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Vostok ((ロシア語:Восток), meaning ''East'' *) Watch Makers, Inc. produces mainly rugged military and diver mechanical watches at its factory in Chistopol, Tatarstan, Russia. It also makes clocks and watch movements for other watch brands. The Vostok Company was founded in 1942 when one of the Moscow watch-making plants of the First Moscow Watch Factory was evacuated to Chistopol, a small town located on the Kama River in Tatarstan.〔''International Watch'' magazine, Nov. 2006, pg. 187〕 Only defence equipment was produced during the war years, but as soon as the war was over the company started making mechanical wrist watches. However, the Company did not begin using the "Vostok" brand name until the 1960s. *Presumable "Vostok" brand was named after the Vostok space programme, which gave the initial advancement of the USSR in the Space race (as some others soviet watch brands, named to space topics in 1960s - Poljot and Raketa). The company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defence Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year also marks the creation of the well known ''Komandirskie'' ("Commander's") watch. (See photo, below left.) The experience gained through development of the army watch led to the ''Amphibia'', a stainless-steel watch able to withstand a 200 metre depth (20atm). By 1980, Vostok Watch Makers was producing 4.5 million timepieces per year.〔 Watches sold to the military were marked "ЗАКАЗ МО СССР," meaning "Ordered by the Ministry of Defence of the USSR." These models were sold exclusively through Voentorg stores, which catered to military personnel with identification only. (Today, these models have become sought-after collectibles.) At turn of the 21st century, Vostok launched a line of 1940s-style replicas called the ''Kirovskie K-43'' collection. Vostok also began producing a "luxury" line of watches called ''Kremlevskie''. Both lines are made of stainless steel, produced in limited quantities, and aimed toward a more affluent consumer. In 2004, Vostok Watch Makers began supplying movements to the Koliz Company of Lithuania, makers of the Vostok Europe brand of timepieces. In 2006, Vostok Watch Makers began marketing another new line of watches branded "Amfibia." This brand, like most other Vostok products, features the familiar 31-jewel automatic (No. 2416B) movement. These watches feature "diver" styling with polyurethane or stainless steel bands. An updated version of the ''Komandirskie'' debuted in summer, 2007, and a special anniversary edition of the ''Amphibia'' (called the "1967") appeared in early 2008. Both of these models feature high-quality assembly, materials and packaging. Despite the introduction of the new lines of ''Komandirskie'' and ''Amphibia'', the "classic" models (mostly designed in 1960s and 1970s) of these lines was still in production (as of 2014). In early 2010, Vostok Watch Factory filed for bankruptcy and their official web page was disabled. The factory went through restructure and resumed the production of watches and movements. ==Trivia== * The Company also makes a 12 jewel, very accurate mechanical submarine wall clock that was in Officers areas on board, known to stay on time in a wide band of temperatures. It is highly sought after in certain collectors markets especially in Soviet Union items collectors. * Usually Poljot watches are associated with the Soviet Space Programme. But Vostok watches were also frequently worn in space by the Russian cosmonauts. Some of the famous Vostok watch users were the cosmonauts Georgi Grechko and Yuri Romanenko. * A popular myth claims that after the Desert Storm operation in 1992, the Pentagon awarded soldiers from the allied forces with a special edition ''Vostok Amphibian'' military watch called ''Desert Shield''. This is not true. Considering that only about 200,000 watches were produced, when weighed against the vast numbers of American soldiers deployed, it is apparent that the numbers do not add up. The venture put forth by Timepeace Russian Watches, Inc. was a for-profit company, capitalising on the collapse of the Soviet Union, Glasnost, Perestroika and the post-Reagan patriotism sweeping America. Although watches were given to President George H.W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, there is no record of watches being awarded to soldiers by the Pentagon or any other government agency. It is an urban legend which simply refuses to die. * Vostok was produced High Precision Mechanical Watches (''Volna'', ''Almaz'' and ''Vostok Precision'' models - Soviet Chronometer Standard), based on their movement ''Vostok 2809'' with 22 jewels. The watches were produced in 1960s. * In the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, Steve (Bill Murray) is wearing a classic Vostok ''Amphibia'' watch. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vostok watches」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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