Why do Watchmakers Hate Russian Watches?

[fleetman]

Why do a lot of watchmakers hate working on Russian watches. I had to contact a few before I found one that wanted to work on my Vostok watches. Coincidentally he is Russian.

[amphibic]

I don't know the exact answer but I have the same problem in my country. Watchmakers prefers even replica watches instead of my russian baby.

[Sekondtime]

Probably because in the West we were always told that anything from the communist bloc was bad and poor quality. That way of thinking still persists. This is ironic considering the profusion of poor quality, cheaply produced Swiss made watches from the '60s through to the '80s. Give me a Russian watch any day!

[phd]

Yes, I think it's just prejudice. Russian watches (at least the few makes I'm acquainted with) are well-made and robust, and very easy to work on.

Why not ask this question over on the watchmaking forum here?

Cheers,
Paul

[cuthbert]

Traditional answers I received here:

1) Russian watches are badly made, if it has problems throw it away.
2) Russian watches are imprecise by nature so it's useless to use the chronocomparator.
3) Russian watches are CHEAP!
4) Russian watches are copies or swiss movements (they'll never believe they bought the 7734 and re-engineered it, they believe it's badly copies so no part of the 7734 will fit)

[Chascomm]

Why do a lot of watchmakers hate working on Russian watches. I had to contact a few before I found one that wanted to work on my Vostok watches. Coincidentally he is Russian.

It's not hate. It's ignorance. There are some who I have spoken to, who I am sure have never actually looked inside a Russian watch.

And then there is the natural risk-avoidance of the small business. Even those who have actually serviced a few Russian watches and will concede that they are 'better than you'd expect' might still refuse to work on them because they have no idea where to find parts and don't think that it is worth their while to find out.

[admiralStojakovic]

When i went looking for a watchmaker,i checked all their sites and went all around town looking for the oldest and most poor-loking shop. And guess what- i was right -he took my two vostoks with no question asked...serviced them,gave me a year guarantee,and showed me a brand new komandirskie he tore down for a part to fix a date wheel on one of mine. Off course,the service costed 2x as much as each watch,but off course i expected that.
I guess the point is that a real watchmaker,who loves and lives from his work,should take anything you bring to him,let alone a russian.And i wouldn´t have any other kind touching my watches,id rather do it myself..!
And these people who refuse russian watches...i guess they just have too much money,selling their swarowski crap and overpriced swiss jewelry/watches to their elite customers who wave their money around!
That is my experience.

[azoria]

My watchmaker (and good friend) accepts anything, from Rolex to cheapest quartz, because like he says "that`s what I´m meant to do, to fix watches, regardless of origin, and besides I want my clients to be happy". He can fix hand wound or automatic, electromechanical, tuning fork, quartz or even lcd, he only won`t fix if all possibilities are gone. He is a truly master in is job, He learned at very young age in Lisbon in a watchmaking school, and more recently He even attended school for repair lessons on quartz watches!!!

He has been servicing all my Russian watches and all sort of brands, and he does really good prices for me.


PS: Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that he repairs church clocks also!!!!

Pedro :)

[pad119]

My theory is that its a combination of lack of first hand experience with one and no stock of replacement parts or knowledge of where to source parts. In another (non-Russian) forum, one of the members is an expert at restoring/repairing the brand. Members pass his contact info along because he does such great work on our pieces. Would be great to find such a person(s) for Russsian watches and share their contact info here.

[Ed.YANG]

It has been a decade since yr2000, and such situation didn't change.
This is my personal opinion, feel free to bash on my views.

From the 1980s till late 1990s, the market is still populated with mostly electronic quartz watches. Only a few makers who are still making mechanical watches survives through that era, backed with their heritage and long age of reputation in qualities. But mechanical watches @ that time, are still much expensive compares to electronic quartz watches.

In the mid 2000s, this is when mechanicals gets more cheaper and easier to own. Hence, the market, i guess is roughly 50% populated by japanese mechanicals, 35% swiss and others including russians taking mechanical market shares.

During the 80s to 90s, the Russians government are still concentrating with industry growth on weapon making and military power buildup. They pay much less attention on making goods for export(except maybe Vodkas...) hence less popularity of Russian mechanicals. So... impressions of mchanical watches from the western world, including russia, could be expensive to own.

Should the Russians had exported their watches earlier, there would be a handful of watchmakers with handling experience on Russian watches be available now...

Due to the lack of long term export of Russian watches to the world, due to poor exposure watchmakers have on handling Russian watches, due to poor ownership population of Russian watches... It becomes a great challenge now for most watchmakers to service on Russian timepieces.
The most common remarks that you/me would heard from them are, cheap, complex, and uncommon, hence lack of channel on sourcing parts. This makes Russian watches more hard for consumers to believe on.