18 October 2007

Pocket Watch

Last month, I treated myself to a birthday present. An odd little curio I'd been wanting for a few years... a pocket watch from the Молния factory in Челябинская область, in the south Urals near the Kazakhstan border. ("Molnija" means "lightning" in Russian.) This is the firm that used to make dials and gauges for Russian tanks, MiGs, and spacecraft during the Cold War. Now they cheerfully produce timepieces for victorious capitalists!

This isn't an antique, and I got it for a song online. But I enjoy carrying it around. It's got a nice heft to it, a strong tick-tock rhythm (all mechanical winding, no battery here), and it's fun to pull out and check the time. I find myself dramatically checking it and saying things like "The 5:15 to Birmingham should be departing shortly."

4 comments:

Allen said...

Ben,
Having done the Russia, Warsaw Pack and Central Asia, I have seen these watches for sale everywhere. St. Petersburg flea markets have Mig cockpit instruments for sale at rock bottom prices.

Unknown said...

nice posting! the photos are cool. I havn't seen this pocket watch before. I tried to researched for more pocket watches and i found something interesting. A pocket watches directory, try this one www.2-clicks-pocketwatches.com

Anonymous said...

Ben, thanks you have posted those photos it reminds me of my Pocket Watches and it seems more interesting!

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