Poljot Kirova Chronograph Reissue Review

It is with a bittersweet feeling that I find myself writing this review. Word is now trickling out that Maktime, the successor entity to Poljot that manufactured the 3133chronograph movement, has gone bankrupt. Unless some white knight arrives to either bail them out or buy the tooling for the movement, the 3133 is no more. While there is an apparently ample supply of 3133 chronographs on the world wide tag sale, once that supply is gone, that's it.

Ah well (sniff...), on to the watch. The Kirova chronograph in this review is one of several different reissue models of the original First Moscow Watch Factory Kirova chronograph. This particular example is one of the largest cased models of the Kirova reissues. It measures 42 mm in width (45 mm including the crown), 14 mm in height, 50 mm lug to lug and has a 20 mm band lug width. Most of the other Kirova reissues I've seen are typically 40mm in width.

Visually, this watch seems to combine the face design of the 1940's vintage one button chronograph with the two button control layout of the 1950's vintage Urofa powered chronographs. Despite appearances, only the hands on this model are lumed. The numbers, while colored as if painted with radium, do not glow in the dark. The case is matt finished stainless steel and the crystal is mineral glass. The case back and crown screw down and the watch is rated at 5 atm water resistance (which I would take with a grain of salt frankly). The original leather band was of indifferent quality so I replaced it with a padded Hirsch model.

Internally, this Kirova is powered by the venerable 3133 23 jewel hand-wound chronograph movement. The 3133 is a Russian made version of the earlier Swiss Valjoux 7734. The Russians bought the rights to the movement from the Swiss, raised the jewel count from 17 to 23 and increased the beat rate. It has served as the standard Russian chronograph movement for roughly the last 35 years. The 3133 is generally regarded as a fairly rugged movement (as mechanical chronos go) and it is known for it long 50+ hour power reserve.

I personally find this watch to be very attractive. The face and hands exhibit an old style charm that I don't encounter often these days. I think I would have preferred it if the designers had left off the date window but I can certainly live with it. I picked this example up a few years ago (when Russian chronographs were absurdly affordable) but I still see this model new on eBay from time to time. I think it's a keeper.

Leather Nato

I've been trying to find a strap that I liked for this Adi for a few years now. I think I've hit on a winner. The leather Nato above was procured from Nilsen's ebay watch band store (Randy passed away a few years ago but his wife now runs the place). Nice to see that the selection is still good and that the prices remain very reasonable. I think I paid about $26 shipped. Not bad at all.

Uzi Ballistic Long Term

The Uzi Ballistic has been my designated beater for about two years now. I have really made no effort to baby this watch. It's been dropped, banged around, immersed and generally worn with complete disregard for niceties very regularly. Except for a small scuff on one of the lugs, it looks very good and runs perfectly. I recently learned from one of my readers that the Ballistic has a ten year lithium ion battery in it. Given how tough it seems to be, that bodes well for the next eight or so years.

Test post

Trying out Google's iPhone blogger app.

TW Steel Icon Review

Its been a while since I bought a watch based on looks alone. In fact, I can safely say I had not done so since I began seriously collecting watches ten or so years ago. Well, there has to be an exception to every rule and that exception is the TW Steel model you see above. Fair warning, this review may read a bit like a travel gazetteer.

A little background first. For our twentieth wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to travel to Montreal. Neither of us had ever been to Canada before and, since we weren't traveling with the kids for the first time (Yippie!!), it seemed prudent to stay close enough that we could get back to NYC quickly if need be. Montreal, if you haven't been there, is a fascinating city. There is a lot of very interesting history there. The scenery around the city in the Laurentian Hills is very beautiful, the underground city is genuinely remarkable, you can rent bicycles all over the place, and, despite the prevalence of French as a language, everyone was friendly and spoke English as well. ( I can speak a little French which was helpful at times but was by no means necessary) . The city has a very European character in many ways. There are brands and signage that we Americans don't usually see. Restaurants are both varied in national cuisines and plentiful. Lots of good shopping can be found. There are apparently more churches here than in Rome. All in all, Montreal struck us as a friendly and prosperous place with a lot to offer. We are already planning our return, this time with the kids.

What I didn't know is that Montreal seems to have a nice watch shop every few blocks. Even the small towns in the Laurentian Hills had some very nice stores. For a watch collector, this place is very nice indeed. In addition to the usual Tissots and Omegas and the like, there were brands available that I was aware of but don't really see in the States all that often. One store I stumbled on to carried a nice selection of Briel watches, while two others carried the Netherlands brand TW Steel.

