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VOSTOK RADIO ROOM REFERENCE & BUYING GUIDE

Last updated on: November 22, 2020

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The Vostok Radio Room (also known as Radio Room Operator or “RR” / “RRO”) is the perfect
example of a popular (some would say iconic) model from the Chistopol watch factory. All the
components of success are present: brilliant dial design with actual meaning, limited quantity
initial run(s) resulting in long discussions about “original” watches vs frankens and, of course,
multiple reeditions.
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Table of Contents 
1. Radio Room Dial Design
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2. History of the Vostok Radio Room NEW ARTICLES!
3. Different Versions of the Vostok Radio Room ZERO SPAM GUARANTEED.
3.1. Vostok Radio Room: First Series
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3.1.1. Dial
3.1.2. Case
3.1.3. Movement
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3.1.4. Bezel
3.1.5. Hands I give my consent to Vintage Watch Inc. to be
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3.1.6. Caseback news, updates and marketing.
3.2. Vostok Radio Room: Second Series
3.3. Vostok Radio Room Generalskie
3.4. White Radio Room Watchuseek & Orologiando Limited Edition
3.5. Limited Radio Room Editions from Meranom
3.6. Standard Amphibia Radio Room LIKE US ON FACEBOOK
4. What Radio Room should I buy?

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RADIO ROOM DIAL DESIGN 2,214 likes

What’s the meaning behind this strange dial design? As you can see, there are four periods of 3
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minutes each highlighted on the dial: two periods in pink (0-3 minutes and 30-33 minutes)
and two periods in red (15-18 minutes and 45-48 minutes).

This design replicates ship radio room clocks and the colored segments are used in maritime
distress call monitoring. In the beginning of the 20th century, the 500 KHz radio frequency
was designated as one of the standard communication frequencies for vessels and shore
stations. With growing sea traffic, this frequency often became congested which may have
played a role in the sinking of Titanic. FEATURED ARTICLES

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Titanic sinks: The Boston Daily Globe headline

SEIKO 6138 VINTAGE

After the 1912 disaster, the 500 KHz CHRONOGRAPHS GUIDE
frequency was definitely established as
the one to be used for seagoing
communications. In order to mitigate
congestion issues, it was decided to
ban all non-distress communications
every hour, during two periods of three
minutes each: 15-18 minutes and 45- SEIKO 6138 UFO / YACHTMAN
48 minutes. The early radio room REFERENCE GUIDE
clocks, therefore, featured only two
colored segments on the dials, like the
Chelsea clock shown in the picture.

Starting from 1947, an additional

distress frequency of 2182 KHz was
designated. It was more suitable for
distress signals thanks to its VOSTOK DESERT SHIELD: THE
Early radio room clock with two radio silence periods
significantly increased communication ULTIMATE REFERENCE GUIDE
range. At the same time, two additional
hourly radio silence periods were introduced: 0-3 minutes and 30-33 minutes. As a
consequence, radio room clock designs were updated to incorporate the new silence periods.

Radio room on the cruise ship MS Baltic Star. You can see the clock on the wall featuring four radio silence periods /
Source: seefunknetz.de

The Vostok Radio Room replicates the radio room clock with its four silence periods. However,
it must be said that the color scheme here is not really traditional: actual radio room clocks
usually had white dials with red 500 KHz silence periods and blue, green or pink 2182 KHz
silence periods.

Vostok Radio Room dial featuring silence periods

HISTORY OF THE VOSTOK RADIO ROOM

Let’s begin by stating what the Vostok Radio Room is not: I’m fairly sure that it wasn’t
produced for the Russian Navy, so it’s not a military order. Why? First of all, the dial doesn’t
feature “Zakaz” (as written on watches that were ordered by the army). Furthermore, it’s
difficult to imagine that a military order could have such an unconventional color scheme for a
watch that would be a working instrument for a radio room operator (as previosuly said,
usually these watches have a white dial).

More importantly, at the time the watch was conceived (most likely 1989-1990), a radio room
operator wouldn’t really need a manual instrument anymore to monitor radio silence periods,
everything was being automated and digitalized.

So what are the origins of the Vostok Radio Room? The first versions of the watch were part of
the “Albatros” series. These watches with different thematic dials were produced for a few
years at the end of the 1980s and on the brink of the 90s. Some of them, if not all, were initially
created for export purposes and in collaboration with foreign trading companies based in Italy,
Germany or the United States. At that time, Soviet militaria was quite popular abroad and many
firms took advantage of the excellent price/quality ratio offered by watches produced in
Chistopol.

I’ve read all the discussions about Radio Room on various forums and I think the most
plausible version is that initially the RR was designed and ordered by a foreign company. Then,
after the first run, the Vostok factory printed more Radio Room dials and offered additional
watches for sale.

