Vintage 1939 Soviet WWII Era Air Force Big Pilot Wristwatch 1-st State Moscow Factory, SERVICED MOVEMENT

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Seller: originaldeal2009 ✉️ (4,154) 0%, Location: Ukraine, UA, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 143042330953 Vintage 1939 Soviet WWII Era Air Force Big Pilot Wristwatch.
 

VINTAGE WWII ERA SOVIET PILOT'S WRIST WATCH

 

We offer you a rare wrist watch large military timepiece that dates circa 1939. It was made by the “FIRST STATE WATCH FACTORY”. 

Offered here is this wonderful real mechanical movement Rare Russian WWII time AIR FORCE Wrist Watch - USSR (CCCP) first Soviet Union huge collectables WWII mechanical wrist watch brand 1 GChZ (First State Watch Factory of the name of Kirova), type USSR AIR FORCE, made in pre-WWII period.  

It is a unique, vintage and rare example of WWII era men’s wristwatch. 

        CASE MADE OF/AND SIZE: ORIGINAL chromed copper case. This watch was especially produced for the Air Force of Red Army and were never available for the open market. It has been made under the order from the Defense Ministry of the USSR. Large precision Military Aviation Watch.

This watch is near 41mm dial diameter, 48mm - case wide, 54mm - wide with crown, 56mm - case long from lug to lug, 22mm - band size, 12mm - thickness. In excellent-very good cosmetic condition.

        DIAL: The beautiful men’s a manual wind wristwatch features a repaired metall dial. 41mm - diameter. Excellent condition.

        GLASS: New dome plastic glass.

        MECHANISM: 15 Ruby jewels mechanical manual wind mechanism. Signed 15 jewels,2-9, First Moscow Watch Factory and serial number #30476. Excellent working, very clean.This beautiful military wristwatch has the original movement in an excellent status which was very well saved, considering age of this watch.
Mechanism has been recently serviced to ensure it winds and sets smoothly while keeping great, accurate time.

        BAND: New genuine leather strap 22mm size.

        ABOUT WATCH: EXCELLENT working, rare, vintage and collectible. Excellent-very good cosmetic condition.

Very rare and a pride for every collector!
        UNIQUE AND RARE TYPE OF WATCHES
        VERY BEAUTIFUL MILITARY WRISTWATCH
        VERY BEAUTIFUL MECHANICAL WORK
 
A nice addition to your vintage Wrist Watch, or Watch Collection.
Thank you for bidding and good luck! See my other auctions.

1MWF History:

Bolshevik Revolution:
Watch industry in the Czar Russia consisted just of several small workshops and enterprises. They usually assembled watches using watch parts made abroad. After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, the entire watch industry became a part of the “Trust of Precision Mechanics”. These were mainly production facilities, work shops, and warehouses of watch parts and half-finished products which belonged to famous manufacturers such as P. Buhre, Hy. Moser, Reinin, Dmitriev, and others before the revolution.
The Formative Years:
By 1926, the supply of watches and watch parts had run out, but the demand for watches by the army, the navy, the railways and ordinary people was on the increase. To meet the demand, the USSR started to buy watches and watch parts from abroad paying in gold. To further correct the shortage of watches, on December 20th 1927 the Soviet government made a decision to establish and develop a watch industry. On December 21st, the Council of Labor and Defense passed a resolution “About How to Organize Watch Production in the USSR.”

