Stylistically, it has that unsubtle quality that we’ve come to expect from the brand. The main appeal for watch fans, aside from the history, is the inclusion of a Vostok in-house automatic movement - designed to only need to be serviced once a decade. Again, it’s a lot of watch for the modest price. The K-35 is a modern take on the classic Komandirskie. This is an iconic military timepiece that has its own unique story and fans. It was also in the same year that the factory, now using the Vostok name, released the Komandirskie or Commanders watch. It was then that the Chistopol Watch Factory became the official supplier of watches for the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. 1965 is really where the story gets interesting for watch fans. However, wristwatch production didn’t begin until after the end of the war. By April 1942 the factory was up and running and producing its first items for the military. From there the story goes, the equipment, workers and their families covered the final 100KM to the city of Chistopol in a convoy of three thousand carts pulled by horses. At the tail end of 1941, one of the Moscow watch plants was evacuated, in 150 railway carriages, to Kazan in South-West Russia. The company that became Vostok can be traced back to WWII and Russia’s involvement in the conflict. Smith’s originally released a military watch, used by the British army, in 1967, with production continuing until 1970. Regular readers will be aware that we’re fans of watch manufacturers mining their own back catalogue to bring back iconic watch models. Smith's fine heritage came to an end in the 1980s, only for the name to be revived by Timefactors, a modern British based company. But ultimately the Smith’s story is a one of a successful British manufacturer producing large quantities of watches before retreating from that market during the quartz revolution of the 1970s. Given its history, there’s a number of interesting stories about the company - from it importing Longines movements to recruiting Swiss technicians from Jaeger-LeCoultre. Founded in 1880 as a manufacturer of pocket watches the company would go on to produce wristwatches and clocks and other instruments for the motor and aviation industries. The clarity is pretty good for a mineral crystal, and it has an anti-reflective coating on the underside that works really well, I really noticed that when I was taking photos of the watch.Smith’s was one of the bigger names in British watchmaking history. I would love it to be sapphire, but the mineral isn’t the worst thing. Sitting on top of the case is a K1 hardened mineral crystal. The water resistance is 10ATM or 100M which is good for rain or accidental drop into the water, but not suitable in my opinion for swimming as it only has a push-pull crown. It also has a fighter jet silhouette which is pretty cool. Instead, some details are printed on the underside of the window, around the outer edge. I know it is just a case back and 99% of the time you won’t see it as the watch will sit in your watch box or on your wrist, but I think every detail is important. The screw in exhibition case back has no detailing surrounding the window and I actually like that they went with the simple look, in my opinion, companies now are printing too much stuff on the case back, but not thinking how it looks. At 3 o’clock you will find the push-pull crown which has the logo embossed on the end and is easy to use thanks to the reasonable size and effective grip. The finishing and machine work is really good and can’t see any imperfections. The thickness is 11,5mm and in length, the watch is 50mm long. Personally, I like it you get the look and feel of an aviator but in a more reasonable, comfortable size. The size is very comfortable, but traditionally aviator watches are 42mm or more in diameter. The 40mm stainless steel case is fully brushed, and a simple barrel in shape. Any case, that isn’t important, we are here to take a look at the watch. It is a bit strange that company with name “ Aquatico” released a Pilots watch as the name suggests that they release only divers. Today we are gonna look at their Pilots watch called Blue Angels (I think the name is taken from the Blue Angels, who are United States Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, with aviators from the Navy and Marines). That just shows that not everything made in Asia is bad, there are some really good companies that come from there, just like watches that are made in Switzerland, they have really good ones and also not so good watches coming from there. And I got to say, the quality is something that you would expect from a watch that costs 2-3 time more. They are making stainless steel/bronze watches and also pilots watch for really cheap prices. Aquatico is based in HongKong and was founded by Calvin. Today we are gonna look at a company that I think is this year is the best bang for the buck watch company.
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