The Trans Siberian

We received news of a new brand entering the market place yesterday -
Pramzius.

Courtesy of Pramzius

I  have not yet had the pleasure of seeing one in person, so I am going to leave it the folks at Pramzius to tell the story in their own words -

The Return of the Railroad Pocket Watch – For the Wrist

Pramzius is a new brand launching in 2017 developed by the North American distributors of Vostok-Europe, Sturmanskie and other Eastern European and Russian watch brands. The company is based in Connecticut, USA. Pramzius, which is named for the mythological Baltic Ruler of Time, pulls together the two decades worth of experience the team has in importing and assisting with design of watches from this part of the world. All Pramzius watches will use inspirations from one of the eight countries that border the Baltic Sea.

The first edition is inspired by a Russian railroad pocket watch popular in decades past built by a company that ceased operation in 2007.

The watch is unapologetically big at 48 mm in order to be sized similarly to the inspiration. Instead of a pocket watch movement with a sub dial seconds hand, the watch uses the NH38 open heart movement built by SII, with the open heart displayed where the sub seconds would normally appear. The case back features a large, 3D rendering of the original train that appeared on the inspiration watch.

The watches retail for $459 to $509, however in the launch period there is advance order pricing at www.pramzius.com and there will be a Kickstarter campaign launching in March/April 2017.

Courtesy of Pramzius

Type	Pocket watch for the wrist
Movement	24 Jewel SII NH38 open heart movement. Automatic winding. Can be manually wound.
Tolerance	Main daily rate from -20 to +40 s/day
Power reserve	At least 41 hours
Sub dials	Open heart
Vibrations per Hour	21,600
Crystal	K1 Mineral (optional sapphire model for additional $50)
Luminosity	Super-Luminova
Dial Color	White
Crown	Coin-edge crown inspired by locomotive smoke stack
Bezel	Double layered
Case Material	316L Surgical Grade Stainless Steel
Case Width	48 mm
Strap Material	Bund leather (fully underneath the watch), wide grain screw-on leather and Zulu style nylon strap all included.
Strap Measurement	24 mm
Clasp Type	Buckle
Water Resistance	10 ATM
Other Features	3D rendering of original train from the inspiration pocket watch. Limited edition of no more than 999 pieces per dial. Cherry wood veneer desk stand for watch to allow for alternate use as a clock.

Courtesy of Pramzius

Wrapping up the Sturmanskie Gagarin 50th Anniversary

Okay- once again, it seems that I have lingered too long on  a review - this is the danger of forming an attachment.  This in turn brought on this whole internal discussion (with myself) about possessions, life's impermanence, etc.  Which in turn led me to think about the folly of desire... which in turn led me to -


you guessed it (okay, maybe not) Kung-Fu (the tv show):


Caine: Is it good to seek the past, Master Po? Does it not rob the present?
Master Po: If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the past, he may rob the future. The seeds of our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past. 




And this in turn brings us full circle to the idea of "anniversary" or "tribute" watches.  I bet you thought I'd never get to the point!

There are a lot of companies out there, "reissuing" as if their very lives depended upon it.  And in all honestly, I do not know that there is anything wrong with that, but after a while, it almost gets to be too much.  The Speedmaster Professional - and it's seemingly hundreds of offspring to mark nearly every NASA mission - not once, but in some cases twice!  And for the hard-core Omega fan out there, that is good - even great.


In the case of the Sturmanskie Gagarin 50th Anniversary we are, in some ways, looking at a reissue.  But I'm okay with this one.  For one thing, it is a commemorative watch - commemorating the 50th anniversary of Gagarin's historic flight.  

It is a change from the previous version in that it is a bit bigger, at 38 mm.  And I really love this size.  It is big enough to be "present" but not at any point overwhelming.  And most importantly it is COMFORTABLE!!!  It really sits well on the wrist.


It is true to the original in its layout.  The dial, indices and hands are not crazy reinterpretations.  And while we are talking about the dial - the LUME is amazing on this watch!   One of the few watches I've had recently that you can actually read in the dark - not just see, but READ! 

The time keeping has been much better than I would have expected for a watch at this price point.  The deviations have been between +3 to +4 seconds per day.  This is FAR better than the "advertised" daily rate in the spec sheet.  And the power reserve is pretty remarkable as well.  Typically you might expect 36 hours, but the Sturmanskie went beyond - nearly 48 hours in my last "test".


The winding action is phenomenally smooth!   The crown is large enough and somewhat curved to allow for a better "handle".  I was able to wind this watch while it was on my wrist.  Something I can do with my Hanhart Pioneer and not too many others.  


The strap, while not top of the line is quite good and a very good balance for the watch.  A nice, basic buckle completes it, and in keeping with what was a Soviet design - nice and simple.

For those of you who love specs, here they are:

• Mechanical lever movement
• Manual winding
• Movement diameter: 26 mm
• Movement height: 4.3 mm
• 17 jewels
• Water resistant 5 ATM.
• Leather belt.
• Mineral glass.
• Shock protection
• Frequency: 21600 vph
• Daily rate from –20 to +40 s/day
• Power reserve minimum: 40 h
• Case size is 38mm

So to sum it up - this is a great watch for the money.  It offers you a nice mechanical 3-hand watch, with a good story behind it.  Even if you are not even remotely interested in the Gagarin/Cosmonaut/Star City angle, this is a great watch for what it offers.  

The Sturmanskie Gagarin 50th Anniversary - legibility

Something that is so easy to lose sight of - literally!  The face of your watch.  Is it clearly laid out?  Is it easy to read?  The Sturmanskie Gagarin 50th Anniversary is such a nice, refreshingly clear lay out and design.  Hours, minutes, seconds.   Bells, whistles, sub dials - they all have their place.  But sometimes you just want a watch.

And while we are on the subject of legibility - I have to mention the quality of the lume of this watch - it is truly impressive!  Not just the hands, but the numerals as well.  I am having to remind myself of the actual retail of this watch when I consider the wearing experience so far... it is underpriced.  I have tested quite a few watches at much higher price points that were not nearly as good.

The time keeping is still good - the past 72 hours we are at +4 seconds per day.

Stay tuned!

The 50th Anniversary Gagarin - a few days in

So I am now a few days in on my review of the Sturmanskie Gagarin 50th Anniversary model.  So far, so very, very good!  When you first put on a new watch, the first thing you do is set it and wind it.  This is where you can often tell pretty quickly how the watch might operate long term.  Is the crown stiff?  Difficult to wind?  Noisy when turning?

For the Gagarin - none of the above.  The crown engages very smoothly and the time sets neatly.  The winding action is about the smoothest I have felt since I tried a few new pieces at BaselWorld.  I have had this watch for several days, and to try and get a gauge of the power reserve, I let it go and got better than 48 hours!  So far, the timing is very impressive - we are currently 4 seconds fast per day.

More to come!