Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65

When is an Komandirskie not a Komandirskie? When it is the Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65!

The Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65 range was first released in early 2018. On examination it appears to be a Komandirskie in an a Vostok Amphibia 670 case – or in a very similar case at least! I really like the 670 case shape, although I think the standard 670 dials are a little boring, it is a smart design and a good size on the wrist. So, arguably, one might say that the K-65 could be a Vostok Amphibia in disguise.

The Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65 range comprises a variety of different models (14 in total, I think) including some rather colourful designs in fairly bright red, green, blue and yellow. There are also 6 or so with primarily black dial designs. There appear to be two main dial designs, two for each colour and a couple of extra designs for the black dials.

All of the 65s are fitted with Vostok’s workhorse 31 jewel 2416B automatic movement except where noted below:

Red – 650840 (2415.01 movement) and 650841

Green – 650858 and 650856 (2415.01 movement)

Blue – 650853 and 650852 (2415.01 movement)

Yellow – 650855 and 650859 (2415.01 movement)

Black – 650540 (2415.01 movement), 650538, 650537 and 650536

As far as I undertand it the 2415.01 movement is essentially the same as the 2416 but without a date wheel. The watches mentioned above are all “standard” 12 hour, 3 handed watches. There are also a couple of more unusual styles:

Black – 650541 (2431 movement, 24 hour style)

Black – 650539 (2426.12 movement, early GMT style with seconds sub dial) – the watch reveiwed here.

One notable thing about the range was the introduction of some new Vostok bezels. They are all stainless steel. Some are solid stainless steel, like the 24 hour bezel on 650539 below, and some of them are stainless steel with a coloured bezel insert. The bezel insert either matches the dial colour of the watch or is in black.

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539 (20)

Vostok Komandirskie “Commander” Watch – A little background

The first Komandirskie watches were released in 1965 when the Chistopol watch factory became the official supplier of watches to the Soviet Ministry of Defence. A watch that was supplied to the military would have the inscription “3AKA3 MO CCCP” and these original vintage watches are quite sought after by collectors.

If the Vostok Amphibia is the company’s dive watch, its older relative, the Komandirskie, has always been much more of a military, field style watch. There are a myriad of Komandirskie case shapes which have similar tough and solid designs to the Amphibia. Far more than different Amphibia styles I would think. In fact there are 265 Komandirskie models listed on Meranom as of October 2018! Compared to the Amphibia, the majority of Komandirskies are manual winding, non waterproof watches which often feature lots of military related symbols, logos and crests on the dial. There are too many different styles to mention here.

In recent years there has been quite a few Komandirskies released, like the Classic 65 range, that have higher grade finishes, automatic movements and/or waterproofing etc. In addition to the Classic 65 there is also the more expensive Komandirksie Automatic range which features the K-34, K-39, K-46 and K-65. It would appear that the Classic 65 range has much more in common with the Komandirksie Automatic range than the “standard” classic range.

In my opinion, the Komandirskies are not as “cool” as the Amphibias designs and I only have about half a dozen in my collection. However, when I saw the 650539 I was intrigued.

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539 (6)
Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539

As mentioned above the Komandirskie Classic 65 appears to be in a very similar case to the Amphibia 670. You can read my review of the 670 case shape here and here. The dimensions of the case are 41mm in width without the crown, 49mm lug to lug, depth 15mm and it has a lug width of 20mm. The case is brushed stainless steel with a tidy angular design, however the case edges feel a bit sharper than those of the polished 670. Here is a picture of the two side by side.

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539 and 670
Vostok 670s

The freely moving bi-directional bezel on this watch is solid stainless steel with a nice grip to the edges. It is slightly wider in diameter than the bezel on the 670 (approximately 41.5mm as opposed to 40mm) and this extra width seems to make the bezel seem more imposing. This is a 24 hour bezel with black markings, numeral at 2,4, 6 etc. and black lines for the odd hour marks. There is inverted lumed triangle at the top of the bezel. It is a smart looking design.

The Komandirskie Classic 650539 features Vostok’s “Orca” style screw down case back which features a killer whale (Orcinus orca) leaping out of the sea against the rays of the rising sun. The case also has the words “automatic and “waterproof 200m” in Cyrillic. I have seen the Orca case back on other Vostok watches before and it has been around for a while. I am not sure what it signifies though. Perhaps it is for Komandirskie watches which are waterproof ?

