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My Watch (Мои часы) - a Russian watch magazine – organized on its web forum a conference with Mr. Vitalyi Podjachev, the current director of ChCHZ, including ‘Torgovoy Dom’ and ‘Vostok International’. The whole discussion took place in end July and is available here (Êîíôåðåíöèÿ "×èñòîïîëüñêèé ÷àñîâîé çàâîä" - Ôîðóì æóðíàëà "ÌÎÈ ×ÀÑÛ"), many many pages with answers and questions - answered and not answered ones. The selection that follows is quite limited and my translation far from accurate, because I don’t have much time currently. Hope that other forum members will help. But some of Mr. Podjachev’s answers provide first-hand information on issues I discussed in some earlier postings of mine, when I used less reliable sources (mass media) and maybe unintentionally mislead the forum, so I felt obliged to offer this translation .
Answers in italics.
Q: Do you have plans to produce movements 2612 and watches based on them.
A: Not in near future.
Q: The papers of (some Vostok Amphibian) movements indicate a guaranteed daily accuracy of – 20 / + 60 seconds (at + 20/ - 5 degree C). Is it possible to regulate the watches at factory in order to improve their accuracy, and if possible – why this is not done by the factory.
A: It is possible. We do this, but during the daily use the accuracy deteriorates and it is necessary regulate them now and then.
Q: Then why do you indicate these characteristics in the papers, if the watch comes from the factory already regulated for better accuracy? How often should you regulate the watch if you use it daily?
A: The accuracy is indicated according to GOST standard. How often should you regulate your watch depends on its use – if you work in office or on construction site.
Q: What about the condition of tooling? When was it installed, is it used and worn a lot, how long shall it be still usable? Do you renovate it? The mass media informed that ChChZ bought many new tools for new Komandirskie ordered by Ministry of Defense – an order which seemingly was withdrawn – and that all the financial troubles started because of the credits taken under this order. What happened with this new tools?
A: The tooling is in excellent condition. It was produced in 1950s-1990s. Perfect repair utilities. Renovate as much as we can. Didn’t buy any tools for Ministry of Defense projects.
Q: What movements can produce the factory now?
A: We make 24xx movements: 2403,2409,2414,2415,2416,2423,2424,2426,2431,2432, 2433,2435
Q: Is it possible to resurrect the famous thin movement 2209?
A: This is feasible.
Q: Do you plan to use sapphire glass in the new models?
A: We plan to use sapphire glass in the new and expensive models, as well as dials with totally innovative design.
Q: Do you have any strategy for development? How do you see the factory in 2-3 years? Where do you plan to move? If you read this forum, there is a heavy debate about watches for 1200 roubles and their potential quality. So what about price/quality ratio?
A: The strategy and direction are well known since long ago. The main question – financing, modernization, innovative production. The last two years we work only with our own money. No bank wants to invest in production, because the average capital turnover in watch industry is 4-7 months. We keep working on quality issues. And believe me, our rule is that any watch, produced by us, should be of excellent quality.
Q: What about the Zakaz from the Ministry of Defense – are there discussions undergoing, does the Ministry intend to order watches for the military?
A: Everything depends on the financing from Ministry of Defense. If there are money – we will produce. We are open to mutually profitable partnership.
Q: Is the situation with bankruptcy related to retirement of Mr. Shaimiev from the Presidency of the Republic of Tatarstan.
A: No, it is not related.
Q: Is there a factory museum? Is it possible to upload the archives of ChChZ (movements, photos of watches, etc.) on Vostok web site?
A: A factory museum does not exist. But the archives are carefully preserved. We can consider the option of uploading part of this information on the web site.
Q: What is the volume of the current factory production? Is it increasing?
A: The volume is more than 20 000 wrist watches per month, plus various movements. We are glad that the production volume is slowly, but steadily increasing.
Q: Were there merger offers from foreign producers, as it was with Belorussian Luch?
A: There were such offers. But we are not planning such action in near future.
Q: The site Website closed - is constantly down. Why?
A: We are finalizing our new site.
Q: Who are the official dealers of ChChZ watches, where can we find their list?
A: The information of our dealers was published on our old site. Very soon it will be published on the new one.
Q: What is the ratio between watches with ChChZ produced cases and watches with cases produced by other manufacturers. Which models don’t use in-house cases? Why?
A: Approximately 95% of the cases are in-house. The rest are used for our latest models, because either we need specific technological precision, or we need different coating. To minimize our production costs, on the first stages of production we make small purchases. I repeat that we can’t get bank credits now. Everything is done with our turnover capital.
Q: The coating of some cheap models wears quite quickly. Does the factory plan to switch exclusively to stainless steel and PVD, including on cheap watches.
A: This is our intention.
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:thanks
it has a delightful design, better than amphibia (imho ;))
Originally Posted by Marte
