Poljot

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Poljot (Russian: Полет, literally meaning "flight"), a brand of watches from Russia, originated in the USSR and was produced by the First Moscow Watch Factory. The Soviet government authorized export of FMWF products beginning in 1959, however they did not reach the USA until the late 1990's. During the Soviet era, Poljot watches were marketed in the United Kingdom under the brand "Sekonda". Today's Sekonda company, a British distributor of ubiquitous fashion watches, has no connection to any Poljot products.

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[edit] History

1930's FSWF wristwatch with Dueber-Hampden designed movement
1930's FSWF wristwatch with Dueber-Hampden designed movement

Founded in 1930 under orders from Stalin, the First State Watch Factory (Russian: Первый Государственный Часовой Завод - 1ГЧЗ) was the first Soviet watch and mechanical movement manufacturer. Via its USA-based trading company Amtorg, the Soviet government bought the defunct Ansonia Clock Company of Brooklyn, New York in 1929, and the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company of Canton, Ohio. It moved twenty-eight freight cars full of machinery and parts from the USA to Moscow in order to establish the factory. Twenty-one former Dueber-Hampden watchmakers, engravers and various other technicians helped to train the Russian workers in the art of watchmaking as part of the Soviet's First Five-Year Plan. Interestingly, the movements of very-early products were still stamped "Dueber-Hampden, Canton, Ohio, USA" (examples of these watches are very collectible today). In 1935 the factory was named after the murdered Soviet official Sergei Kirov.

As the Germans closed in on Moscow in 1941, the factory was hurriedly evacuated to Zlatoust (Russian: Златоу́ст). By 1943 the Germans were in retreat, and the factory moved back to Moscow, adopting the "First Moscow Watch Factory" name (Russian: Первый Московский Часовой Завод - 1МЧЗ).

[edit] FMWF watches in Space

"Gagarin" Shturmanskie
"Gagarin" Shturmanskie

On April 12th 1961 Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space. During his historic flight he wore a Shturmanskie pilots wristwatch (a transliteration of Штурманские which actually means "Navigator"). This watch was not specially commissioned for the flight, they were standard issue to all air force pilots at the time. The success of the mission however lead to the factory being awarded the Poljot (Russian: Полет) name in 1964.

In 1965 cosmonaut Alexei Leonov wore a FMWF Strela (transliteration of СТРЕЛА, which actually means "Arrow") chronograph during his historic first space walk, thus cementing Poljot's place in space history. As with Gagarin's first flight, Leonov's watch was not specially commissioned. The Strela has replace the Shturmanskie as the standard issue pilots watch. In the late 1970s, the Strela itself was replaced by a new breed of chronographs based around the (then new) 3133 movement (a Russian variation of the Swiss Valjoux 7734). Poljot 3133-based watches continued where their predecessors left off and were taken into space by cosmonauts from Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine. On the hand of cosmonaut V.V. Polyakov, a Poljot 3133-based watch set a space record for the longest space flight in history.

[edit] Current status

At the turn of the 21st century, the First Moscow Watch Factory began reproducing many of their most famous models as limited edition commemorative pieces. Replicas were made of the famous 1960s Shturmanskie worn by Yuri Gagarin, the 1940s Kirova pilots chronograph, and the 1970s Ocean (Океан) chronograph. All of the replicas became sought-after collectibles.

In late 2003, rumors predicting the demise of the Poljot brand circulated on the Internet. According to the rumors, the First Moscow Watch Factory was to cease producing their own models and become a source of inexpensive movements for other European watch brands. These rumors never came to fruition. Instead, the First Moscow Watch Factory scaled-down production, with some of its property and machinery sold to Company Volmax, and introduced a new, upmarket, brand, Golden Poljot. A new team of craftsmen was assembled to develop Golden Poljot and deliver it to the domestic market in a very short time. However, no movements are currently produced by the First Moscow Watch Factory; chronograph movements are made by the firm MakTime, and non-chronograph movements are produced by Vostok Watch Makers, Inc.[1]

In 2005-2006 Golden Poljot become available outside Russia and the new Rossi Collection had a successful launch.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ International Watch magazine, November 2006, pg. 202

[edit] External links