Buyalov Radioroom RR01

Dmitry Buyalov is a watch designer for the Russian watch brand Vostok. He is also the man behind the Meranom website which, not surprisingly, seems to have a direct link to the Vostok factory at Chistopolcity. With both the Meranom webshop and his design work, Dmitry must be responsible for much of the success of Vostok Watches in recent years. In early Autumn, somewhat out of the blue Dmitry annouced he would be releasing watches designed by him under his own “Buyalov” brand. The first model released has a Seiko movement, but with Dmitry’s involvment and the design touches that pay homage to Russian design – it takes its cues from the 5-ChM marine clock and the Typhoon SSBN Russian submarine (also known as the Akula or shark) – it has some serious Russian connections. It will be one of the first non-Russian watches I have owned since I started collecting apart from a Christopher Ward, a few Seikos and a Maranez.

The first hints of the release were via a few posts on social media before prior to the watches themselves appearing at Meranom in a section named “Designer’s Watches”. The first release is the Buyalov Radioroom RR01 diver’s watch. When I saw the design and the dimensions I was not immediately sure that I would buy one. I mean, the things looks huge. After a bit of deliberation and FOMO (fear of missing out), I decided to pull the trigger. After all, I don’t have a carbon fibre watch in my collection!

Buyalov Radioroom RR01

The Buyalov Radioroom is available in three varations:

Buyalov RR01 – Black dial / Yellow notes

Buyalov RR01 – White dial / Orange notes – the watch reviewed here.

Buyalov RR01 – Black dial / Red notes

Let’s talk about size first. The first thing that one notices is the height of the Buyalov Radioroom RR01 on the wrist. It has a depth of approximately 17mm. It looks tall but actually the depth of 17mm is only 2mm more than my favourite Vostok 090 cases which measure 15mm. The watch case tapers inwards from the wrist to the upper face side from 46mm to 42mm. With the rather protruding crown you can add another 5mm which means that, with the crown it is about 51mm in diameter. It is rather imposing.

The watch case is made from a combination of carbon fibre and stainless steel. The main watch body is made from black carbon fibre with a slightly mottled finish and it is topped with a non-rotating steel bezel. There is a small groove around the case just below the halfway point. I am not sure what function this serves – I will leave it to someone else to take their watch apart! Perhaps the case requires a two part construction to accommodate the crown. Apparently there is a what Buyalov describes as an “inner pressure shell” made of hard 316L steel alloy capable of withstanding up to 20 ATM which can’t be seen. Wikipedia tells me that 316L is an alloy of iron with chromium, nickel and molybdenum which offers more corriosion resistance than the more commonly used 304 and is “commonly used in the chemical and petrochemical industry, in food processing and pharmaceutical equipment, in potable water and wastewater treatment, in marine applications and architectural applications near the seashore or in urban areas.” So I think it should be okay for a little, light desk diving! The steel bezel and fixings (crown, case back, buckle) are a nice graphite colour with a matt bead blasted finish.

The bezel and the strap are fixed in place with hex head screws The bezel has six screws at the 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 o’clock points and slopes gently downward towards the outside. It makes up about 2mm of the overall 17mm depth of the watch. The screw down crown is quite large at about 10mm diameter and 5mm depth with a nice, deeply grooved grip and a little circular pattern on the end (perhaps a missed opportunity for a logo or branding missed here). The crown is attached to protruding tube which is means the crown sticks out 2mm from the case when it is screwed down. It seems large but it is actually very tactile and easy to use. Even those with massive fingers or wearing gloves should have no problem using it at all. The case back has a diameter of 40mm and features a dedocahedonal pattern with a diagrammatic reproduction of the Typhoon SSBN propeller. Around the outside of the propeller are the words “Buyalov RR01 – NH35 – Stainless Steel – Carbon Fibre – Sapphire Crystal – WR 200M”. I am not sure how it is removed, I assume it screws in but I am not sure which tool one would use to remove it.

The watch is fitted with a silicon rubber strap which is 24mm at the body tapering to 20mm at the buckle end. The buckle is signed “Buyalov” and is fitted with hex head screws, which echo the design of the screws that attach both the bezel and actual the strap to the body. There strap is secure with 2 hex head screws eithe rside of the body. The strap is a minor concern. It is always a bit of a shame when the watch has a proprietary fixing method because it means that one can’t easily swap it out for other straps, or replace it if it breaks (the Vostok Neptune straps being a case in point). However, I would like to think that, going forward Dmitry, will be selling replacement straps if necessary. Again, at this stage, I am not going to remove the screws to see how it is fixed.

