Value for Money in Russian Independent Watchmaking – Part 3

This article is the third and final part of this particular series, as Watch Affinity partners with UK-based independent watchmaking specialist retailer, The Limited Edition, looking to showcase different independent watchmakers and brands to highlight what they have to offer in the ever-expanding watch market. In this article, the focus is on Russian independent watchmaking.

Be sure to read to the end to find out how you can get a little bonus with any order at The Limited Edition as well!

This three-part series has sought to highlight independent watchmaking at the more affordable end of the market, the idea being to showcase three more fantastic brands in this sector and some of the watches they have on offer which I think offer excellent value for money.

Independent Watchmaking in Russia

This article focuses on Russian independent watchmaking – perhaps not the first place that springs to mind when you think of watchmaking, however it might surprise you to learn that there is a lot going on and some very exciting talent emerging! Let’s take a look at some of my favourites…

Raketa

If you like your watches to have some history behind them, then look no further than Raketa. Previously the brand was known as Pobeda (the Russian word for ‘victory’) and existed as a government owned manufacturer, producing watches for the Soviet Union. The name was changed to Raketa (the Russian word for ‘rocket’) in 1961 to celebrate Russian cosmonaut and pilot Yuri Gagarin becoming the first human being in space, wearing a Pobeda watch on his wrist as he did.

It is also worth noting that the “Imperial Peterhof Factory” from which Raketa operates has just celebrated its 300^th anniversary, dating back to 1721 when it was set up by Peter the Great, making Raketa’s manufacture older than even Blancpain and Vacheron Constantin, albeit it wasn’t always used for watchmaking!

Raketa are most famous for their ‘Big Zero’ design, taking the unusual step of replacing the 12 at 12 o’clock with a 0. The origins of the design were founded in legibility, with the 0 often accompanied by large numerals at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock, attracting attention when it was spotted on the wrist of Mikhail Gorbachev when he wore it on a visit to Italy in the 1980s.

Raketa continues to celebrate space flight and aviation, with watches that include 24-hour scales as opposed to 12, still with a 0 at the top of the dial, designed to help with keeping track of time in space. They have many contemporary designs available, and even watches with an anti-clockwise display!

Indeed, only recently, Raketa created the Mars-3 special edition in collaboration with The Limited Edition and Scottish Watches to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first Mars landing, achieved by the Soviets on December 2^nd, 1971. For this special watch, the brass dial is engraved with the first ever image taken from Mars which was sent back to Earth which I think is pretty cool.

For anyone who enjoys hunting around online for a bargain, Raketa created pieces for the Soviet Union for many years, including Soviet polar explorers and even for Soviet Olympic Games. Many vintage Raketa watches can be found online for as little as £100 – however I would recommend caution as you never know what may or may not be original!

From the current catalogue, there are an array of options available which, for the most part, are €1800 or less – I think this offers insane value, considering we are talking about an automatic watch from an established manufacture, which is both made and finished in-house! Russian independent watchmaking at its finest.

Learn more: Raketa.com or follow Raketa on Instagram.

Aleksandr Nesterenko

Surely someone with a great future ahead of him, Aleksandr Nesterenko is an up and coming, self-taught independent watchmaker from Saint Petersburg flying the flag for Russian independent watchmaking. Being self-taught, he honed his craft through study, experience and learning from other watchmakers.

His first watch, the Art Deko, which was announced last year is equally as impressive, the star of the show being the magnificent guilloche dial. Aleksandr Nesterenko makes many of the parts for the watch himself including the dial (which is traditionally engine turned), as well as some of the components within the Raketa calibre 2609 movement, which Nesterenko then refinishes himself.

Beyond the dial, I think the hands look particularly special as well, the small circle and arrow-tip point at the end reminiscent of those crafted by the likes of Kari Voutilainen. Nesterenko makes these by hand, and they complement the guilloche dial to reaffirm the traditional aesthetic of the Art Deko watch.

The great thing about independent watchmakers is that you can guarantee that your watch will be made specifically for you, in this instance by the hands of Aleksandr Nesterenko. This means you can enjoy a truly personal experience and if you have a particular request that could be accommodated, then it will be. You can add to that, too, the exclusivity factor – the likelihood of seeing anyone else wearing an Aleksandr Nesterenko watch is slim to none.

A mechanical watch crafted by the hand of a self-taught watchmaker is not something you come across very often and make the £4000 price tag for such a thing quite a reasonable proposition. I think Aleksandr Nesterenko is one to keep an eye on in the coming years, as Russian independent watchmaking continues to flourish.

Learn more: In lieu of a website, the best way to keep up to date is to follow Aleksandr Nesterenko on Instagram.

Tsoroev Rashid

Much like Aleksandr Nesterenko, Tsoroev Rashid is another self-taught watchmaker, from Ingushetia in Russia, having learned his craft almost entirely from books and researching the craft online. Impressive, right? Well, now factor in that he was born in 1997, making him just 24 years old at the time of writing this, with no less than two watch families to his name already.

