Description
Automatic Rodina Soviet watch with black dial, 22 jewels – 1st Moscow Watch Factory
MADE IN USSR!
A striking early Soviet automatic with a black two-zone dial: a plain black centre ringed by a fine line, bold cream Arabic numerals, and an outer minute track numbered every five minutes and finely divided into fifths of a second. Gilt hands with green luminous inserts and a gilt seconds hand with a red tip complete the look.
Beautiful vintage watch manufactured at the 1st Moscow Watch Factory named after Kirov.
Watches branded ‘Rodina’ were among the wristwatches produced at the famous 1st Moscow Watch Factory Kirov.
You can see the old factory mark above the 6: “1МЧЗ им Кирова”.
The 1MWF also manufactured early Pobeda watches, Sturmanskie (the first watch in space), Rodina, Sputnik, the first Komandirskies, and finally Poljot watches, for which they’re probably best known.
The dial is signed in Russian – «Родина» (Rodina), «22 камня» (22 jewels), «1 МЧЗ им Кирова», «Сделано в СССР» (Made in USSR). The chrome-plated round case has the faceted, angular lugs typical of 1MChZ watches of the period. The snap-on steel case back is engraved «Автоподзавод» (automatic winding) and, around the edge, «Пылевлагонепроницаемые с противоударным устройством» (dust- and moisture-protected, with shock-protection device) – the original factory marking, not a water-resistance rating for a watch of this age. The case shows signs of use consistent with its age, including some wear to the plating at the edges – please see the photos.
The watch is self-winding and does not need batteries to operate – it winds itself as you wear it.
Original Soviet Rodina watch has mechanical lever movement with automatic winding. Caliber 2415A was the first Soviet automatic movement; its rotor, stamped with the 1MChZ logo and «22 камня», is visible in the movement photos.
MANUFACTURE DATE: late 1950s – early 1960s
LUG WIDTH 18mm
TYPE Automatic
MOVEMENT 2415A, 22 jewels
CRYSTAL Acrylic
FUNCTIONS Hours, Minutes, Seconds
This watch has recently been serviced by a professional watchmaker and keeps good time.
Comes complete with a new Nagata leather strap.
This watch ships from 🇺🇦 Ukraine with tracking number
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We guarantee the item you receive looks and works exactly as advertised — or your money back.
About the watch factory
1st Moscow Watch Factory – named “1.MWF “Kirov”” from 1935 till 1964(renamed to Poljot afterwards) – the biggest and oldest of Soviet watch factories.
Russian watches have a rich and interesting history dating back over 80 years with the creation of the First Moscow Watch Factory, which today manufactures Poljot watches.
A highlight of Russia’s watch history came in 1961 when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took the first ever flight into space with a watch from the First Moscow Watch Factory.
Rodina Brand History
Rodina / Родина
After World War II, the First State Watch Factory focused heavily on wristwatch production. This led to a proliferation of discrete brands in the 1950s, all powered by First Moscow Watch Factory movements. These brands included Antarktida, Kirovskie, Kosmos, Mayak, Moskva, Orbita, Pobeda, Poljus, Rodina, Signal, Sportivnie, Sputnik, Stolichnie, Strela, Sturmanskie, and Vympel.
The Rodina brand (Родина, meaning “homeland”) was launched in 1956 and was powered by the first Soviet automatic movement ever manufactured: the 22-jewel caliber 2415A. While a huge advancement for the Soviet watch industry, the design of this movement was not very elegant. Essentially, it was an automatic Kirovskie; that is, an auto-wind mechanism bolted on top of a 17-jewel hand-wound movement. Indeed, the styling was even the same as the Kirovskie, including the funky crab case and bold dial designs. Just six years later, a much thinner, completely redesigned automatic caliber would be introduced (see: Orbita).
The Rodina brand was retired in 1964, when all individual First Moscow Watch Factory brands were consolidated under a single trademark: Poljot. Watches in the same style continued to be produced well into the 1960s, but only under the Poljot name.
