Soviet Watch Museum

Description

A second-generation Strela chronograph with a telemeter scale, produced by the First Moscow Watch Factory in the early 1960s. It was in a watch of this type that Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov performed his spacewalk on March 18, 1965 — an important milestone in the history of space exploration. During the early years of production, chronographs powered by the 3017 movement were made in annual batches of 5,000 pieces and were distributed primarily among military personnel, scientists, and government officials. Beginning in 1965, the Strela name disappeared from the dial, as all watches of this line began to be branded Poljot. As a result, fewer than 20,000 Strela chronographs were produced by the First Moscow Watch Factory over approximately five years of production starting in 1959.

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