Vostok Amphibia Classic 170893
I have been struggling to keep up with blog posts recently having been kept pretty busy with work. There have been all sorts of new Vostoks, 170 releases, special edition 710s from Meranom and I also found out that Soviet Market have started releasing Special Editions beginning with a rather good-looking watch to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Vostok 1 satellite on April 12, 1961. Mine should be en route from Russia soon.
In the meantime, a recent addition to my collection was the Vostok Amphibia Classic 170893. A big green monster, I guess it could be nicknamed the “The Hulk”. The basic 170893 dial design is featured in three different 170 models. This one, the green dialled 170893, the fully lumed dial 170891 and the dark blue dialled 170894. The green one is similar in style to my Vostok Amphibia Classic 150348 Mod.
The Vostok 170 case shape is becoming a favourite of mine. As I like to remind everyone, the 170 is the 090 case with the lug space cut out and I find that the 170 sits on my seven and a half inch wrist very nicely (the 170 is actually a brushed 150 case). I wrote in a bit more depth about the 170 case in an earlier blog post. The brushed stainless steel case is around 41mm across, 46mm lug to lug and has a depth of 15mm. The lug width is 22mm, which allows for a good sized strap. The screw down case back features a design that is new to me with an anchor sitting over the top of a compass rose and concentric circular pattern.
The case back features the Cyrillic for Amphibia, 200m, Anti-Shock and Automatic (I think!). The movement is the 31 jewel Vostok 2416, Vostok’s workhorse self-winding movement that is used in many Vostok models, and the crown is stainless steel with Boctok capital B logo.
The Vostok Amphibia Classic 170893 dial is a sunburst, green colour, iridescent and shimmering in the light. Unlike the dark, emerald green of the 710 Icebreaker, this is a more of a dark moss green. The dial has a simple white minute scale around the edge. There are lumed, raised hour markers as 12, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Outside of these markers is a small dot of lume. There is a date window at 3 o’clock with a simple steel border framing the white date wheel with black numerals. The remaining hour markers are inward pointing, bevelled, triangles. The remaining details on the dial are the Cyrillic for Amphibia below 12 o’clock, made in Russia at the very bottom of the dial and 31 jewels above the 6 o’clock mark.
The bezel is one of the more modern style of Amphibia bezels; a stainless steel bezel with a classic diver’s style green aluminium bezel insert. There is a lume pip at the 12 o’clock mark of the bezel. The hand set is classic, Amphibia, an arrow hour hand, a pointed baton minute hand (both lumed) and an orange-red “lollipop” style seconds hands with a lume pip.
The Vostok Amphibia Classic 170893 came on a pretty standard Vostok bracelet. It felt more uncomfortable than usual for some reason and I immediate switched it over for a light brown leather strap, which is not only very comfortable, but I think looks a whole lot better than the bracelet.
Purchased from komandirskie.com for approximately $104 in November 2021.