Vostok Radio Room NOS with its passport dated February 1990 / Source: WUS @rubbersoul

That initial run is dated February 1990 and there were plenty of NOS (New Old Stock) watches
from this batch sold on the bay starting from 2005. According to one of the sellers, this batch
of 8,000 watches (it’s unclear whether these 8k included only RR or there were other models)
was first exported to China, then to Hong Kong. Afterward part of it was sold to the US and the
rest was offered for sale through eBay.

One watch dated 1989 was also reported. It sported a black bezel, unlike watches
from the February 1990 batch that had chromed bezels. It’s unclear whether it was a
prototype or simply a documents mismatch.

There was some questioning regarding this first run, because there were important gaps
between serial numbers, suggesting huge produced quantities. However, I think it’s more
likely that the serial numbers were struck on casebacks (which are standard for many different
amphibians) before being attributed to particular watches and printed on corresponding
passports. Probably no conspiracy here.

Vostok Radio Room – First (left) and Second (right) run

The first “export” batch was likely followed by another batch produced by the factory on its
own. If you compare the two dials presented above, you will see that the one on the left – part
of the first run – doesn’t feature the Vostok logo (B). Whereas the one on the right, which I
think is part of the second run, has the Vostok logo instead of “17 jewels” (17 камней)
inscription. This reminds me of the Vostok Desert Shield story, where we have a similar
timeline (first order by a foreign importer, followed by releases from the factory).

Please take this with a grain of salt. We don’t have any documentary evidence to
confirm the “most likely scenario” presented above. It could very well be the other
way around!

The story of the Vostok Radio Room doesn’t stop with these two batches. There were additional
versions produced by the factory in the 90s and many more modern reissues. Let’s try to cover
them one by one and learn how to avoid frankenwatches.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE VOSTOK RADIO ROOM

VOSTOK RADIO ROOM: FIRST SERIES

As previously said, I think that the first series is the batch dated February 1990. These watches
have some specific characteristics.

DIAL

First Series Dial

The black dial has the following markings:

“Albatros” (Альбатрос) at 10-11 o’clock

“17 jewels” (17 камней) right below
An anchor at 5 o’clock
“Made in USSR” (Сделано в СССР) at 6 o’clock

There are lume points for every hour marker.

Beware of fake Radio Room dials! There’s this version in particular that is quite prominent on
the bay. No lume points, different anchor and overall bad printing quality are signs to look for:

Vostok Radio Room with a fake dial: buyers beware

CASE

Vostok Radio Room First Series in the 470 case

The Radio Room is housed in my very favorite Vostok Amphibia case, the octagonal #470. This
case is made of stainless steel and features some nice radial brushing, as you can see in the
pictures. The RR model number (470444) includes the case number (first three digits: 470) and
the design number (last three digits: 444).

Note: while doing research for this article, I also found pictures of the exact same watch with
papers dated April 1990:

Vostok Radio Room dated April 1990

As you can see, the passport is not identical to the February batch and looks like a traditional
Vostok passport. The model number (470444) is correct. To be honest, I don’t really know
what to think of it. Perhaps a left-over from the batch that was exported?

There is another variant of the Vostok octagonal case, its number is 320. It’s very
similar to the #470 except for the fact that the #320 is polished (whereas the #470 is
brushed). I’ve seen some watches from the first series in the 320 case. However, I find
it a bit strange because it doesn’t match the model number in the documents (if the
watch uses a 320 case, model number should be 320444 instead of 470444).

MOVEMENT

Vostok Radio Room 2409A movement with the specific marking / Source: montres-russes.org @yomcok

The watch is powered by a manual-winding, 17 jewels movement 2409A. Beating at 19,800

bph, this caliber is very reliable and can be quite precise when properly serviced. Power reserve
is 40-45 hours. The movements that equipped Radio Rooms have a specific inscription on the
bridge, in red: “SEVENTEEN JEWELS MADE IN USSR”. Note that if the movement gets an
ultrasonic bath, the inscription may disappear. The antimagnetic shield should be present.

BEZEL

Bezel with numbers (left / source: montres-russes.org @Leflat) and bezel with arrows (right)

Two versions of the bezel seem legitimate for the first series. Both feature a lume point. The
first one has numbers 10, 20, 30 (in black), 40 and 50 (in red). The second one has two black
arrows and one red arrow.

HANDS

The Radio Room features standard hands for a Vostok Amphibia: arrow hour hand, sword
minute hand and a red second hand with a lume dot. Hour and minute hands are lumed and
have chromed borders.

CASEBACK

The caseback has the following markings (top to bottom):

“Waterproof 200 M” (Водонепроницаемые 200 М)

“Amphibia” (Амфибия)
Serial number
“Shock-proof” (Противоударные)

VOSTOK RADIO ROOM: SECOND SERIES

Vostok Radio Room Second Series

The main difference of the second series is that the dial markings are slightly different. Indeed,
instead of the number of jewels under “Albatros”, watches from the second series sport the
Vostok logo (B).

