Sporting the old GMT Master II 16710 following BaselWorld. Head over to TRF if you want to see Rolex fanboys losing their minds. The mood is doom and gloom.
Thanks to a fellow Enicar enthusiast, after a year or more, I secured a NOS Enicar crown for my SeaPearl 600 via a BIN. From the venue with four letters that dwarfs all other auction sites.
Dear comrades and fellow (time) travelers, today I am keeping time with a Soviet-made Poljot 23 jewel "Classic" chronograph powered by Poljot's 3133 calibre. The Poljot 3133 is based off of the Valjoux 7734 calibre. Poljot purchased the equipment used to make the 7734 calibre when Valjoux/ETA discontinued production of the movement in the 1970s. Poljot made a number of modifications to the movement, including: increasing the number of jewels from seventeen to twenty-three (all chronograph gears run in jewels); inclusion of an in-house designed anti-shock system; and reducing the diameter of the balance. As a result, the Poljot 3133 beats at 3Hz (21,600vph), compared to the Valjoux 7734's 2.5Hz (18,000vph). The Soviet-made Poljot claimed a power reserve of 42 hours, which was not propaganda. The Poljot 23 "Classic" measures 38mm in diameter w/o crown and 44mm lug to lug. Its domed crystal makes it very difficult to photograph, as it reflects light like crazy. Poljot manufactured these chronographs at the First State Watch Factory, in Moscow. As an historic side note, the First State Watch Factory was established by the Soviet government in 1931 after it purchased the Dueber-Hampden Watch Co., of Canton, Ohio, the previous year. Dueber-Hampden's equipment, parts-on-hand, and work-in-progress was packed into twenty-eight boxcars, and shipped to Moscow. Twenty Dueber-Hampden employees signed one year contracts and moved to Moscow to train the Soviets in watchmaking...and, thus, the modern Soviet watch industry was created...or so I am told. In any event, this is a rugged chronograph that keeps very accurate time.
If I had known we were keeping score, I might have added a fourth Speedmaster reduced. My model 175.0033, 18-karat rose gold bezel and stainless steel version with rose gold sub dials, on black.