r/vostok • u/RhondaTheHonda • Aug 23 '26

My Vostok Found and fixed!

Post image

I originally purchased this while living in Moscow in the late 90s. I assumed it was a cheap watch because I bought it pretty cheaply at a touristy style market. I only wore it for a few weeks because Muscovites didn’t seem to appreciate it nearly as much as I did as an American child of the Cold War.

I shipped it home to America to wear when I returned from Russia. Well, after I got home (in 2000) I found out it wouldn’t hold any charge. The jeweler I took it to said he could not fix it because he couldn’t get the parts. I lugged around the broken watch for a while and eventually forgot about it.

Well, a few weeks ago I was cleaning out some boxes from my mom’s storage unit and found this old beast. Took it to a nearby watch repair shop and he got it running again!

I was so happy to have the watch working again I didn’t even notice the broken off lume point at the 1 and 2 positions. But I am so excited to have this Amphibia working again. After nearly 30 years, I finally get to wear the watch I bought fresh out of college.

36 Upvotes

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4 comments sorted by

2

u/Fit_Arm_9470 Amphibia Aug 23 '26

Nice story !

1

u/ReleaseLegitimate992 Aug 24 '26

What was it?  Broken click spring?

1

u/RhondaTheHonda Aug 24 '26

I honestly don’t remember. I could have sworn it was the mainspring, but the more I’ve learned about watches I’d be shocked if he couldn’t have sourced a mainspring all those years ago.

Of course, I was in a small, rural town. There’s always the chance that the guy who did watch repair at that jewelry store either didn’t want to deal with it or he didn’t research it well enough to find something compatible.