Vostok Amphibia SE Icebreaker
SE 710B46S (Green) and SE 710B45S (Blue)
The Vostok Amphibia SE Icebreaker is a small range of special edition watches that was released by Meranom in the autumn of 2020. There were four different watches available with three different coloured dials: orange (710B44S), green (710B46S) and blue (710B45S). All of these were available on rubber tropical style straps, whilst the blue was also available on a bracelet (710B45B). The dials all have a very attractive sunburst effect. Perhaps most unusually for a Vostok Amphibia, the bezels are stainless steel with a black PVD coating. In addition to the 710 Icebreakers, there were also three special edition Icebreakers released in the 020 case in blue (SE 020B50), black (SE 020B49) and orange (SE 020B51). I much preferred the sunburst dials of the 710s and didn’t pick up any of the 020s.
The Amphibia 710 case style is widely known as the Ministry case and I have written about it many times before (check out one of my earliest blog posts). I think I am correct in saying that these special editions are the first time the 710 has been available straight from the Chistopolcity factory with a brushed case (put away your scouring pads!). When I first started collecting Vostok watches the 710 was easily my favourite case shape. I found the 420 case a little small, whilst the 22mm lug width means than one can fit a reasonably chunky strap. Recently I have really been enjoying the 150 and 170 case types but, actually, buying the Icebreaker watches has really reminded me of how much I like the ministry case.
All of the of the Vostok Amphibia SE Icebreakers feature Vostok’s 2416B movement, a 17 jewel, self-winding movement, and are water resistant to a depth of 200m. The bi-directional bezel is a standard Amphibia bezel which has a black PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) coating with a matt finish. The bezel has white markings on the black: numeral markings at 15, 30 and 45, a back to back chevron marker at 12 o’clock and simple markings in between. I have never been a fan of PDV coating; one of the first watches I bought was a PVD coated Christopher Ward Chronograph. I wore it a lot and the PVD coating soon rubbed away in places giving the watch a rather shabby rather than a nice worn in appearance. I haven’t worn the Icebreakers much yet, so I am not sure how quickly or, indeed, whether the PDV coating will easily wear. If truth be told, I am not that keen on the bezels, I was more attracted to the dial designs. Looking at Watchuseek F10, it seems that plenty of Vostok Icebreaker owners have already swapped their bezels out for an alternative. One thing, I should mentions, is the bezel does actually have very good lume, check out the lume shot a little further down the page.
As I mentioned above, the 710 Icebreaker dials have an attractive, iridescent, sunburst finish. The green dial is a dark, emerald green colour and reminds me a little of the dial on the Seiko Alpinist SARB017, although it is a little darker. The blue dial is a dark, navy blue colour. Around the outside of the dial is a simple, steel coloured chapter ring. The outer part of the dial has a simple white minute markers. The hour markers are simple, bevelled, polished steel markers. The marker at 12 o’clock is shaped like a Bishop’s mitre with a couple of bevels which catch the light nicely. There is a date window at 3 o’clock. The date numerals are white on a black background and the date window is surround by a bevelled steel border. Inside each of the hour markers is a simple dot of lume. The dial features the word “Boctok” under the 12 o’clock, “АНТИМАГНИТНЫЕ” (antimagnetic) above the 6 o’clock and, at the very bottom “Сделано в России” (made in Russia). The crown is stainless steel and features the classic Boctok capital B logo.
The hour and minute hands are the typical Meranom Special Edition wide batons, filled with Superluminova lume, ending in short needle point at the tip. The seconds hand is orange / red coloured “lollipop” needle, a needle with a circular shape towards the tip again filled with lume. The overall lume (dial, bezel, hands) seems very good and is a bright green colour.
The Vostok Amphibia SE Icebreaker case back features the Cyrillic for “Icebreaker Special Series” along with a stylised logo of an Icebreaker ship. I haven’t taken the back off the watches to have a look yet, but, as per the dial, Meranom has confirmed that this is an antimagnetic case back. A little bit of internet research would suggest that the image is based on Russia’s new flagship icebreaker, the nuclear-powered Arktika, said to be the world’s biggest and most powerful, which entered service in November 2020. It is cool looking case back. If there is one criticism, the etching does not seem quite a deep as previous case back designs, which also made it hard to photograph.
When I bought the watches, those on the silicon straps were sold $130 each, the blue dialed Icebreaker with a bracelet (710B45B) was $150.00. I like these silicon tropical straps and I find them very comfortable. The dials on these watches are really attractive and make for a good-looking watch. I will be experimenting with some different bezels though. I am already toying with the idea of swapping the bezels for a simple, clean bezel or perhaps something with a black bezel insert. Any ideas?
I also now have in my possession the orange dialled 710B44S and will post some photographs of this soon.