TW Steel (The Watch in Steel) is a relatively new brand dating from 2005. They are located in Amsterdam and specialize in big to very big watches. Styles are very interesting ranging from conventional chronographs to aviators like the one above to huge 50mm models with canteen crowns. Movements run the gamut from quartz to ETA 2836-2 automatics. All of their models seem to feature a heavy, nicely machined stainless steel case in one of several finishes. Their leather bands are all very well done. The leather is in the 3-4mm thick range and the buckles are both solid and engraved. Bracelets appear to be all solid link and well made too. Crystals are mineral, some with sapphire coating. Many of their models have an auto racing theme and the company is apparently working with the Renault racing team.

The TW Steel Icon model you see above is sort of their entry level model. Visually, the Icon is a strikingly attractive watch to my eye. It is an aviator style watch with a 45mm stainless steel case (not including the big crown btw), a 22mm band lug width and a beveled mineral glass crystal. The Icon's caseback is nicely decorated and screws down. The movement is a Miyota 2415 3 hand quartz with a date function, a solid and reliable engine if not an exotic one. Water resistance is rated at 50 meters which is fine as this isn't a diver watch. The crown does not screw down (which actually doesn't bother me that much anymore as I've had the pleasure of stripping a screw-down crown recently) and the dial has no lume (Which I prefer to crappy lume anyway. If it ain't Seiko style superluminova or tritium tubes, don't bother).

I like this watch because it has that classic aviator watch look without the huge price tag. (Yes, I know that there are Chinese aviator watches with mechanical movements available for less than the $200 that this one cost me but their quality and overall feel aren't even close to the TW Steel's). I'm not prepared to drop $800+ dollars for a mechanical aviator and, frankly, I'm a little gun-shy about wearing one of those anyway as I've already had one spit blood on me (That's a story for another day). The Icon's rugged quartz movement should have no such issues. The watch has a nice heft to it and the overall quality feel is enhanced by the thickness of the leather band. The dial is very simple and easy to read and the dark hands offer excellent visual contrast. The date window is clear and easy to read despite the lack of a cyclops magnifier (which I think would detract from the look of the watch anyway).

If you are a fan of the Laco/IWC Fleiger watch look but want a more practical and affordable variant that is still solidly built, the TW Steel Icon deserves a good look. For what it's worth, it is one of the few watches I own (and I own just a few you know) that my wife really likes.

P.S.-I picked up this example at Poussiere de Diamants, a jewelry and watch store in St. Sauveur in the Laurentian Hills. Very nice folks with a good selection of both TW Steel watches as well as other brands. TW Steel watches include a 2 year warranty.

Rubber Bands

An Uzi Protector on a stock rubber band



A Seiko Tuna Can on its stock Seiko rubber band



A Debaufre Ocean 1 on a Modena band



A Debaufre Aircraft 8 on a Modena band



An Adi mil-watch with an integrated rubber band



An Uzi Ballistic on its stock rubber band



A modern Amphibia on a Modena band



A late eighties vintage Vostok Amphibia on an unusual stock Vostok rubber band with integral compass



A Seiko Landmonster on a stock Seiko rubber band



An Adi ana-digi diver on a Modena rubber band


As much as I like a well made leather watch band, there is no getting aound the sticky reality that they don't wear very well in hot or humid climates. For those of us who live in places with regularly changing seasons, this reality has created a little ritual every spring where the leather bands that held our watches so nicely during the fall and winter are removed an replaced with hot weather alternatives.

Now, if you want to spend some money and you have a watch that would appropriately benefit from an investment, get a nice solid link stainless steel bracelet. I've written several reviews where the benefits of a good bracelet are discussed. However, as the name of this review above suggests, there is another alternative for hot weather that works really well too. This is, of course the rubber (or silicon) band. This style of watchband is commonly offered as a standard accessory with many diver watches but, thanks to a variety of new designs, rubber bands can be retro fitted to just about anything these days. It doesn't hurt that the price of admission is also, generally speaking, very low.

In the photos above, there are a number of watches that either came stock with rubber bands or were fitted with them by me for hot weather wear. A well made rubber watch band is completely waterproof, light in weight and pretty durable. Sweat, water and grime should have no effect on them at all.

My favorite supplier of aftermarket rubber watchbands is Modena Watch Company (I have no connection to them if you are wondering). They have a wide variety of different bands available, and their prices are usually under $20. If one of your favorite watches is regularly sidelined for fear of ruining its leather band, an inexpensive rubber alternative is a no-brainer.

