otro click, luego la adelantas a rebasar de nuevo las 24 y otro click, y asi sucesivamente hasta que llegas a tu fecha.La esfera:Funcionalidad y estilo asociados con el uso militar: por un lado tiene la ventaja de carecer de la ambigüedad de AM/PM, cosa que debía serles muy útil a los pobres weyes de servicio en un submarino; pero por otro lado tiene la desventaja de requerir el cambiar conscientemente el esquema mental acostumbrado para leer la hora de una sola ojeada. A fin de cuentas, es como la hora de tu bisel GMT, pero en la esfera principal: los dos cuadrantes de arriba son las horas de noche, los dos cuadrantes de abajo son las horas de día, con la medianoche y el mediodía justamente en medio.Ahora bien, en lo positivo, los números grandes de las horas pares facilitan la lectura.En lo negativo, los índices de las horas nones son DEMASIADO prominentes visualmente y se ENCIMAN en las marcas de minutos.Por lo menos a mí, esto me crea una confusión, porque al leer de una ojeada, de pronto no me queda claro de dónde a dónde se leen los minutos.Mi primera impresión fué que esto era evocativo del típico instrumento soviético de difícil lectura, como en sus aviones... pero luego caí en la cuenta que el diseño de la esfera en realidad está claramente inspirado en el Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute, que voló en la misión Mercury-Atlas 7.Hay que aclarar que en el Cosmonaute no existe esta confusión: los índices de las horas nones son más pequeños y están claramente separados de la banda de las marcas de minutos, y además se dan el lujo de tener una banda exterior de números de minutos. Pero bueno... es un cronógrafo... y suizo... y Breitling...Ahora bien, si uno pide en Meranom un bisel de 24 horas, y si es bicolor, en la posición original ayudaría para marcar las regiones de dia y de noche en la esfera, y rotándolo además se podría usar para indicar una segunda zona de tiempo.El brazalete:De estilo Oyster, aparentemente de eslabones solidos (?), cepillado con eslabones centrales pulidos (meh), sin endlinks, son broche deployant de mariposa (desde luego no maquinado, que creian).Yo la verdad lo cambié por una correa NATO. Reloj de aire soviético con una correa NATO... muy 2023.En resumen:En el fondo, todo es consistente con la marca: independientemente de su robustez mecánica, los Komandirskie tienen una fuerte vibra de nostalgia soviética, y en esto radica mucho de su encanto. Ahora bien, el hacer una copia de un diseño occidental, pero con una que otra jiribilla, es típico de la era soviética.P.D.Parece que hay un modelo Komandirskie, pero aparentemente de una línea más upscale (Mod. k65 656 2/12ft), igual 24h pero ahora sí, una copia bien hecha del Cosmonaute: sin índices encimados, y hasta banda de números de minutos... y que al no tener subesferas y ni siquiera ventana de fecha, ostenta una esfera limpiecita y francamente PRECIOSA. Si saben dónde comprar uno por favor avísenme.

Very nice. Takes a little getting used to the 24 hour dial. My only complaint is the glass seems to scuff easily, you'd think for a military grade watch it would be scuff proof.

Funcionamiento excelente, su carga de energía es duradera, 5 días aproximadamente por el precio es un reloj genial para uso diario.

