Soviet Watch Museum

Description

Many people know the story of Yuri Gagarin’s watch — the one he wore into space. In fact, however, another watch had already been to space before the famous Sturmanskie. It belonged to Dr. Abraham Genin, a Soviet researcher in aviation and space medicine. The story goes as follows. Genin had grown tired of his Pobeda watch, which he had received as an award during his military service. Seeing how well it had survived all kinds of rough treatment — including swimming with it — he decided to strap it to a dog, hoping he would never see the watch again. The mission was successful: the dog, Chernushka — “Blackie” — returned safely home. But thanks to the personal engraving on the watch’s caseback, the authorities quickly identified the person behind this unauthorized stunt. As a result, Dr. Genin found himself in trouble.

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