Vostok watches
Vostok Watches (Russian: BOCTOK; literally meaning “East”) is a Russian watchmaker based in Chistopol, Russia. The company produces mainly military and diver mechanical wrist watches. It also makes clocks and watch movements for other Russian watch brands.
Are Vostok watches made in Russia? The Vostok company was founded in 1942 when First Moscow Watch Factory was evacuated to Chistopol, a town located on the Kama River in Tatarstan. Only defense military equipment was produced during the war years, but as soon as the war was over the company started making mechanical wrist watches for Soviet citizens. However, the Company did not begin using the Vostok brand name until the 1960s. Vostok brand was named after the Vostok space program, which gave the initial advancement of the USSR in the Space race (as some others Soviet watch brands, named to space topics in 1960s – Poljot and Raketa).
Vostok Komandirskie
The company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defense Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year also marks the creation of the well known Vostok Komandirskie watch (Commander watch).
Watches sold to the military were marked “3AKA3 MO CCCP,” meaning “By Order of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR”. These models were sold exclusively through Voentorg stores, which catered to military personnel with identification only.
Vostok Amphibia
The experience gained through development of the army watch led to the Amphibia, a stainless-steel dive watch able to withstand a 200 meter depth (20 atm). By 1980, Vostok Watch Compamy was producing 4.5 million timepieces per year.
Vostok automatic watches
At turn of the 21st century, Vostok launched a line of 1940s – Soviet vintage style replicas called the Kirovskie K-43 collection. Vostok also began producing a Luxury line of self wind mechanical watches called Kremlevskie.
In 2004, Vostok began supplying automatic movements to the Koliz Company of Lithuania, makers of the Vostok Europe brand of timepieces.
