Vostok Komandirskie 030787

I have been trying hard to reign in my watch buying recently but new models keep appearing! This is the new Vostok Komandirskie 03, the 030787, which was released, alongside model 030786, in autumn 2019. Both watches are the same the only difference is that whilst the 030787 is black with gold numerals on the dial and bezel, the 030789 is black with red numerals.

Whilst the other watches in the Komandirskie 03 range are very much military in design, these two new models appear to take design cues from vintage diver’s watches. I suppose they could be described as “field divers”. They are reminiscent of vintage diver’s watches like Rodania (whose hands I think Vostok Amphibia owners will find familiar!) and Longines.

I don’t feel the need to describe the Vostok Komandirskie 03 case in depth. It appears to be identical to the Vostok Amphiba 02 case that has recently been used for some Meranom special editions (SE) – check out my reviews of the Vostok Amphibia SE 020B37 and the Vostok Amphibia SE 020678S for more pictures and information. So perhaps this is an 02 when it is used for an Amphibia and an 03 when it is used for a Komandirskie.

The Vostok Komandirskie 030787 is fitted with Vostok’s 2416, a 31 jewel, self-winding, automatic movement. The Komandirskie 03 case is a pretty “classic” shape measuring 41mm across, 48mm lug to lug with a depth of 15mm. The lug width is 20mm. The case stainless steel with a brushed finish. Compared to the case, the bidirectional bezel has a contrasting polished finish. The shape of the bezel is different from most common Vostok bezels and is dodecagonal (12 sided) in shape. I have seen this bezel before though. It appears to be the same as the bezel used on my old Vostok Europe K-3 Submarine. I must post some a review of that sometime. in the meantime there are some good photographs of the Vostok Europe K-3 Submarine here. The bezel itself is quite thin, sits low and the top edges between the 12 vertices are slightly scalloped out which adds to the sleek design. There is a metallic, matt black bezel insert with gold markings. The numerals at 15, 30 and 45, an inverted triangle at 12 o’clock and simple bars of for the other hour markers are all gold coloured. The triangle has a good raised lume pip. Having worn the watch a few times now, the bezel is quite tight and trying to turn it without any grip to it is pretty difficult.

(Edit 16/03/20 since I began writing this review this bezel shape has also appeared on two of the new Vostok Amphibia 170s, the 170862 and 170863 – more of these later!).

The case back is the “albatross” style case back with the rays of the sun, which seems to be new design (at least it is the first time I have seen this version). The case back has “200m” on it meaning it is water resistant to 200 metres. There is a classic Vostok crown signed with the Vostok “B” type logo.

The dial is a smart, matt black colour (or perhaps very dark grey) and features the words Komandirskie, 31 jewels and “made in Russia” at the very bottom of the dial. The outside of the dial features fairly basic minute markers in white. There are small raised markers for the hours, small rectangles for most and inverted triangles at 12, 6 and 9. The raised indices are a nice feature, something one probably would not have seen on a Vostok Komandirksie like this a few years ago. There is a date window at the 3 o’clock mark. The date window has a white outline and the numerals are white on a black background – this all ties in very nicely with the black dial and other white markings. The arabic style hour numerals are in a bronze / gold colour which matches the colours used in the bezel. I supposed it could perhaps be described as an “antique” gold colour which adds to the overall retro feel of the watch.

The hour and minute hands are straight, pencil type hands with pointed ends. They are predominantly black with a good sized, stripe of lume on each. The seconds hand is an all white needle with a lumed rectangle shape towards the tip. The hands are quite easy to read, even against the black dial, and they reach nicely to the edge of the dials and numerals. In addition to the lume pip on the bezel and the hands the the small hour makers and hourls numerals are lumed too. Obligatory crappy lume shot below!

The Vostok Komandirskie 030787 comes with a faux-alligator, padded, black leather strap with a “B” logo signed clasp. There is bronze / gold stitching in the strap which matches the colours of the bezel and the numerals on the dial. It is quite a nice strap but I am not really a fan of patterned leather but I will give it a chance before I change it. I am already thinking that it would look good on a plain brown or black leather strap or maybe a vintage style rubber dive strap.

Purchased from Komandirskie.com in October 2019 for approximately £58 / $70.