Customer Reviews

Russian Wristwatches: Pocket Watches, Stop Watches, Deck Watches & Marine Chronometers (A Schiffer Book for Collectors)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Between 1990 and present, there has been a tremendous surge in collecting Russian and Sovjet timepieces, especially in Europe. Still, complete and comprehensive documentation is elusive. So far, two authors have attempted to categorize and document the subject in books.

The book by mr. Levenberg covers mostly the era from 1970 through present. Thereby, the highly interesting timeframe between the 30's and the 70's is overlooked, limiting the usefulness of the book to collectors of fairly recent pieces. If this is your area of interest, I would recommend you to purchase this book. First it is translated from German to English. Furthermore, the quality of the information is of acceptable level, but sometimes lacking interesting details. The horological information (mostly brands and calibers) covers the timeframe nicely. Additional information, e.g. Cyrillic translations are interesting extras for collectors. I have found the price guide to be unrealistically high when used at auctions or watch fairs, so use it with caution.

If you are interested in a broader view on Russian and Sovjet Era (pre 1991) watches, I would recommend to also consider the 2 books in German language by mr. Ceyp. These hardcover, full color books document a wider scope. Volume 1 'Faszination Russische Uhren' covers about the same era as the book by mr. Levenberg but shows more detail, while volume 2 'Faszination Sovjetische Uhren' covers the less recent history in abundance. I would rate these books with 4*. Still, I have not found the the ultimate, definitive book on the subject Russian and Sovjet timepieces.

Be ready to find price information such old as author used DM - not euro.
The catalog include some watch from USSR (before 1991), but the most of photo is about Russian watch.
I have not any idea about using black and white photo. It's strange. Some watch shown only from backside.
The history information about brand is so short, that you can put it on 5 pages.
The catalog have not any system of catalogization by time period.

There is lots of good stuff here.
There is generally a one page outline of each of the main watch factories, their history and the main types of watch they produce.
There is a photo identity and brief description of each of the main watch calibres, both dial and movement.
There is a list of auction results for famous watches (space exploration, etc) and a valuation of all the other types.
There is a description of other interesting stop watches (olympics, etc), ships' chronographs and military aircraft cockpit clocks.
Levenberg often notes which watches are similar to other earlier models, which are often swiss.
He also mentions the American Hampden and Ansonia factories which were bought and moved to Russia in the 1930s.
I found the book most interesting and a very good reference for the casual collector, and am pleased to have bought it.

The book which came in a very handy size and is a informative read with pictures, facts and views of how rare they are. A decent attempt to catalog the various watches according to movements and types. However, I wasn't particularly impressed with the very poorly taken images and to make matters worse, half of the pages are in black and white which takes away the beauty and colours what some of the watches may inherit.
If Juri Levenberg is reading this, I do hope his next issue would be a full coloured catalog.

I originally bought the book to learn more about russian watches. However, as clearly stated in the introduction, they don't waste space with pretty stories. Basically, this is an image archive of different types of watches.

In itself, such a reference guide could be quite handy. However, only a small subset of watches are covered - this is understandable, but classics like the original Shturmanskie isn't there at all - and I had to look hard to find the Okean. Another drawback is that most of the pictures are black and white. This was probably done to save money, but it greatly lessens the book's usability as a reference guide. The lack of descriptions also makes it not much more than a last resort when trying to check if a watch you're considering to buy is original or not.

The book does have some more detailed imagery of certain movements, but in total I find it incomplete and disappointing. If you're looking for a reference guide, get another (and bigger) book.

A wonderful book showing the wide range of timepieces that the Russians produce, and which are now becoming available on the open market. Profusely illustrated and well documented. Includes a short, but very complete, table of cyrillic to english for the various markings one comes across. The only downside - buy two copies. The binding on mine fell apart from so much use. TAF