Greetings colleagues, for reasons that are relevant, I have not written for almost two years and I have been collecting very little, projects and hopes were put on hold with the events that happened at the end of February 2021.
After a while, I will try to give them an outlet, to complete the cycle that I had begun, even my own website.
Let’s start:
I would like to show you , five watches manufactured by the Raketa brand. They are corporative watches, ordered for companies for the purposes they considered appropriated , whether for workers themselves or simply for advertising purposes.
None of them bear the Raketa brand, nor does the nationality of manufacture, meaning USSR or Russia, therefore the time of manufacture is not clear, whether it was before the fall of the Soviet Union or after, in any case, the time range takes place between the late 80s and the 90s, coinciding with Perestroika and the subsequent dissolution of the USSR.
The calibers, to date the production birth, are also not a definitive clue, although they have the SU (Soviet Union) stamped either on the bridge or the main wheel, it could be that they came from an old factory stock that was used for its assembly.
Two of them have the “Saturn” brand written , we deduce that Raketa used this brand for corporate orders, and normally associated with the same 511XXX case, the same one used by the famous Raketa 0.
The caliber used for all of them is the 2609-HA, hand winding , with 19 jewels, also the same one used by the famous Raketa 0.
family group photo
General photo of the 2809-HA calibers
These watches caught my attention for their rare and exotic graphics. First I acquired one, and then the others, to complete the series shown here. I didn’t know what they represented either, I asked sometimes the seller , and other times, if I didn’t get any answer, I found out by myself, making the process exciting. If you are patient , we will see them below.
Generally speaking , collectors do not collect them, but I consider that the watches in a collection are able to speak, these ones would speak about the final era of the Soviet Union.
Vorkuta Raketa, 511XXX case, 2609-HA movement with 19 jewels. It represents a coal factory.
photo of the movement.
Vorkuta, translation of “land of bears”, is a city located in the Arctic Polar Circle, in an area of continuos permafrost, where the subsoil is permanently frozen, its origin dates back to the 1930s when coal deposits were discovered and then, during the Stalin era, the Goulags were installed there.
The Goulags, “Vorkutlag” in particular, are work camps, where people in extremely harsh conditions were subjected to forced labor in the mines, also building the railway network. The Goulags remained until Stalin’s death, descendants of the deported Goulags are the current inhabitants of Vortuka, settled in an inhospitable place.
photo of a goulag.
Maybe some of you, the younger ones , will be familiar with Vorkuta, because of the video game Call of Duty.
Some coal mines continue operating nowadays , although the city has been losing population, leaving blocks and blocks of abandoned buildings , depending on which neighborhoods.
Along with the descendants of the Goulags, who surprisingly want to continue living there, some workers from Lugansk, where there are also coal mines, has arrived lately, fleeing the war , and being attracted by a series of economic incentives and facilities promised by the government.
Searching for documentation for this article, I found this video describing what life is like in the current Vorkuta (I highly recommend playing it)
sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorku…o-bGewp3fqKO-SA_Ozr5iJXPXpyNM28TJWJ6jGkDPFFIE
https://es.rbth.com/viajes/92712-vorkuta-como-se-vive-hoy
Watch manufactured by Raketa, with case 511XXX, branded SATURN , for the Swedish corporation SANDVIK, it should be after 1991 since the Russian flag is observed. The movement is the 2609-HA with 19 jewels.
Sandvik is a Swedish multinational, founded in 1892, specialized in machinery for mining and engineering work, with almost 37,000 employees distributed in 130 countries around the world.
Here below examples of some mining machinery manufactured by SANDVIK.
Fuentes:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandvik
https://www.home.sandvik/es-la
Raketa watch with 19-jewel 2609-HA movement, mounted in 841XXX case, it commemorates 40 years of the establishment of the refining plant in Novosibirsk, named Afinaz, in Russian language (АО «НАЗ»)
The watch will be from the Soviet era of the early 80s..
Russia was always a large producer of gold, in 1941 due to World War II the Plant was moved to the center of the USSR, specifically to Novosibirsk, a city located in Siberia in central Russia.
Here are some images of minerals refining of to obtain gold:
Gold ingot , once casted and marked.
General views of Novosibirsk Afinaz offices, above.
sources:
This watch with this peculiar drawings corresponds to the Leningrad nuclear power plant, located 70 km west of Saint Petersburg, in the Gulf of Finland.
I was looking for this watch, It is said it was a gift for the workers, so the units that have survived were scarces, I got only the dial, the rest knowing that the case was the 511XXX and the movement was the 2609-HA, it was just a small job of surgery.
The construction of the plant began back in 1967, it has four generators, starting to operate in the years 73,75,79 and 89 respectively.
sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin…OGn-pmcWwA5hYanxPSlcg7VguhGhLw5Yo3hbCP61SyO_c
https://adresaspb.com/category/structures/za-zaborom/leningradskaya-aes
Raketa Saturn, for the Liviz distillery in Saint Petersburg, case 511XXX, movement 2609 -HA with 19 jewels.
The royal liquor factory was installed in 1891 on the Kalashnikovskaya embankment, occupying an area of 3.6 hectares. The distillery project was entrusted to the architect AV Ivanov, the distillery was the liquor supplier to the Royal Court
During the Russian Revolution of 1917 until the establishment of the USSR, the supply of liquor was suspended, resuming activity in 1922.
During the siege of Leningrad, production for sale was paralyzed, producing Vodka only for the front, as well as medicinal capsules and some explosive components.
Starting in 1949, the Liviz distillery (Leningrad SNKh) resumed its activity, exporting liquor to Eastern countries and the United States.
In the collapse of 1991, the company became a public limited company until 2007, when it was moved out of its location due to the prohibition of industries existing close to cities.
The 3.6 hectares of the Kalashnikovskaya esplanade are a real estate pie, nowadays, with trends existing to preserve some of the old buildings.
sources:
Ваше здоровье!
Cheers !