This is the only Russian watch in my collection, a divers from sometime in the 70s.

 I know very little about Russian watches except that all of those that I have come accross are nowhere near even average grade Swiss: this Boctock is no exception.

 All the script on this is in Russian so it was most likely produced for the domestic market. I see 200m on the back which would indicate a claim of being 200 metre water resist, drawing a bit of a long bow I think but I understand that the Soviet consumer affairs department (if it existed) were even slacker than it’s Australian counterpart

 Still during the old iron curtain days, Eastern block industries had no competition from the West. Some Russian watches were exported; I remember the Sekonda brand that seemed popular in the UK, but these competed in the West purely on price.

 The movement is jewelled (17) with lever escapement, the finish is poor and I think the case is very ordinary.  The back and glass are very thin for a 200m watch.

 To be fair, the Swiss, English and Japanese all have examples of cheap low grade watches that I would not have in my collection. So why do I include this Boctock? Because it’s got personality, it’s different to everything else I’ve got and it’s Russian.