A Soviet Design Classic – The Raketa Kopernik
When it comes to listing famous watchmaking countries, most people could name Switzerland, Japan and maybe Germany or France, if they had only a passing interest in watches. However there is one region that arguably surpasses those in terms of the level of fanaticism of its collectors, and that is the former Soviet Union. Russia and the USSR have a rather rich horological history, with a large number of manufacturers in operation over quite a long period of time. What most of the brands lacked in high end mechanics and expensive hand-finishing compared to their European counterparts, they made up for with an astonishing array of unique designs, robustness and hearty doses of utilitarianism. Soviet-era watches scored wins for the USSR during the Cold War too, as it was a…