There are less known examples to be found online, so it’s difficult to determine with certainty
the “canonical” second series Radio Room. According to my observations, the second series
has the following elements:

Dial: Vostok logo (B) under “Albatros” at 10-11 o’clock

Case: octagonal brushed (#470) or polished (#320), or round amphibia case (less
frequent).
Movement: 2409A manual movement. Antimagnetic shield.
Bezel: similar to the first series if the watch is housed in an octagonal case (even though
mine initially didn’t have a lume point: perhaps a replacement?), or a standard amphibia
bezel with a lume point if it’s a round case.
Hands: standard amphibia hands.
Caseback: standard amphibia caseback.

Vostok Radio Room in the round amphibia case / Source: IG @tick.tack.tick.tack

The version in the round amphibia case is the only one appearing in Vostok catalogs as far as I
know:

Vostok Radio Room in the 1993(?) Vostok catalog

VOSTOK RADIO ROOM GENERALSKIE

 Vostok Radio Room Generalskie / Source: WUS @Lucidor

This is a very interesting variant. I’ve heard that it was made in 1994-1995 for the Italian
market, but I have no hard evidence.

The case of this watch looks like a Komandirskie case, but it’s actually a specific Generalskie
case, slightly bigger in order to allow an automatic movement 2416.Б to fit inside.
Unfortunately, this case is not made from stainless steel; it’s a chrome-plated brass case. As a
result, sometimes you find these watches in pitiful condition.

The dial has a custom design, if you look at it closely you’ll notice that numbers are slightly
smaller than on Albatros dials above. It has the following markings:

“Generalskie” (Генеральские) at 12 o’clock

“Chistopol” (Чистополь) at 7-8 o’clock
An anchor at 5 o’clock
“Made in USSR” (Сделано в СССР) at 6 o’clock

Here are some more pics of this beautiful watch by WUS user Lucidor:

Vostok Radio Room Generalskie / Source: WUS @Lucidor

WHITE RADIO ROOM WATCHUSEEK & OROLOGIANDO LIMITED EDITION

Vostok White Radio Room Watchuseek & Orologiando Limited Edition

In 2010, two watch forums came up with a limited edition Radio Room that was produced by
Vostok. Only 200 pieces were released.

LIMITED RADIO ROOM EDITIONS FROM MERANOM

In 2013-2014, Meranom (one of the official distributors of Vostok watches) released a limited
edition sporting a Radio Room dial. It was available in various cases and with several dial
variations. It received a pretty warm welcome from the community and all the batches quickly
sold out. Here is a gallery of different models by Meranom that I found in the corresponding
thread on forum.watch.ru:

Vostok Radio Room Limited Editions by Meranom

STANDARD AMPHIBIA RADIO ROOM

Regular Amphibia Radio Room

Finally, there’s the regular, readily available amphibia version (you can even find it on
Amazon), recognizable by the inscription “Amphibia” (Амфибия) at 12 o’clock.

WHAT RADIO ROOM SHOULD I BUY?

You’re on a vintage watch site, so I can only recommend going for the original watch, either
from the first or the second series. Fortunately, even though the Radio Room is not the most
common design, it’s not as rare as, say, a Vostok Compressor.

The dial is by far the most important part. Hands can be replaced or relumed, the bezel is quite
easy to find, the octagonal case is not particularly rare… But that dial is unique, so make sure
you get an authentic one in good condition. Purists will pay attention to the red marking on the
movement bridge. If you’re going for a full set, ask the seller for a scan/photo of the passport.
Matching serial number on the caseback is not sufficient to verify the authenticity: carefully
check the model number (шифр внешнего оформления) as well.

The most popular strap option seems to be black and red nato, but black leather or rubber also
works very well.

Like This Watch?

Vostok Radio Room

Use this buying guide to find a correct Vostok
Radio Room, preferably from the first or second
series. Aim for an authentic dial in good
condition!

Check Prices on eBay

FURTHER READING : LEARN MORE ABOUT VOSTOK AND SOVIET WATCH INDUSTRY

Vostok: Brand Overview

Vostok Amphibian Nvch-30 Reference Guide
Vostok Desert Shield Reference Guide
7 Reasons to Buy a Soviet Vintage Watch

REFERENCES

1. mullard.org, Titanic & the ship’s radio room clock

2. montres-russes.org (French forum about Russian watches), threads 1 & 2
3. forum.watch.ru, thread about the Radio Room (in Russian)

!
Vintage Watch Inc
"
Dennis is the founder and editor of Vintage Watch Inc. Passionate about
Soviet and Japanese vintage timepieces and a finance professional by day, he
# proudly wears a Seiko Pogue with his suit.

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