After first encountering different watches within a store aged just 15, he was hooked, and after he had started reading and learning about watchmaking, he then started honing his skills through repairing watches, and before long he had created his first ‘school’ watch.

The first watch he made available to collectors was in 2019, the design for which was inspired by a moment when repairing a friend’s watch, noticing that the shape of the lugs looked like half an arrowhead. Struck by the idea, the first creation was named Arrow, so-called owing to the shape of the hands. The Arrow is driven by an ever-reliable ETA 6498 movement, with remaining components such as the dial, indices, hands all hand-made and blued by Tsoroev Rashid, without the use of any CNC machinery.

There are also options for finishing techniques to be applied to the movement as well if the client so chooses.

Tsoroev Rashid’s second watch collection is the Shield, inspired by Roman and Greek history, which adorns the front of the watch crystal with a shield displaying an emblem. This of course covers most of the dial such that the tips of the single hand are visible only.

With a single hand as opposed to separate hours and minutes hands, the shorter, wider end of the hand indicates the hour. On the opposite side of the dial, the longer, thinner end of the hand points to the minutes. This uses 6 markers between the hours representing 10-minute intervals each and enables more of an approximation of the time as opposed to a precise reading. My favourite thing about this is that the emblem on the shield can be customised on request, making for something truly unique and personal.

In terms of price, the Arrow is still available for a little over £2,000 and the Shield around £2,500 or so, which I think makes what you get for your money incredible value from a young independent watchmaker who, again, I am sure is destined for big things in the future.

Learn more: TsoroevRashid.com or follow Tsoroev Rashid on Instagram.

Anton Suhanov

Taking a slightly different path into watchmaking, Anton Suhanov started his career working in the design sector. However, following an encounter in 2007 with a certain Konstantin Chaykin, his career path changed course and he started working with Konstantin Chaykin, where he remained until 2018. Under Chaykin’s tutelage, Anton Suhanov was one of three individuals awarded the Young Watchmaker of the Year in 2016 – an award under the patronage of none other than François-Paul Journe.

It was in 2019 that Anton Suhanov branched out on his own and created his own brand.

The first three launches from Anton Suhanov were table clocks, setting him apart from the others in this article, but the clocks themselves are something really special. His first, Pharos, was a triple-axis tourbillon clock inspired by the Pharos lighthouse and stands in a shape reminiscent of a lighthouse tower.

The Lotus table clock followed soon after, another triple-axis tourbillon clock however this time in the shape of a lotus flower, surrounded by petals which open automatically during the day and close at night – even featuring a glow-in-the-dark balance wheel!

Finally, the Black Clock was launched, another triple-axis tourbillon and a somewhat more traditional looking clock (if you ignore the aperture showcasing the triple-axis tourbillon of course) which features an enamelled guilloche dial with Roman numerals, all set in a black box shape.

Following on from these spectacular clocks, you can well imagine that when Anton Suhanov’s first watch was announced in 2021, there was a lot of excitement about what he would create. And sure enough, when the announcement of his Racer Jumping Hour GMT came, the watch world was not disappointed!

Inspired by the idea of creating a watch inspired by automotive world, but to step away from the normal convention of including a chronograph, Anton Suhanov set to work. With a style reminiscent of a car dashboard display, the Racer Jumping Hour GMT features two large retrograde displays on the bottom half of the dial: one for a jumping hour and the other for a more conventional ‘sweeping’ minutes.

There’s an interesting display for the seconds across the centre of the dial that runs 0 to 20 seconds, so it completes three cycles per minute. Above this is a small aperture which displays the hours of a second time-zone which jump each hour, and finally a date aperture at 6 o’clock.

The dial itself is incredibly well decorated with a hobnail guilloche pattern, and itself comprises an impressive 27 constituent parts. Inside, the base calibre is an ETA 2824-2 with an additional module developed and built by Anton Suhanov to account for its unique functionality.

The Racer Jumping Hours GMT is limited to just 20 pieces and priced at €14,600 (not including tax) it certainly represents a step up in price from some of the other watchmakers talked about.

It stands to reason to me that, given Suhanov’s well established credentials and skills, and his education under the watchful eye of a master watchmaker in Konstantin Chaykin, as he continues to develop his craft, we could very well see prices for his work stretching further north than this in future.

With folks like Tsoroev Rashid, Aleksandr Nesterenko and Anton Suhanov, it is easy to see why there is such a buzz around the emerging Russian independent watchmaking scene!

Learn more: Anton-Suhanov.com or follow Anton Suhanov on Instagram.

Konstantin Chaykin

And finally, what article on Russian independent watchmaking could be considered complete without a look at master clockmaker and watchmaker, Konstantin Chaykin?!

Having founded his manufacture in 2003, Konstantin Chaykin started by creating a table clock with a tourbillon, and in so doing became the first person to make a tourbillon in Russia. He has never looked back, becoming somewhat of a trailblazer for Russian independent watchmaking, earning a multitude of patents (as of November 2021, this total stood at 89 patents and a further 62 utility model patents) along the way and becoming one of the most exciting names in independent watchmaking in recent years. This has doubtless been a huge contributory factor in the growth of Russian independent watchmaking, and directly supported the likes of Anton Suhanov as mentioned earlier.

