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Gold Chaikas (cute girls alert)

3K views 14 replies 7 participants last post by  Silversen 
#1 ·
Some time ago I mentioned that I had some small Chaikas done up for my nieces; here they are, when goofing around with Photobooth software :)

 
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#2 ·
Yay! :)

Gold Chaikas totally rule!

Gold Zarias rule too.:-!

I can see that both of your cute and obviously charming nieces wear their watches on their right wrists.
But why has one of them got her watch on upside-down?
Oh, duh! To make WINDING easier! I tried that once.

Yay! Two more SEAGULL girls ;-)

Have Fun,
Keri

PS.
Чайка (Chaika)= Seagull, radio call sign of first female Cosmonaut.

PPS.
ЗАРЯ (Zaria/Zarja)= Dawn. Russian watches have the coolest names!
 
#3 ·
Keri,

Photobooth flipped the picture so they wear them on the right wrist; I guess I was too lazy to flip the picture!

The older one (10) has one with a standard case but a dark ring on the dial and Roman numerals. Originally the whole balance assembly was ruined but one from a parts watch was transplanted into it, so it is working well now, and she wears it all the time.

The younger one (8 next week) has the same but a dial with bar-shaped hour markers and a crystal with faceted edge. I told her to put on her watch to show my friends at WUS, so she put it on hurriedly, so it's gone upside-down!

These small women's watches might not be fashionable nowadays, but they sure are nice on young girls :)

P.S. My mother's standard watch is a Zaria now, chrome case, steel dial, and I put it on a burgundy strap; she is not half as photogenic as the young ones, of course!
 
#4 ·
Chaika's are most certainly great.

One point of contention, I was under the impression the Zaria/zarja was Russian for star or Zirka in Ukrainian.
Chaika is definitely seagull.
Then again, I used to think that "swoloch" was such a lovely sounding word and that it was a small bird. I now know better:)

Sorry for the tangent, hope your neices enjoy their watches. Beautiful timepieces for two beautiful ladies.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Uh uh uh, tut tut tut...:-d

No such thing as a ruined balance..;-)
Nasty, twisted hairspring? Straighten, true, center and fix it! Or replace as needed.
Mangled pivots? Time for a balance staff!
Busted collet? Bent wheel? Roller gone? Well, you get the idea.

Am currently re-pinning a hairspring to the stud on a crummy little Swiss movement. The EASY end of the hairspring. Gosh, that's tiny!

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. "Crummy" as in full of metal chips and flakes in a never-serviced replacement movement that "couldn't be fixed" years ago. Ive never seen a Russian watch with this kind of crummy quality.
 
#9 ·
PS. "Crummy" as in full of metal chips and flakes in a never-serviced replacement movement that "couldn't be fixed" years ago. Ive never seen a Russian watch with this kind of crummy quality.
Any Russian who had churned out some of the garbage that the low-end Swiss makers did in the 1960s and 70s would have been sent for a long vacation in Siberia. There was a discussion on the Affordables forum this morning about "Lucerne" watches--lousy Swiss pin-lever watches that were sold in the 1970s and 1980s with nothing to offer except the "Swiss Made" label.
 
#6 ·
Keri,

The hairspring coil was completely mangled, and it was more sensible to transplant than to fix, as there's a parts watch here anyway. Speaking of the parts watch its case will be deployed to fix another Chaika I got for a friend's 10-year-old daughter, which has a broken lug. Not bad for a parts watch which cost me only a few dollars :)
 
#7 ·
Hi Seele:
Never mind about microscopic watch parts.... Why not try some of these bands?
Military fiber red watch band 11 mm plated buckle - eBay (item 230544031231 end time Feb-25-11 13:19:38 PST)

Analog watch Watch Watch accessory Fashion accessory Strap


They're cheap, come in different colors and allow you to change the whole look of a watch in a few seconds without messing with springbars. And... you can even wear them without a watch!

Have Fun,
Keri

PS. Hi Mako.
Us silly Americans may never know for sure if dawn is "rossvyet" or "zaria". :-s
But isn't "star"= "ZVEZDA", which is another really great Russian watch name?

"Сволочь"??? :think: Just what have you been up to? How did you pick up such language?
Of course "swoloch" is a small lovely bird.;-) :-d
 
#8 ·
Keri,

I was looking at these bands too, the younger one has a black velvety nylon one and the older one has a leather which I had re-stitched. In fact I am preparing two more watches for them, one has a chocolate brown Eulit Kristall (for now) and the other, leather. I'll see how that goes.

By the way, I have always liked that "spoked wheel" Zaria, and have seen a number of them on eBay over the year, with a big range of conditions and price which never seem to bear any relationship. I thought you would have used a regular strap so that you can flip it over to amaze your friends.
 
#10 ·
pyjujiop,

Similar situations can be found in many other spheres too. The "first growth" French wineries certainly did a great job in establishing French wine as among the finest - if not the finest - but they account for only an infinitesimally tiny quantity of the wine produced in that country, and a fair proportion of it is of very ordinary quality, for want of a better word! I know of a few people who would reject a bottle of superlative Australian wine in favour of a bottle of dry cleaning fluid just because it says "Produce of France" on the label!
 
#11 ·
I know of a few people who would reject a bottle of superlative Australian wine in favour of a bottle of dry cleaning fluid just because it says "Produce of France" on the label!
And there are a number of stellar Aussie wines, too, and generally, very affordable.

I notice a general distaste for Russian watches, too. Though I did get a favorable comment about my Amphibia Sub Commander from a woman in Cozumel, in a legit watch store while she was trying to sell me a Breitling at roughly double the MSRP.... Of course, she curled her lip a little as she said it.

Your neices are adorable, and they're lucky to have such a great uncle! I wish I had an uncle, or any relative for that matter, that gave me Russian watches!!
 
#12 ·
Thanks pwalsh21; I think I am fortunate to be in Sydney, being able to enjoy nice wines, even though I am a very occasional taster.

The girls are of course delighted with the Chaikas, and they are looking after them quite well; never underestimate the young ones thinking they can only wear plastic quartz with "Hello Kitty" on them! It is likely that they will head back to the US in April, so I am making the most of their time here. On top of the Chaikas, the older one also got a Glashütte from me, and the younger one a Girard Perregaux; wait til they are a little older :)
 
#14 ·
I plan on giving my 3 sons, all of which have shown an interest in my various watches, an Amphibia each on their 12th birthdays. Then, when they're at least 18 (or maybe older), they'll get to choose one from my collection to keep. Not that any of them have more than sentimental value, though...
 
#15 ·
Sam, your nieces are really cute! And their Chaykas look very respectable which make your girls look young ladies.

Hey, Mako, this "swoloch" (as KeriJane correctly wrote "сволочь" in Russian) is a big two-legged "bird" without any wings. The sex of this "bird" is male and this "bird" is very mean by nature.
 
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