Where to look in St Petersburg?

[drickster]

Hey guys,

My wonderful in laws are headed to St Petersburg on a cruise. They will have 2 days to shop and sightsee. Can you guys recommend a good place for them to shop watches for their favorite son in law? Also is there anything in particular they should see/look out for?

Thanks in advance for your help!!!!

Dan


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[drickster]

Here,s the email I sent her...was I close? I had to behind of general, but also wanted to try and give
them prices so they would not get totally ripped off. They are super nice and wouldn't hesitate after buying a story from someone. I'm also going to pay them back for whatever they find-if they let me but definitely for the more expensive ones.

Thanks so much for thinking of me when you go to Russia. I'm going to show you a couple of websites for price comparison and a couple of "if you can find". First here are 2 good websites with prices in USD and rubles. Www.meranom.com & www.russia4all.com. The famous brands in Russia are Bostok (their amphibian line is pretty popular), Raketa, Buran, Luch, and Sturmanski and finally Strella (may be spelled with a C ). Ideally I would like any watch with Cyrillic characters and about the size of John's watch. Most of these watches should be found for under $100 and all should be mechanical so they may appear stopped but work after giving them a light shake. There are also a number of "hero of the soviet union" type watches that are fun. They usually have tanks, planes, factories, workers hammer and sickles on the dial. Those generally go for below $50.

The Bostok/Vostok Amphiia has a distinctive red and black bezel and may have a scuba diver, anchor or other nautical representation on it. They should be no more than $40 and may be cool for me or the girls. They are also famous because Bill Murray wore one in the movie Living the life aquatic with Steve Zouzozu. Here's a common example.



Raketa and Luch also make a bunch of cool watches that should be well below $100.


There are three watches I will ask you to look for. First is the Ctrella Gregarin. It was made by many companies but will always say Ctrella on it. It should not cost more than $400.



The second is the komindirski K34. This guy should be under $200




And finally, the Sturmanski SS-20. Made from ICBM parts. (supposedly). This one is closer to $600-$700 This is very hard to find. There is also an SS-18 version. In either case the watch may look dark gray. That is the natural patina of untreated Titanium.





Please don't fret if you don't find anything. It is most important that you guys have fun.

[10 ATM]

St. Petersburg is the home of Raketa ...just saying

Real Shops - RAKETA SHOP

Raketa watches - RAKETA SHOP

A nice Yalta perhaps?

[camouflage]

Holy ####!!! Why these crappy quartz watches cost so much? And drickster - you picked up already very good classic watches, but most likely you won't find them from St. Petersbourg, because usually only small jewelry stores somewhere in suburbs sell Russian watches and watches are placed on lower shelfs or are behind "beloved" Q&Q watches.

[drickster]

Thanks guys for the info. That's what I was afraid of. I'll point them in that direction. They are doing a nice thing so I want to make sure they don't get ripped off.

I've been spending a lot of time lurking here for the last few months trying to decide on my first Russian watch. You guys have been awesome with sharing info. Thanks!


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[mrwomble]

Hey Drickster, just wanted to point out that the Vostoks now have a new bezel. I think you can still get the dots-and-dashes bezel, but the new numbered bezel is even cooler. Might be worth pointing that out so they no not to be surprised if they see a different bezel on it.

[drickster]

Hey Drickster, just wanted to point out that the Vostoks now have a new bezel. I think you can still get the dots-and-dashes bezel, but the new numbered bezel is even cooler. Might be worth pointing that out so they no not to be surprised if they see a different bezel on it.

Thanks Mrwomble !!!!


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[drickster]

Hey guys,

Here's a quick update. My inlays are in the middle of their cruise and just sent an email that they are having a very interesting time...something about Pizza in a Sushi restaurant and pointing being the most effective mode of communication. :)

They also did a little watch shopping and had three different experiences...store 1, salesman tells them the Russians don't wear Russian watches :). Store 2 they find one on my list but the guy wants $2000 US for it so they pass (yes I question how much they love me ;)). Store 3 they find me something. I have no idea what it is and knowing them it could be anything from a real beauty to a joke. So now I have to wait another week to find out but I promise to send pics whatever it is.




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[JRMTactical]

I fully expect you to get this jewel when they return!



Just joking, but I had the picture handy!

[drickster]

ooooh what's the WR on that one???

They are cool so they could bring me back a total goof or a kids watch or they could have scored something really nice. My only hope is that they did not get taken.

I fully expect you to get this jewel when they return!



Just joking, but I had the picture handy!