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jml_watches revisits his Poljot alarm watch, a piece he's cherished for nearly a decade. This post delves into his journey of discovering alarm complications as an accessible alternative to high-end minute repeaters, highlighting the unique appeal and enduring charm of his specific Poljot model.
I’m sure you’ve seen me post picture of this - my Poljot alarm more than once. I’ve had it now for approaching ten years and I’m still can’t get over how much I still like it.
It was one of my first forays into buying a watch that was a bit more interesting, I started to realise that you could have a watch that did more than just tell the time. Somehow I became aware that you could have a watch that made a sound, but soon realised minute repeaters and the like - were and still are way out of my budget. Though truth to be told my Grail watch is a minute repeater - the probability of getting it is just vanishingly remote.
When I started looking I realised that perhaps I could get an alarm watch - which would combine getting a watch that had a complication and also one that made a sound. But also one that I could afford. After a bit more searching Poljot alarms started to pop up with a degree of regularity - the good thing was that they were cheap (not even relatively) and that there was a range to choose from.
Why choose this one ? Well the Blue dial stuck out at the time and it still does - its almost iridescent. Love the wiggly hand for the alarm function, which adds more character to the watch for me. Its mean’t to be part of a limited edition of 500 - but I still see some like it, do I care - not really. For me its just a nice watch that had a function that I wanted and it was, looking back, unbelievably cheap. There are other versions with the same case and look - I’ve seen both a black dialed version and a rather wonderful burgundy dialed edition too. The case itself has a mixture of polished and brushed surfaces the case back has the legend Poljot on it and limited edition of 276/500. The case back has always been a bit scratched - but that never bothered me either. It also has crown horns for each of the crowns, which always struck me as a bit odd, as it was never going to go anywhere near water or isn’t really a tool watch.
From what I can gather the movement is a Poljot 2612.1 and is considered to be a Soviet copy of an AS1475 (Being a fan of Alarm watches I’ve got The Alarm Wristwatch by Michael Philip Horbleck, where this info is from). Though there are a number of changes to the AS1475 design the main one being its 0.6 mm bigger . There are other changes & I’d recommend you to read the book, as I’m no expert I’d refer you to the original source material. Looking at the pictures in the book I think it would be safe to describe the finishing as industrial!
When I was looking at getting this I searched the web and one or two reviews stuck out - there’s a really good one on a burgundy dialled version of the watch and a few others that I read through before hand. Think the summation was that the variability in what you got was quite significant - I’ve always thought I’ve got a ‘good’ one. It recently started loosing time so it was time for a service and I’m pleased to say that I’ve got it back quickly & in fine fettle. The only thing to note was that the service cost more than the watch did originally - but its given me back a correctly working watch so thats all good. Its also worth noting that the service was still cheap, especially when you compare it to some of the more expensive watches that I have.
To sum it it up, its a great watch that was cheap, its durable and its performs and looks like it cost a whole lot more. If there’s a downside - its that it got me interested in alarm watches in general & a Lanco Fon, Vulcain, Oris Wrist Alarm later I’m still going. There’s definitely something about a small mechanical alarm that’s strapped to your wrist.
Cheers
JML
As you know I love the alarm complication as well! :) Have seen your photos of this one earlier, but never picked up on the strong crown guards before... Thank you for showing this one in more details! Best Blomman
It seem that the love affair is still going strong. I hope the next person searching for reviews will land on your post which will definitely validate their purchase. Thanks Bill
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