Vostok Komandirskie Orca Caseback

The movement in the Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65 is Vostok’s 2426.12. This is an automatic, 31 jewel movement. It features a central hour and minute hand with a third 24 hour hand. There is also an off centre seconds hand. This third hand sweeps round the clock face once in 24 hours. Using this third hand in combination with the bezel means that a second time-zone can be monitored. I believe this to be a GMT movement. Some argue that it is not a GMT movement because the third hand cannot be set independently. However it is exactly the same as the movements featured in early GMT watches. Some people prefer to call this type of movement a dual time movement. The 2426.12 movement seems to be one of the lesser used movements and it is not seen in many Vostok watches. It can be found in two Vostok Amphibia Special Editions that I have in my collection, the SE 150520S and SE 650521S.

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539 case back

The military-themed dial is a matt black colour, with mainly white markings. There are Arabic numerals at 12, 2, 4, 6, and 8 and plain white lines indices to mark the other hour points. The subsidiary seconds dial sits off centre between the 9 and 11 o’clock positions. The minutes indices around the edge of the dial are 60 simple white line divisions. The lume is fairly good and there are 12 simple dots of lume marking the outside of the hour markers. The subsidiary seconds dial matches the main dial and is also matt black. It is split into 60 divisions with numerals marked 15, 30, 45 and 60. The dial also features the Cyrillic words “Komandirskie” to the left of the 3 o’clock mark, “31 jewels” above the 6 o’clock and “Made in Russia” at the bottom of the dial. The Komandirskie Automatic logo sits just below the centre of the dial and consists of a red star and red downward pointing double chevron. So, with this branding it is a little confusing as to why this watch sits in the “Classic” range rather than the Komandirskie Automatic range.

The hour and minute hands appear to be the standard Amphibia-style arrow set – steel coloured with a central strip of lume. The third 24 hour hand is red with a lumed arrow head and the seconds hand in the subsidiary dial is red. The watch has a typcial Amphibia style domed acrylic crystal, the unsigned crown screws down and is made from stainless steel with acceptable, grippy grooves.

Vostok Komandirskie Classic 650539

The supplied watch bracelet is made from folded / pressed stainless solid steel links but it is cleverly done so that the sides of the bracelet look solid. They aren’t. The outer links are brushed whilst the centre links are polished. There is a locking clasp with two side release buttons and it is decorated with the word “Boctok”.

Vostok Bracelet

I have only one real complaint about this watch. The bracelet end links that attach to the watch case are pretty thin. This means that where bracelet is attached there seems to be quite a large gap between the bracelet and the case body which I think looks rather untidy. So for, me it would seem that it would be better if this watch was fitted with a strap with a bit of thickness (like the rubber one on the 670) or perhaps with a Nato-style strap to close this gap. I think the picture below demonstrates this.

Vostok 650539
Vostok Komandirskie

Overall I think the Vostok Komandirskie Classic 65 is a good-looking watch. I like the dual time movement and subsidiary dial and I think that replacing the bracelet really improves total look (getting rid of that pesky gap I don’t like) The bezel also looks cool and feels a little bit more solid and “premium” than some other Vostok bezels. If I were to make a small modification and change the bezel, I think it would suit an aftermarket bezel which could be fitted with a 24 hour red / black “Coke” style bezel insert.

As an little bit of an afterthought I thought I would try it out on some other straps on this watch. It turns out that I didn’t seem to have any 20mm spare straps in my collection, so I decided to purchase a few to try out.

The straps featured are:

  1. Barton Watch Bands Canvas Watch Strap in Dark Smoke quick release pins
  2. Zuludiver Hybrid NATO in Burgundy
  3. Zuludiver 503.J Genuine Leather US Type NATO in Dark Brown
  4. Zuludiver Seat Belt NATO Watch Strap in Desert Sand

The Zuludiver straps were purchased from WatchGecko and the Barton Watch Bands strap came from Amazon UK (I was in a hurry!). I can’t work out which combo I prefer. The NATO in desert sand really adds to the military feel of the watch, I like the “seat belt” effect, but I think the Barton Watch Band looks pretty good too. The Barton strap seems really well made and the quick release pins are nice touch.

What do you think?

Price of watch in 2018 $78.00



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