Kirovskie K-43

This is a rare 1950ies Kirovskie K-43 “crab or fancy lugs” wristwatch. It was produced in the USSR at the legendary First Moscow Watch Factory (as indicated on the signed movement).

The First Moscow Watch Factory was the fist Soviet watch factory and was founded by the ministry of defence and Stalin in 1930 to produce watches for the red army.

It was American expertise that began the soviet watchmaking history. The Soviet government bought the defunct Ansonia Clock Company of Brooklyn, New York in 1929, and the Dueber-Hampden Watch Company of Canton, Ohio. They moved twenty-eight freight cars full of machinery and parts from the USA to Moscow in order to establish the factory. Also twenty-one former Dueber-Hampden watchmakers, engravers and various other technicians helped to train the Russian workers in the art of watchmaking as part of the Soviet's First Five-Year Plan.

The model comes in different dial colours black, green, red and brown; the red one is the most sought after. The case shows signs of use, mostly on the back, but it is still in good condition considering that it is 60 years old. It is in working condition and keeps correct time.

The watch is all original and has a brown dial which says “Made in the USSR” in Russian; it has a nice black leather wristband.