Of the three variations of the Buyalov RR01, I chose the one with a white dial over the other two with black dials, just because I fancied the lighter colour. The main dial has an interesting grooved curved, geometric pattern. Someone at Watchuseek F10 said looked like a golf ball! According to Buyalov it is based on the design and patterns of anechoic tiles that are fitted to the outer hull of the Typhoon class submarine. These are the tiles used to absorb sound waves of incoming sonar as well as insulation to lessen the noise (engine noise primarily) emanating from the submarine. Around the outer edge of the dial there is a raised chapter ring which incorporates the hour markers. The chapter ring is primarily black with white minute markers with orange accents and a slight beveled inner steel edge. The hour markers have an inward taper underneath which means they appear to be raised from the watch face itself.

The hour markers have a good amount of lume, which has a slight blue-ish colour, in an “i” shape. The 12 o’clock marker is slightly longer than the others whilst the marker at 6 o’clock is shortened to accommodate the date window at the bottom of the dial. The face features the name of the brand, “Buyalov” below the 12 o’clock marker and “Automatic 200m” above the 6 hour marker. Other than this and the patterning it is quite a clean dial. The hour and minute hands are quite substantial baton type hands in black with a good amount of lume down the centre. The seconds hand is needle type in black with the arrow tip and first part of the hand finished in orange to match the orange accents of the chapter ring. The hands all have a good length and reach the outside markers making time reading nice and easy. The watch is fitted with a flat sapphire glass crystal with anti-glare coating.

The Buyalov Radioroom movement is non-Russian which, considering Buyalov’s day job and the watch’s design cues, is a little bit of a surprise. It is fitted with the Seiko NH35A movement which is one of the world’s most popular, and a workhorse, automatic movements. It is an unbranded version of the Seiko 4R36 movement and has 24 jewels, a hacking function and a power reserve of 41 hours. The NH35A movment can be found in various Seiko watches as well as many micro-brand watches such as Minus-8, Makara and G. Gerlach. I noticed that some people were complaining on Facebook and on Watchuseek that this wasn’t an authentic Russian or Vostok watch without a Vostok moment. They are missing the point somewhat. Despite Dmitry’s / Meranom’s connection to Vostok this is not claiming to be a Vostok or Russian watch (neither are the Vostok Europe or Chaikin watches for sale at Meranom).

Having said that, this brings me to the Amfibia Akula. It would seem that Dmitry has already designed a very similar watch which seems to never have made it past the concept stage. You can see the designs for the Akula here at Coroflot.com (amongst other designs Dmitry has produced for Yema and MAT – some of these look pretty nice). I think the Amfibia Akula looks pretty cool. It appears there were three designs one with a black dial, a Radio Room dial (crown positioned on the left) and a very cool looking orange dialled one. The concept looks good. The principal differences between that concept and the Buyalov Radioroom are that the concept watch seems to have had a metal body (which might have been a bit heavy considering the size of the watch), slot head screw fixings and different hands. I wonder why the Amfibia Akula designs never came to be put into manufacture?

As I mentioned, I was apprehensive about the size of the watch. I have a 7 ½ inch wrist and it is certainly a big watch and it is the height which is most noticeable. However it is a fun watch and it is getting a lot of wrist time. It’s perhaps a little over the top for my usual smart casual work clothes but, outside of work, it is my go to watch at the moment. The carbon fibre case makes this a light watch for its size. It weighs in at 127g. The Amfibia Red Sea weighs in at around 227g by comparison. Someone at Watchseek F10 spotted that it is reminsicent of the Raketa “UFO” – you can see this and read some interesting (divisive) opinions about this watch in this thread at Watchseek. I like the design, it reminds me of the wrist worn scuba diver’s analogue depth gauges, and it is a lot of fun. It also has echoes of the Seiko Prospex “Baby Tuna” and the Stuckx “The RocK” (a little bit more subtle though!) watches. It is certainly unusual and a little bit unusual. The carbon fibre construction is a nice touch.

It will be very interesting to see what other designs Dmitry has in mind and what he intends to do with the Buyalov brand in the future. Hopefully it will be a something that he can have a lot of fun with outside the constraints of the Vostok brand and I wish him great success.

Price at release was $230 autumn 2018.