For chic living room stylings straight out of the iron belly of the CCCP’s submariner nuclear arsenal, consider a Vostok 8-Day Springwound Clock, ripped right from the countdown panel of a Soviet nuclear sub. There’s quite a few available on eBay.
Soviet Nuclear Subs Deploy 8 Day Springwound Clock [Retrothing]
Am I alone if marveling at they idea that you’d power a submarine with a nuclear reactor but still have a clockwork clock…
what if you forget to wind it up?
Soviet technology and the attitudes that drove it and them are nothing less than fascinating.
(One of) The reason(s) they put a windup clock on a Nuclear sub is the same reason they put vacuum tubes in the early nuclear-era fighter jets.
Both were simpler, easier to make robust, and most importantly both could be easily used and maintained in a post-nuclear world with vastly reduced technology and manufacturing capability.
-there’s so much more too.
You might want to pass a scintillometer over those clocks to see how hot they are.
Vostok also makes some decent very affordable wrist watches. A Vostok Amphibian can be had for under $50, and is self-winding, has a 31 jewel movement, and is 200 meter water-resistant. Retro-cool looks too. About the only downsides are they don’t do quick date adjustment, and their lume is pretty useless.
Check out the Russian Watch Guide web site:
http://www.russianwatchguide.com/
(obligatory quote)
in soviet russia, springwound nuclear submarine clocks winds you !
My father bought one of these about ten years ago, again, ripped right from a Russian sub. Always liked the look of it and boy does it stay on time. Provided you keep winding it of course.
“My father bought one…”
Did you check it for a nuclear signature?
@ #2: “Simple and robust” is right. I have some experience working on vintage military aircraft, and boy are the different design philosophies evident. American aircraft were always more technologically sophisticated and usually had better performance in most respects, but they rely on extensive and highly trained ground crews. Soviet aircraft were designed to be able to be maintained by a recently drafted farmer with literally not much more than a big wrench, and they’re rugged as hell.
someone should run a Geiger counter over that, just to be on the safe side.
Ya hachoo.
i bought a clock from (i want to say) TARGET about 10 years ago that’s nearly IDENTICAL to this. the face and shape, anyhow… the clock reads “Kauchgupckue” just like the Russian ones. it doesn’t have a wind-up action and it doesn’t open (without a screwdriver) and the back reads “Made is Taiwan” and it wasn’t $400 (i think it was around $15 – $20) – HA! – it hangs in my bathroom above the toilet!
here’s a JPG — http://www.flickr.com/photos/fieldofgravity/3266529177/
So apparently we need to define “identical.”
i did say NEARLY identical in shape and the clock face. i never said it was totally identical. so, apparently we need to define “shut-up.” – hahaha
I wonder how many of these are repros?
for $499 a pop? sounds like a market for repros to me.
Just being snarky; but my point was it’s only as “nearly identical” as a Rolex knock-off is to the real thing.
yeah, i know. i was just kidding anyhow. it does have a very similar face and shape is all i was trying to convey. and i also meant it was similar in aesthetic and not functionality. it sure looks a lot like the original, surprisingly. and it’s totally not fooling anyone. not too bad for a clock purchased at Target about 10 years ago. i didn’t know Target was RED.
I’ve got one of those that I bought close to 20 years ago. When I was in the Navy, my job was to track Soviet subs from Vikings, so I knew I had to have one when I saw them for sale.
Wind-up clocks aren’t necessarily considered old technology. The US Navy still keeps three wind-up chronometers on each ship for celestial navigation purposes. They’re highly accurate when properly maintained. Of course GPS is providing much better data overall, but the chronometers can’t be beat as a backup.
I used to see this sort of thing a lot in the mid-nineties. Doing a quick search, it’s good to see that you can still get a greatcoat, even if they are sold out at the moment.
Not to be a buzzkill, but most of these are straight from existing stock or from a production line and not ripped out of subs.
Just so you know, American subs were using hand wound clocks as late as 1979 when I finished my career in boats. Don’t know why the Russians did it but I suspect the Americans did it for the same reason everything else in the Navy was antiquated: 200+ plus years of tradition unblemished by progress.