Raketa Owner Review : Robust, iconic and exotic

This watch is named after a British merchant who visited the Petrodvoretz factory in 1974 and placed a large order for this type of watch. It is also called "screen" or "televisor" in reference to its rectangular shape which was unusual. The British name and this shape must have given it an exotic appeal which ensured its success for a good fifteen years. The model was notably declined with the day/date complication as well and various decorative elements on the case or dial. This one is the most common brass case with vertical grooves at the top and bottom. The dial is squared with 3D indexes and the Raketa brand in Latin letters. The readability is excellent. According to Alexandre Brodnikovski, it is one of the first models produced. This copy has lived well, but as always I have fewer qualms about wearing a watch that is not in perfect condition because at least I don't think that I could damage a museum piece and in moments of boredom I can dream about what its life was like before in the wild steppes lost beyond the Urals or in the hectic life of a Soviet megalopolis to count the number of hours spent in queues of all kinds. Watches beat time, but do not speak and do not tell what they have lived, we are left to imagine it. I mounted it on a NATO strap which gives a slightly sporty look, but above all for practicality to change it easily, on a faceted steel bracelet it would have a more retro-futuristic look from the 1970s. adjectives: vintage, rectangular, iconic, exotic, robust