Chaika Blue Quartz mechanical Rezonator 3050 Russian Watch, first commercial soviet quartz watch
More info at Chaika 3050 "Kvarzevi rezonator" (which roughly means "Quartz Oscillator" in Russian), usually abbreviated as the Chaika 3050-KR. The lack of information about this watch and this movement hasn't allowed me to write a detailed history of the watch, but at least we have more or less a good view about the genesis of the movement and what were its characteristics, that represented a new era for the Soviet watch industry, but also the beginning of its gradual decline What makes the Chaika 3050-KR so special is that it was the first quartz watch ever made in the Soviet Union 3050-KR, even though it was regularly available in the catalogs, had an almost limited distribution, especially the first generation. The only ones lucky enough to own it were those who were part of the Nomenklatura, and therefore had the right to buy it at half its original price. The watch was distributed mainly in the domestic market under the Chaika brand and was exported (mainly in the countries of the communist bloc) also with the Raketa one, at slightly lower prices, but still prohibitive for the ordinary citizen, and with a different case and dial. The same movement was also used by Slava and Poljot itself. The stepping motor was also produced in Moscow, but not in the Poljot factory, but in the Slava one, which made the production process rather complicated: Poljot made the whole movement except for the stepping motor. Then, the movement was sent to the 2MWF to mount the stepping motor. Then, the movement, devoid of its electronic part, was sent to the Chaika factory in Uglich, waiting for the assembly of the electronic part. The printed circuit board, including the oscillator, was manufactured in the Integral plant in Minsk, Belarus, (in case of a saturation of the plant, the circuit was also produced in the Transistor factory), the same plant where the Elektronika B6-02 and the Elektron
Size: 3948px × 3648px
Location: Moscow, Russia
Photo credit: © Tony Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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