    
     At the same time an offer to buy an ailing Dueber Hempton watch factories was received from the United States. On April 26th 1929 two purchase contracts were signed. The first one was for the $325,000 purchase of the watch factory with an output of 200 to 250 thousand watches per year. The second, $135,000 contract was for the purchase of spare parts and the half-finished products. After the deal was sealed, a steamboat with American equipment left for Russia in April 1930. Simultaneously, construction of the factory’s main block was already in progress on the previous location of the Krasnaja Zvevda (Red Star) Tobacco Factory on the Voronczovskaja street in Moscow. The factory’s main block was finished within a dramatically short period of time. The work started in February 1930 from digging a foundation pit and finished in June 1930 with the main block construction completed. Installation of main equipment was finished by September 15th of the same year. The factory was named the First State Watch Factory or the 1st SWF. Later it was called the First Moscow Watch Factory or the 1st MWF. Thus, even some of the Poljot watches produced today are sold under the 1st MWF mark.
   Although at the start, the factory needed some technical help from the American and the German specialists, after two years, it was able to resolve most of the technical issues and continued to develop independently. Almost from the beginning the 1st SWF exported its watches and soon after launch, new production development was started. According to the order of the Chief Military Aviation Administration, airplane board clocks were produced, and in June 1932 a decision to organize stopwatches production was made.
In the same year technical renovation and production line upgrades were started. In 1935 – 36 the factory received over 120 new machining tools from several world’s leading companies and some equipment was made by the factory itself. By 1936 the number of machining tools had increased by 1.5 times. On December 16th 1935, Mr. M. Kalinin signed a resolution to award the name of Sergey Mironovich Kirov to the 1st SWF. From 1935 until 1941, the 1st SWF Kirova produced about 2.7 million of the “1st type” pocket and wristwatches. Today, a line of Aviator and Buran watches is sold under the “1st MWF Kirova” trademark.
Aviation and WWII
The history of the First Moscow Watch Factory is indissolubly connected with the history of Russian and Soviet aviation. All Soviet battle airplanes of that period were equipped with the airborne clocks made by the 1st MWF Kirova. The Red Air Force pilots and navigators flew with watches on their wrists with the “The 1st MWF Kirova” and later the “Poljot” trademarks. Before WWII aviation clocks, stopwatches, navigator wristwatches, automobile mechanical and electric charging watches, navy chronometers, ship deck watches and other watch movements were put into production for the benefit of the national economy.
During the Second World War production defense such as ammunition, aviation glass, aviation clocks, navy and aviation chronometers and some parts for the first Katyusha (lorry-mounted multiple rocket launcher) was organized in the factory.
The War had not yet ended when the factory started peaceful production: in 1943 it started to make machining tools for the watch industry again, and in 1944 – fire-place, table and automobile clocks were produced. In April 1945 the factory stopped ammunition production and started preparation for a new K26 Pobeda (Victory) watch model. Production of the Pobeda with a side seconds hand started in 1946. Josef Stalin approved the name, design and specifications of this watch personally. The watch became very popular, as the 1st MWF was making the K26 model until 1953; and today, it is still in production in other factories around the country.

 Stalin's Falcons History: 
 "In fierce battles the glorious falcons of German aviation and so ensured the Red Army with freedom of actions and saved the population of our country from hostile air bombardments".
STALIN.

Stalin's Falcons - the high sense of military duty, selflessness, personal skill, art of leading a pair, flight, squadron, single and formation air fightings, action of "hunters", bombardment and attack strikes of units, manoeuvre, surprise, stratagem, persistence in achievement of the objectives, utter devotion to the Motherland and heroism. 

Russia, which Winston Churchill defined as a riddle wrapped in an enigma, emerged from WW II as a dominant player on the world stage, but a player cast in diverse roles. Aligned with Germany before the War, the Soviet Union divided Poland with its Nozi partner in 1939 and that same year fought Japan and Finland, both later allies of Germany. 

Invaded by Adolf Hitler's panzer armies in June 1941, the USSR embarked on the Great Patriotic War-a titanic clash of ideology and willpower that lasted for the next 47 months. Soviet Premier Josef Stalin's iron grip on Russia's vast resources and on its long-suffering people was sufficient to recover from appalling initial losses of manpower and machines, none of which was more apparent than in the Red Air Force, or Voenno-vozdushniye Sily (VVS). 

How the VVS adapted to hardships and survived while lacking equipment, organization and leadership is still not widely appreciated in the West. Though they possessed enormous numbers of troops and aircraft, the Soviets ceded combat power and strategic initiative to Nozi Germany, which had superior equipment and gifted military leaders. Nothing better illustrates the relative state of the two totalitarian powers than the fact that Russia's frontline fighter was still the Polikarpov 1-16-an open-cockpit monoplane with two rifle-- caliber machine guns, while the Germans' Messerschmitt 109F packed 20mm cannon and a 100mph speed advantage. 

Ironically, with the 1-16, the VVS had led the world in producing a cantilever monoplane, retractable gear fighter in 1934. Equally notable was that Russia was the last major power to give up biplane fighters when it retired the 1-153 in 1942. In keeping with the Soviet doctrine of parallel design tracks to optimize both configurations, the two types had been developed simultaneously. The 1-16's designer was Pavel Sukhoi, who later established his own wellregarded design bureau. 

In the preceding two decades, however, Russia had lost almost as much as it had gained. The 1917 revolution had degenerated into a long, bitter civil war that forced thousands of anti-Communists out of the country. Igor Sikorsky, Alexander Kartvelli and Alexander de Seversky were Russian expatriates who brought their talents to America's shores. 

Nor was that all. As in most dictatorships, Stalin systematically purged thousands of experienced, competent professionals from the armed forces. Many successful aviators from the contingent sent to fight fascism in Spain were shot or jailed after they returned home in 1938/'39. In short, Soviet aviation had set itself up for a hard fall. 

At that same time, the Soviet government recognized its materiel inferiority against potential enemies. Therefore, a directive was issued to aircraft design bureaus, soliciting proposals for a "third generation" of Soviet fighters. Even in 1938, it was already apparent that the 1-16 and 1-153, which typified the second generation, would be caught on the back end of the technological power curve. 