Für mich war diese Uhr ein kleiner Zufallsfund. Ich hab nämlichnur nach einer 24-Stunden-Uhr gesucht und eine brauchbareAlltags- und Sportuhr gefunden.Diese Uhr funktioniert bei mir zweifelsohne wesentlichzuverlässiger und genauer als die verschiedenenMarkenuhren, die ich vorher besessen habe (Casio, Fossil ...).Für diese Preisklasse und dafür, dass es sich um eine 200 mwasserdichte Automatikuhr handelt, also ein Produkt mit jederMenge Feinmechanik im Inneren, ist diese Vostokuhr echt in Ordnung.Sie ist sogar wesentlich robuster und outdoorfähiger als die Uhrender Edifice-Serie von Casio. Ich belaste meine Uhren mitFahrradfahren, Klettern und Schwimmen. Und in allen drei Kategorienkann diese billige Vostokuhr mit den teureren Markenuhren mithaltenoder überliegt ihnen sogar. (Eine derartige Ganggenauigkeit trotzmassiver Erschütterung habe ich bis jetzt bei noch keiner Uhr gehabt!)Es ist ein russisches Produkt, dem es an akkurater Schönheit mangelt.Die scharfen Kanten und das schmierige Band muss man kurz ertragen.Aber kurzer Zeit runden sich die Kanten ab und das Schmierige habe icheinfach mit Spüli weggewaschen.Die Bedienung der Uhr ist gewöhnungsbedürftig.Doch trotz seltsamer Bedienung funktioniert diese Uhr wirklich gut.Die Krone fühlt sich zwar an, wie herausfallen, aber sie bleibt an der Uhrund lässt sowohl das Einstellen als auch das Aufziehen zu.Es gibt DREI DINGE, die man dabei BEACHTEN sollte:1. Wenn ich die Uhr AUFZIEHEN möchte, muss man die Krone aufschrauben und etwas weiter rückwärts schrauben, erst dann greift der Mechanismus zum Aufziehen. Wenn ich aufschraube und dann gleich nach vorn drehe, um aufzuziehen, geht das nicht. Da kann ich dann stundenlang drehen und die Uhr läuft nicht. Allerdings handelt es sich hier um eine Automatikuhr. Wenn man sie also einen Tag am Handgelenk trägt, zieht sie sich von selbst auf. Und das funktioniert problemlos. Leider hat diese Vostok nur eine Gangreserve von etwa 12 Stunden, schätze ich, so dass sie mir schon ein paar Mal aus Versehen stehenblieb.2. Wenn ich die UHRZEIT einstellen möchte, muss ich die Krone aufschrauben und leicht herausziehen. Dabei hat man das Gefühl, dass die Krone gleich abfällt. (Das wirkt nicht besonders wertig, funktioniert aber.) Am besten zieht man die Krone die ganze Zeit leicht nach außen, während man die Zeit einstellt.3. Wenn man das DATUM einstellen möchte, muss man die Zeit über Mitternacht hinaus einstellen und dann die Zeit wieder zurück auf circa 23.30 Uhr drehen und dann erneut über Mitternacht gehen, um den nächsten Tag zu erreichen und dann wieder zurück ...usw. Das Spiel wiederholt man so oft, bis der gewünschte Tag erreicht ist.Ein Tipp noch:Dreht die Krone ordentlich fest wieder zu, da sie sonst nicht wasserdicht ist!Was das Armbandes angeht, es lässt sich problemlos einstellen, ist doppeltgesichert und hält gut am Handgelenk auch bei starken Erschütterungen oder Stößen.Das vermeintlich minderwertige Materialie täuschen über seine tatsächlicheWertigkeit. DIESE UHR IST DEUTLICH ROBUSTER ALS SIE WIRKT! Das ist am Felsen der jodanischen Wüsten und im Roten Meer praxiserprobt.Abschließend möchte ich darauf hinweisen, dass es sich hier um ein 100 €Automatikuhr mit 200 m Wasserdichte handelt die hält, was sie verspricht:Sie ist dicht und sie läuft automatisch für 100 € (Ja, ich weiß: 106 €)Für den Preis gehe ich nicht von einer perfekten Uhr aus und lasse mich gernauf kleine Mängel in Bedienung und Haptik ein.

Watch was delivered in one day via Prime membership. Was shipped in a basic red plastic Vostok box. The plastic insert was too small for the full size watch band meaning the watch could move around in the box during shipping. Not a huge issue since the band, crystal, clasp and caseback all had protective plastic on them and there was an extra piece of bubblewrap inside the top of the case - just curious the case didn't snuggly fit the watch. English instructions as well as several other languages were included.First impressions: the watch band wasn't as disappointing as expected ( see other reviews ) but the fact the end links are minimal ( leaving space between the spring pin and watch ) is a bit noticeable. The clasp is has a foldover safety. The crown is a bit bigger than expected from the pictures, but the screw down action is smooth and once you get the hang engaging it ( it's a bit unique, the wobble ), the action is acceptable and understandable. As expected, there is no way to set the date alone, other than advancing the time ( the instructions mentioned a method of advancing and then rewinding the hour hand around midnight, but I was able to get this to work and didn't want to damage the mechanism ).I like the size and the look of the watch ( Russion brutalism ? ). The Zulu time is unique.Other points: The lume is almost non-existant. The bezel is bidirectional and does not click. The mechanism is non hacking, and gained 30 seconds in the first day after winding. All expected after reading other reviews before purchase.Honestly, I had low expectations for this watch but there were several technical things that are making me return it:- the hour hand does not point directly at an/the hour marker when the minute hand is at 24 o'clock- the hour hand arrowhead doesn't look symmetrical- it is very hard to determine when the watch is fully wound - and the manual warns you not to over wind itThese make me wonder about the long term reliability and quality control for this watchSo, maybe I had higher expectations after all... ;-)If you're looking for a unique watch and perhaps can look past a couple of possible design or QA issues, this may be for you. For me it is a pass.