The first of these patents came in 2005 with his Orthodox Easter computus clock movement, used in his Northern Computus Clock. This incredible clock is modelled on St Isaac’s Cathedral in Saint Petersburg was recognised as the most complicated clock ever built in Russia at the time with its 16 complications and 1375 individual parts. The Orthodox Easter computus enables the clock to calculate the date of Easter as the date transitions from 31^st December to 1^st January, something so complex that it has never been achieved in a wristwatch.

Konstantin Chaykin is perhaps best known for his Joker, or “Wristmons” watches; his prototype ‘Clown’ watch earned the Audacity Prize at the GPHG Awards in 2018, with Konstantin Chaykin becoming the first Russian watchmaker to receive an industry award.

However, the Joker barely scratches the surface of Konstantin Chaykin’s repertoire of wristwatches and general creativity. His current catalogue offering 11 different collections to explore, each one distinctly different from any other. My personal favourite is the Cinema.

With the Cinema watch, Konstantin Chaykin created his own miniature film projector in a watch, inspired by English photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who in the 1870s pioneered what he called a “zoopraxiscope” – an early form of cinematography. The Cinema watch allows the wearer to enjoy this same 19^th Century technology in a wristwatch, where pressing a button sets off a horse galloping – a totally different approach to an automaton watch that you’ll find nowhere else. Words will never do this justice, so have a watch of this video:

Time spent exploring Konstantin Chaykin’s work is time incredibly well spent, the plethora of his designs and the genius of his innovation is genuinely unrivalled – I mean how many other watches can you think of which displays the minutes by sand falling through an hourglass?

For anyone interested, there is also a collector’s book about Konstantin Chaykin which tells his whole story.

Konstantin Chaykin’s work is quite expensive with some of his watches costing well into five-figures, however when they were first released the Joker watches presented great value for money at around £6000-7000. The secret of Konstantin Chaykin is very much out the bag, with Joker watches now incredibly difficult to acquire thanks to their enormous popularity. However, if you were interested in a piece unique, or designing your own Joker, be sure to reach out to Pietro at The Limited Edition.

Learn more: Chaykin.ru or follow Konstantin Chaykin on Instagram.

In Summary

Independent watchmaking can be a tricky field to navigate, with watchmakers and brands that are not talked about so often for the most part, and that have to shout far louder to be heard in amongst the rest of the market. However, just because they are not brands or even individuals that you have heard of is certainly no reason to pass them by. In this series we have explored many independent brands from around the world, with this article focusing specifically on emerging Russian independent watchmaking.

If you want to learn more, be sure to visit the brands’ websites as above, and for those of you in the UK you can find these great brands and more with our partners at The Limited Edition.

Be sure to mention “Watch Affinity” when speaking with the team at The Limited Edition to receive a small gift with any order!

If you have any questions, please get in touch via our Contact page, or via our Instagram.

You might also be interested in:

• Independent Watchmaking – An Ode to the Indies
• Value for Money in Independent Watchmaking – Part 1
• Value for Money in Independent Watchmaking – Part 2
• Watch Books, Watch Boxes and more at the Watch Affinity Shop on Amazon (commissions earned)

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More about Watch Affinity’s Partnership with The Limited Edition

As smaller entities, independent watchmakers and brands are far more susceptible than those with corporate backing to the economic effects that will inevitably be felt following the Covid-19 pandemic, and so I felt it was important for me to try and do something to help.

The result of this was Watch Affinity’s partnership with The Limited Edition, a UK-based retailer specialising in independent watchmaking, and even working directly with indie brands, watchmakers, and collectors to collaborate on unique pieces, too. I will publish regular articles such as this one, shining the Watch Affinity Spotlight on independent watchmaking in an effort to showcase both brands and their timepieces, and spread the word. Pandemic-pending, perhaps even coverage of some exciting events, too!

Co-Founder of The Limited Edition and GPHG Academy member, Pietro Tomajer says:

“Having clarified that watchmaking and independent watchmaking in particular is now embracing much farther than Switzerland, Russian watchmaking has certainly attracted many watch collectors’ interest in recent years, because of the incredible creativity and ingenuity of its actors.

“Under the ‘guidance’ of watchmaking self-taught genius Konstantin Chaykin, a generation of new watchmakers have come to light, for the pleasure of all the aficionados. Reflection the functional and solution-driven approach of Russian culture, these creative artisans are bringing a lot of value to those collectors open and ready to explore new unexplored pathways.

“The list of names mentioned in this article is not even exhaustive, as additional names such as Verbin and Sushkov to name but a couple are completing the picture of what will be possibly known in future as the new wave of Russian watchmakers. Reach out to us at The Limited Edition to know more and build your knowledge.”

Remember to mention “Watch Affinity” when speaking with the team at The Limited Edition to receive a small gift with any order!