From a dozen proposals, three were selected for development: designs from Lavochkin, Mikoyan-Gurevich and Yakovlev. Thus was established the industrial base for VVS fighter aircraft of the Great Patriotic War. By concentrating on only three sources of fighters, the USSR was typical of most WW II combatants. Germany had essentially two primary manufacturers, as did Great Britain, while Japan relied on three. In marked contrast was the United States, where seven major companies produced fighters, excluding smaller firms such as Brewster, Eastern, Goodyear and Northrop.

But the U.S., with a burgeoning aviation industry and territory free of an invader's boot, could afford such luxury; Russia could not. Shortages of steel and aluminum forced reliance on wood structures until nearly the last year of the War, and Soviet industry never did provide a really powerful aero engine in significant numbers during the conflict. Variety and quality were willingly sacrificed in favor of numbers and availability.

The Great Patriotic War

Despite their mutual nonaggression pact, both Hitler and Stalin realized that eventually their two major powers would wage war against each other. Therefore, in the first half of 1940 the Soviets began contingency plans to evacuate Russia's westernmost war industries to the east, beyond range of the Luftwaffe. 

The stunning reality of Operation Barbarossa-started June 22, 1941-forced enactment of the plan sooner than intended. On the first day, the Luftwaffe confidently set 2,750 aircraft against an estimated 12,000 Soviet planes and destroyed 10 percent before noon: 800 burned on the ground, and 400 were shot out of the air. The situation deteriorated as German armored columns pulled within sight of Moscow's steeples late that year. According to one source, some 1,500 manufacturing plants located near the capital were then moved to avoid being overrun by the advancing Germans. Among them was the Yakovlev factory.


Thank You For Bidding and Good Luck!

         
         Recommendations for the owner of antiquarian watches:

All Antique watches are mechanical. Many repairs will not be cheap, as most likely they will require replacement of non-standard parts (unlike most late model watches).
          - Antique watches should not be beaten or dropped - because repairs may be expensive.
          - Antique watches are generally NOT waterproof. This is because waterproofing was not in general production until the middle of the 20th century for most watches. Therefore you should protect your antique watch from exposure to moisture.
          - If your watch becomes wet it should be dried off quickly. Carefully open all covers and use a hair drier to blow dry the movement, dial, covers, crown. This will reduce the amount of rust.
          - If your watch becomes wet with any kind of salt water you should immediately immerse or spray your watch with fresh (no-salt) water to remove all the salt from the works before drying the watch completely. Any salt left in the watch will combine with moisture in the air to rust metal components of the movement, case etc.
         - Winding any mechanical watch tight may break the mainspring. If you can avoid it do not wind the watch hard.
         - When adjusting the hands of your watch, move them in a clockwise direction only. Counter-clockwise adjustments may damage the movement.
        - If you must adjust counter-clockwise make it for small adjustments only (i.e. for minutes, NOT hours).
        - Be careful and gentle when adjusting the movement speed (faster or slower). Don't make sharp movements, and don't touch other components in the movement especially the pendulum mechanism.
       - Every 2-3 years it is necessary to service and oil vintage watches.
       - IF the watch is dirty - allow the watch to run down, don't wind it again until you have it serviced by a qualified watch repair expert. Dust will absorb and remove important lubricants and cause the movement pieces to wear down.
      - To clean the case, dial and crystal you should use a cloth that does NOT leave fibers as these may get caught up in the movement. Check with your Watch repair expert to get an appropriate cloth.
      - Keep your antiques watch away from magnets. Strong magnetic fields may affect the accuracy of your watch since some vintage watches were made with iron based components in the movement.
      - Most Cases and Covers are fine components and will not handle abuse well. The watch should not be shaken, beaten, or stressed.
     - Antique watches generally experience an error of up to 5-7 minutes a day. Any accuracy of +- 5 minutes is very good.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE BIDDING:

      Vintage watches are very delicate and I package to the highest degree to prevent damage.

      High altitude flights can be hard on watches due to extreme temperature changes. This can cause the oil viscosity to decrease (gum up) and prevent a watch from ticking (the balance moving freely etc.). It may need to be oiled when it arrives regardless of its recent servicing (if applicable). Although this is only a very slight possibility it can occasionally happen.

    Please bear in mind that you are buying a used watch and it will require service at some point in time.

Free Shipping WorldWide Including Insurance.

Worldwide shipping usual takes 10-14 working days. Some times little more.
                  

I accept Payments via: Paypal.

Return Policy:

1. We always honor a 7-day return on our items, and guarantee them to be as described.
2. Money back, so ask questions if necessary. We're easy to deal with. If you are in any way unsatisfied with the watch I will refund the purchase price. If you recieved watch damage or you have any othe problems with my watch plase contact us via e-mail before leaving feedback. We are gladly assist you.

 

 


  • Condition: Used

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