Older Vostoks

[Mattaphysics]

Got these older Vostoks yesterday. All not running but had easy problems to fix, luckily for 4 out of 9. One Amphidia and the rest Komandirskies. I love them, they're pretty reliable thus far.

 

I've been having a problem keeping the seconds hand in on a couple. Any tips? Is there a special way to make them stay?

 

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[oldhippy]

How about some photos of your new purchases. I'm sure members would love to see them.

[Mattaphysics]

Crap! Sorry guys i thought i loaded them but i guess they didn't load sorry here they are.

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[Mattaphysics]

Here's more too... What a dink i am.

 

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[oldhippy]

They should keep you busy for a while.

[Mattaphysics]

They should keep you busy for a while.

Oh they are indeed. I'm still on the hunt for an anniversary clock too but I'm doing more reading before i start to tackle that.

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[Watchtime]

love those old Generalskie...

[KayMan]

I'm guessing your movements are the same as my Amphibia, in which the seconds pinion is held in place by a weak cantilever spring.  Pressing the seconds hand in place simply pushes the shaft down against the spring so that the seconds hand doesn't engage properly on the shaft.  You need to brace the seconds pinion from the back to prevent it moving when you attach the seconds hand.  I just use my finger to brace the pinion but I daresay there are other more proper ways to do it.

[fjseal]

Kayman is exactly right. Here is a photo of what we mean. The brass spring has, as you can see, a round-shaped end which has to be supported. I put a piece of rod in my mini bench vice and supported it on that.

[Mattaphysics]

I'm guessing your movements are the same as my Amphibia, in which the seconds pinion is held in place by a weak cantilever spring.  Pressing the seconds hand in place simply pushes the shaft down against the spring so that the seconds hand doesn't engage properly on the shaft.  You need to brace the seconds pinion from the back to prevent it moving when you attach the seconds hand.  I just use my finger to brace the pinion but I daresay there are other more proper ways to do it.

Yeah i thought that would hold it but i guess not. Many thanks for the tip. Also i seem to have problems with the balance wheel stopping. The pivots look fine, is it just a jewel possibly broken?

I'm surprised at their robust and fairly accurate movement. Quite a bang for your buck workhorse. 3 are keeping excellent time and I'm having trouble regulating a few gaining 5mins/day at least. It's annoying there's no quick set date but i don't care. My morning isn't complete without winding these babies up. It's a successful thing when i wake up and they're (most of them anyway) are right around the exact time... It's a wonderful thing to fix these with your own two hands and see how reliable your work is.

Any guess on the date of manufacture on these? Obviously the Amphidia is pre-89 I'm guessing 70's/80's and the Komandirskies early 90's? I'm quite sure they're all 2414 movements too correct?

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[KayMan]

Sorry, my Amphibia is quite new and I have no useful knowledge of the older ones.

[Endeavor]

@Mattaphysics: It's not until now that I see your post. Did you get them all working?

It's a bit hard to see on the pictures whether they are pre-1990's or after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Of all the watches it seems that the Amphibian has a bit more sought after dial and bezel, but this depends also on the condition and what's written on the bottom of the dials. CCCP is of course before the collapse, but then you also had the military issued watches (3AKA3). To make matters more complicated, mix in watch-soup the fake CCCP dials .......

If they are all hand-wound, the movements are 2409 (without date) or 2414(with date complication), not sure if the Amphibian could have the even older 2209 movement?

Anyway, they are all quite simple to repair....... that was also the general idea behind these watches. You have enough training material and eBay is full of spare-parts Some parts between the 2409 and 2414 are interchangeable, but some are (sometimes) not .... I think VWatchie wrote something about that .....

Edited September 3, 2018 by Endeavor

[dreja]

 

On 6/21/2018 at 4:18 AM, Mattaphysics said:

 It's annoying there's no quick set date but i don't care.
 

For the date change you first advance the time over midnight. To acheive the quickset you should alternate the hour hand forwards (between 1 and 3) and backwards (between 11 and 9 o clock)...