Poljot OKEAH

Initial dial and calibre 3133 movement

The Okean chronographs made during the latter half 1970s and throughout much of the 1980s, were Soviet military watches specifically issued to officers of the Naval (Red) Fleet. To my knowledge, Okean chronographs were never displayed in any known catalogue from that period of time. At some point during the mid-1970s the Poljot Okean was, arguably, the first Poljot cal. 3133 chronograph to be produced at the First Moscow Watch Factory. It should, however, be noted that the oldest known cal. 3133 movement is fitted with a "Sturmanskie" dial. Nevertheless, based on my observations to date, I think it is fairly clear that the Okean and Sturmanskie were the very first cal. 3133 chronograph dials produced.

This particular chronograph is all stainless steel and fitted with the original: dial; orange chronograph hands; mauve-coloured rotating bezel; rounded-edged crystal; and Soviet-made bracelet - all unique to earliest produced Okeans and cal. 3133 chronographs.

Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible to find an early military-issue cal. 3113 chronograph that, over the past decades, has not been damaged or repaired/altered to some degree. On top of that, many buyers and sellers of these older chronographs place functionality and aesthetics ahead of originality, and therefore sellers/watchmakers in the the old Soviet states oftentimes cobble together movements and replaced dials to fetch maximum profits - confusing the history of these watches forever. It is therefore left to the collector to restore these chronographs to their best known original state, and lucky for us there were only a handful of dials, two hand sets, and a chrome or stainless steel casing fitted to civilian or military chronographs respectively.

Early production calibre 3133 movement

One of three known initial production cal. 3133 movements. This movement is 100% functional and original, and is also in very good condition for it's age.

The earliest cal. 3133 movements feature a 5-digit serial number and chronograph brake "bolt and clamp lid" instead of just a bolt (between the reset hammer legs in the photograph). Most of the chronograph-function parts on the cal 3133 are identical to those found on the early edition of the Valjoux 7734 (1969-1971). Minor improvements made by Valjoux to the reset levers on later models were never adopted by Poljot.

The Poljot crown stamped on the chronograph-bridge is believed to be the first version. It's asymmetrical design distinguishes it from future factory stamps.

Okean case back

One of the best looking case backs ever produced by Poljot reads "Commander Military-Sea Fleet". The Okean case back was the one component that remained unchanged from very first pieces in the the mid-seventies through to the late-1980s when production ceased.

Note that all images are linked to a higher-resolution version of the image.

The inspiration?

This Dugena cal. 7734 chronograph design was the obvious influence behind the Okean design, and the square case design was produced by many before becoming the mainstay for Poljot cal. 3133 chronographs for over a decade.

I don't think we will find too many early military-issued Poljot cal. 3133 chronographs in this condition.