I have made it a point not to impose my Soviet Russian horological mania on you guys. I didn't even bother you when a super-rare late 1960s Soviet copy of the Bulova Accutron came my way.

But this one I think you will enjoy. It is the legendary Poljot 2200. At 1.85 mm, it is the thinnest Soviet mechanical movement ever produced and one of the thinnest mechanical movements ever produced anywhere in the world. Made circa 1965 by the 1st Moscow Watch Factory and housed in a solid .583 (14K) gold case, it is so rare that up until this piece was offered to me by a seller deep in the old Soviet empire, I had never seen one in the flesh anywhere, let alone one for sale. Inquiries to all my Russian watch friends around the world produced a similar blank.

I only knew that it existed from an image in an old 1970 Soviet Watch catalog and from a one-sentence description with a small photo in Andrew Babanin’s authoritative history of Soviet watch movements: “…2200 caliber - 1,85 mm (22mm diameter, no central seconds, no shock protection) - extremely rare, it was not successful - bridges deformed easily, produced from 1965.” Yet, here it sits, in my collection. Even more amazing, it’s in perfect working order and it keeps good time. Only the crown has been replaced (though poorly) and that will have to be fixed eventually. Here are a few photos. To see others, visit my website-- [Browser Search ifor 'USSRtime'] -- and view number 0628, or use the custom search function to search for ‘2200’. -- Mark

Edited for Editor's Pick This message has been edited by SJX on 2008-08-11 01:25:27

Edited to include browser search keywords