Today I will tell you about my newest vintage find. This won’t be a review. Just short story and thoughts on this amazing watch. I was searching for the right Raketa World Time quite a long time. I wanted it to be in good, but a bit scuffed condition. The bezel I wanted with no bends, most of the watches I found had bends in them or deep scratches and dings. And I wanted the first version with the old handwritten “Raketa” logo.

One day I was browsing the eBay to find my next buy and I found this beauty, just sitting there, with no bids and 26h left till the auction ends. And after long and nervous 26 hours I snagged myself an amazing example of Russian horology.

This one is amazing, because of the patina on the dial. It kind of looks like space or a splatter of pain. This was the main reason why I didn’t hesitate and put in my bid. I was almost ready to pay 80$, usually, they go for 70 in perfect condition, a lot better than this. But this just spoke to me and I couldn’t resist.

The watch came from Ukraine. The year that I could find from a Russian watch expert was 1970-1973. The watch was fully serviced and as I measured it runs fast 12sec/a day. The movement is Raketa 2628H. Russian are well known to have movements that are bulletproof. The recommended service is just every 10 years, as for Seiko/Miyota it’s usually 3-5 years.

Here are some details on the movement:

The caliber 2628.H of the Russian Petrodworez watch factory is a hand wind movement, which features a day-date indication. The suffix .H indicates, that there was one update on the construction. With its shock protected four leg ring balance and the shock protected escapement wheel, this movement is suitable for rough situations. Russian movements often contain non-standard solutions against problems with the fitting precision of some parts. A balance cock, which gives the balance wheel too few space in height is often found on Russian movements, not only at Raketa. The “solution” is a flat metal plate, which is inserted between the main plate and the balance cock. Simple but efficient. The movement construction is standard: The minute wheel is located in the center under an own bridge and thus allowes the usage of a directly driven center second wheel. For the escapement, a swiss-type pallet lever is used. On the Raketa 2628.H, all gears, including the minute wheel are ruby-beared. Only the mainspring barrel is beared in metal bushings, but technically, that’s irrelevant. At “11:30”, “03:30” and “07:30”, three additional jewels can be spotted. They are used on the dial side for bearing the date ring. The shape of the setting lever spring with its large round plate at the bottom is typical for Raketa movements.

Raketa 2628H Technical data

Manufacturer Raketa Caliber 2628.H Number of jewels 19 Escapement Anchor with pallets Balance monometallic ring balance Shock protection(s) Poljot Balance cock direction clockwise Hairspring stud moveable Regulator type Hairspring key Movement construction Fork Escapement wheel, Fourth wheel, Third wheel Center wheel Mainspring barrel Construction type solid construction Bridge shape Straight bridge, 3 gears Winding mechanism yoke Setting lever spring 4 holes Features SCD,JG,QG Functions Hour, minute, second, day, weekday Beats per hour 18000 Size 111/2”’ (measured: 25,6 mm)

Overall I’m very pleased with my purchase. Everyone says that the watch looks amazing, and when I ask the price, everyone says 400-1000$ but I bought the watch for 60$. I really got myself an amazing deal. I put it on amazingly soft vintage suede leather nato strap from cheapestnatostraps.com. The strap really gives the watch some nice vintage look.