Poljot
soviet airforce pilot cccp - Sturmanskie Flyback

Vintage military chronograph with two subdials – Poljot Sturmanskie mechanical watch from the Soviet Russian Air Force (USSR). Blue dial featuring the Air Force emblem, and flight time markers on the bi-directional rotating bezel integrated under the plexiglass crystal. A watch that typifies chronographs made for aviation in the USSR during the 1970s. This military aviation chronograph from the Cold War era earned the nickname “the Russian Monaco” due to its movement and the crown/pusher layout on the case.

These watches were produced in the outskirts of Moscow at the First Moscow Watch Factory and are of Swiss-quality construction. After the great watchmaking crisis of the 1960s, and following the Soviet acquisition of tool machinery from the LIP factory, the Kirov plant in Moscow benefited from Swiss technology—many machines were imported from Switzerland and used to develop a high-performance chronograph for the armed forces: the Sturmanskie (meaning “navigator” in Russian).

Initially, the factory produced the watch worn by Yuri Gagarin during his orbital flight—a simple white-dial watch with a central seconds hand, based on the modified Lip 26 caliber to add a stop-seconds function and relocate the seconds to the center rather than at six o’clock. Later, the Swiss Valjoux movement machinery was used to create the chronograph Poljot shown here, featuring the caliber 31659, a chronograph variant of the 3133 caliber—an improved adaptation of the Swiss Valjoux 7733. Another production line was dedicated to dive watches for export under brands like Sekonda, Cornavin, or Corsar.

This issued timepiece, intended strictly for military use, was used by air force pilots in the final years of the Soviet Union.

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