u/hdrr1985

I figured y’all might find this interesting.

I started with the champagne dial one but noticed that another variant (non moon-phase), a two tone of sorts, had a differently colored bezel that made the watch appear smaller despite having the exact same case and dimensions. I have slender wrists so that’s beneficial in my case. So That gave me the idea of replicating the look with my moon-phase variant, which led to getting the black dial color-way with roman numerals. I say, at the very least, they’re unique (unless somebody else beat me to it!). Pretty happy with the result!

Putting this piece together with what I think is a pretty rare dial; at least in this color-way. Don’t even remember where I got it. I’d love to know more about it so let me know! The feet weren’t aligned for this case so I had to chop those off and secure the dial with adhesive dots. Seems i can align it just a tad better. I’m thinking that Maybe it’s painted? 🤷🏻 if it was, it was very well done because I can’t tell the difference between this and a few other vintage/classic Vostok dials I’ve seen up close. Anyway, I had it stored for years hoping one day I’d have the know-how to assemble it, and the time has come. landed on the octagram case (53) because out of all the vostok cases, this one seems like the funkiest and most distinct to me. I sanded off the plating down to the brass, so I know it’ll darken up with time. That’s the goal! The hardware on the zulu strap is actually steel so I’ll try and figure out a way to age that to match. I know I could look for solid bronze but I haven’t seen very many options in 18mm. And when I do, the price is absurd. There’s also the variance with the material; sometimes it’s quite rosy, like it has more copper in it, and that wouldn’t quite jive. Either way, I digress.

The crystal popped of while I was wiping it down, but I didn’t see any kind of gasket. I read some Vostoks have a kind of tension ring. Do these 53s have them too? I just hand popped it back in.

As y’all can see, I have yet to install the hands (going with the same style for this case, in gold tone). Honestly, it’s the step that scares me the most. I’ve done very little of it, so any advice would be very appreciated. i know these things are quirky and wouldn’t be surprised if the hand install is no different. Thank you in advance for any words of wisdom.

I literally just got back from a long drive (St Louis to Tampa) and when I wasn’t driving, I had time to contemplate this piece and the one on my wrist; an Oris BiCo. Though I initially preferred the 38 auto jet, the timepiece that accompanied me on the trip begged the question: if i can get away with this 40mm on my 6.25-6.5 wrist, why wouldn’t the jet chrono work? So that’s when I took a hard look and did a side by side spec comparison. Turns out the jet is only about a mm thicker and about a mm shorter (lug to lug). To boot, said lugs point downward way more than on the BiCo. Those features combined led me to believe that it would wear well; even better than the Oris. So I looked around and found what I think was a good price, plus a discount code, and pulled the trigger on a watch I had been on the fence about for a while. So here I am, asking y’all if I did alright and your general thoughts on the piece.

Thank you in advance for any input.

Been a fan of quirky watches for a while. Had my eye on a ventura for years, but most were either too massive or didn’t have (in my opinion) good band/bracelet integration; then this came along. Sure, on the small side, but I had this crazy idea that maybe I could make it work by channeling some Newman vibes and mashing it up with some Elvis. this is the result, and I gotta say, I rather love it. The watch only came is all taupe or all black but one made it look too feminine and the other didn’t provide the contrast between band and dial that I wanted. Mind you, in part because I was under the impression that the contrast of a light colored watch against a black band would trick the eye into perceiving it as bigger. It IS rather petite after all. Well, now with the hybrid color scheme and a bund pad to add visual width to the whole thing, i think I’ve achieved a more rugged, present look that way more guys would be comfortable wearing. The one draw back is that the band IS short. Even for my 6.25 wrist it’s somewhat short. Wearing it on the 2nd to last whole. Sorry girth gang :/. The band has a proprietary shape so it’s not like you can throw on a generic 20mm on there. Wish i could!!! Either way, just wanted to put this out there in case someone was on the fence and didn’t see any options. Hers at least one possible one.