Seiko Landmonster SNM037 Review

On a WJean mesh bracelet










First off, let me start by saying that I don't particularly like the SNM037's accepted nickname, Landmonster. It sort of implies, to me at least, that the watch is not meant for the water. As this is a diver's watch with a 200 meter water resistance rating, I think a more descriptive nickname is called for. Additionally, with the exception of the hands, there is little that this watch shares with the SKX779 Monster. If I was going to nickname a diver with a built-in compass, I'd call it the navigator. However, since Landmonster is the name that seems to have stuck, I'll use it here too.

As anyone who owns a Seiko diver knows, Seiko has really just about perfected the concept and execution of the affordable mechanical dive watch. Like the Monster itself or the 007 or the 009, the Landmonster exudes that classic Seiko diver feel that suggests not only very high quality and durability but a price that you would think is a lot higher than it actually turns out to be. That Seiko can continue to hit one home run after another the way they do with these diver watches suggests a well oiled design and production system. The result of this team's work has allowed millions of ordinary folks worldwide to enjoy the experience of owning a quality made mechanical wristwatch. Here's hoping for many more such winners.

The Landmonster is a strikingly unique looking diver's watch. From it's large thick case design to it's two large crowns and it's rotating bezel, no one is likely to mistake this big Seiko for anyone else's creation. As for the nitty gritty, the watch measures 47mm from the bezel to the widest part of the crown guard (43mm without the crowns/guard), 51mm lug to lug, 16mm in width and a 20mm band lug width. In a nice touch that greatly facilitates switching bands, the lugs are drilled. (Seiko also includes a set of its very thick Monster/Tuna style spring bars. I wish the rest of the industry would switch to these. They are the best spring bars by far in my opinion) The crystal is Seiko's proprietary Hardlex and the bezel is counter rotating with a firm precise action. The lume on the dial and hands is Seiko's typically excellent Lumibrite. Overall, I'd rate the lume as better than the 007 but not quite at the Monster's level. That, of course, still makes nighttime visibility for the Landmonster better than just about anything short of a Monster or a tritium tube watch. (I've heard that the Seiko "Spork" has terrific lume that matches the Monster now.)

No discussion of the Landmonster would be complete without some time spent talking about it's most unusual feature, those twin crowns. The 2 o'clock crown is a conventional diver's watch crown. It screws down and sets the time and date. It is large and easily gripped but, otherwise, it is ordinary. The second crown, however, is interesting. Like the upper crown, it too screws down. When opened though, it serves to adjust the internal chapter ring surrounding the dial. That chapter ring has directional markers on it. The Landmonster, you see, is designed to take advantage of a little known trick that allows a watch to work like a compass. In the northern hemisphere, if you point the hour hand at the sun, and then adjust the chapter ring so that South sits exactly between the hour hand an the 12 o'clock mark, the chapter ring will now be showing a correct compass bearing. In the morning hours put the South marker to the left of the 12 mark, in the afternoon, to the right of it. Obviously, this trick doesn't work at night or if it is cloudy out but, otherwise, if you live in the northern hemisphere, this watch is a compass as well as a fine diver's watch. I do have one minor quibble with this system. The screw down crown on the compass ring does not lock the ring when tightened. It isn't a problem really but the chapter ring will move a little throughout the day when worn. I can live with that just fine but it might bother some folks.

Internally, the Landmonster is powered by Seiko's 7s35 23 jewel automatic movement. The 7s35 is a derivation of Seiko's very popular 7s26 movement. It differs in that it has two more jewels and no day complication. Otherwise, like the 7s26, the 7s35 neither hacks or handwinds (the automatic winder does the job of powering the watch) and is both reasonably accurate and quite durable. 7s series movements are generally reputed to be very long lasting, in part because they lack hacking and hand winding hardware and the wear and tear they cause.

Overall, the Landmonster is no one's idea of a dress watch. As a casual/sport watch though, it is superb. Prices on the Landmonster are all over the place from what I've seen. Expect a good deal in the low $200 range with retail in the $400 area (as of 5/11). Visually the Landmonster has the same sort of "wrist presence" that a Seiko Tuna Can has. That, in my opinion, it's big appeal. It is so large and uniquely styled that, if you like divers, it is really worth a serious look. It's build quality is excellent and, it works well on both the stock rubber diver's band or a nylon Zulu band. Another version of this watch, the SNM035 comes with a solid link bracelet. (I have a mesh bracelet on the way from Wjean. That is a combo I've been looking forward to trying out.) What it certainly is not, is dull.