How to buy Soviet Watches – Guide to buying used USSR watches

Luxury watches aren’t the only watches to be faked, and there is a growing number of USSR watches being copied. This makes buying a used one tricky as not only could you encounter a fake, you could also find modded ones which isn’t bad, but they could easily be mistaken for fake. There’s also tonnes and tonnes of different designs of the same watchmaking it even more difficult to spot a genuine one as you can’t be sure if it is a made-up design or one of their original ones.

1. How to spot a fake Russian watch

Spotting a fake Russian watch can be tricky as it’s quite difficult to tell if a watch is simply just a mod or if it’s a fake. But there are a few ways to help identify a real one.

A. Look out for case imperfections – Here, you want to look out for any thinning metal or metal that is starting to flake or dimples in the finish. These are signs that the case material is probably not steel and is likely some cheap metal. Also, look at the colour; if it’s yellow-tinged and not supposed to be that way, then that is another sign of poor quality metal.
B. No Screw-down crown – Most – but not all – Vostoks have a screw-down crown, so if you get one that’s supposed to have this feature and it doesn’t, you could have a fake.
C. Poor fitment of the bezel – Vostoks build quality can vary, but they should have a pretty solid feeling bezel. Fakes have a really poor fitting one and, in some cases, will even fall off completely.
D. Not working – A common thing with fake Vostok and other Russian watches is the fact they’ll arrive dead and not work at all. Most Russian watches take a bit of use to get them started, this is done by either movement or winding, but a fake will not do anything.
E. No lume – Most real Russian watches will have lume; though not the best in the business, they still should have it, whereas a phoney will simply fake this by painting the (in this case) dots on the dial.
F. Sloppy dial work – Russian watches that are really should have pretty cleanly done dial artwork and numerals, whereas a fake will be scrappy looking and often be smudged. (look at the example below)
G. Altered papers – Sometimes Russian watches will come with papers, and often these can be altered; this can be hard to spot, so make sure the watch you are buying is numbers matching to a genuine one. You can research this online and make sure that the model you have bought is an actual model that has been made.

2. Lookout for modded watches

Modded Vostoks have certainly grown in popularity over the past few years, and while there’s nothing wrong with a modded one, it can sometimes be hard to tell a modded one from an original as there are so many different takes on the same design and also especially if it’s been done right. So if you want to have a fully original Vostok or another Russian watch, be sure to ask the seller if it is all original.

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