The mailman did it AGAIN!

He brought me a vintage Poljot Strela from the early 1970s (if not earlier).

The "Strela" (СТРЕЛА), meaning "Arrow," was born in 1959 as a chronograph designed specifically for Soviet Air Force commanding officers. Besides the chronograph functions, it incorporates telemetric and tachymetric scales - - one of the early "tool" watches. Like the Poljot calibre 3133, the calibre 3017 in the original Strela had Swiss origins. While the Poljot 3133 was a modified Valjoux 7734, the 3017 column-wheel movement was made using tooling for the Swiss Venus 150. A side-by-side comparison shows they are virtually identical.

The 19-jewel calibre 3017 was used in the Strela from 1959 to 1975, when it was replaced by the 3133. The Strela model was renowned for being worn during the first walk in space - - by Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on March 18, 1965.



I picked up this nice example from a highly-rated Brazilian eBay seller. The only problem: it doesn't work. Yikes! The seller reported that the watch was just fully serviced before the auction and was fully functioning. Perhaps it suffered some hard knocks during shipment. I'm having my watchmaker check it out for obvious issues. This is not a watch I want to return to the seller: it's iconic; it's in outstanding vintage condition; and I bought it at a bargain price!

Here are my first photos of it.















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damn tom, youve been on quite the roll. yet another awesome two eyed chrono. great watch!! congrats and enjoy steve

We are going to have to have an INTERVENTION soon...LOL!

Looks great on the wrist Tom!

Tom, you have just been on fire lately !!!! What's AMAZING about each of these watches as
of late, is that EVERY one of them could honestly be considered a centerpiece of a collection I
think. ..This one, just like your Bulova Accutron can literally be called an "out of this world"
watch. It's got the name, and history to back it up. Plus it genuinely just looks GREAT to tell
you the truth. Thank you for all of the extra information about the watch. From the movement,
to it's history in space. This watch really seems to be DYNAMIC ! Even if it's not working right
now. I'm sure that it can be fixed, and will fit perfectly in with the rest of your watch collection.
Have to say that this watch is UNBELIEVABLY attractive Tom. The dial looks VERY LARGE first
of all. Guess that's due to there being no bezel on the watch. It's REALLY well done imho, and
the entire dial flows together in a classy, yet sporty/technical kind of way. Definitely looks like
the kind of watch that an Astronaut, Cosmonaut, or Scientist might want to wear. It's got
a Tachymetre, which even though I'm not 100% sure how to use, is always fun, and exciting
to have on a watch. The way in which the various numbers look on the dial, as well as all of
the countless hash marks look is BEAUTIFUL. It's nice how there happen to be those various
rings of hash marks as well. You can enjoy them there on the outer, along with middle parts
of the dial. Even the sub-dials on this watch seem to keep that them going as they to have
hash marks going around them in a similar way. Also think the sun-ray dial couldn't look ANY
nicer here either. It's neat, because it has these elegant reflections the shoot from the dial,
but it does it in a very very subtle, and cool way. Another intriguing aspect here, has to be
the look of the markers, along with hands Tom ! ..You have these especially noticeable rectangle
shaped markers spread across the dial which seem to mirror the similar hand tips. It's not something
that jumps out at you, but it's still a fun feature of the watch to see. Poljot even managed to
add in some red accents in on the very end of those hands, which makes things that much
easier to see against the smooth dial. ..Hey, and they also put a red dot on the second
hand TOO ! ..Nice ! VERY NICE ! Just want toadd one more thing with dial here by saying that
the crystal helps to REALLY show it off. It's bubble-like shape, along with size, allow you to
enjoy every part of the dial imho. AWESOME stuff sir ! ..Now with the case, you can't go wrong
with a simple, no nonsense look like this. It's seems like it's built like a tank, while allowing for
comfort, and GOOD looks at the same time. Just the kind of watch that would look good here,
or up in space. By the way, the crown, along with pushers fit this watch style perfectly also.
Those long lugs work tremendously too, and it again seems like it must make for a very comfortable
fit on the wrist. Especially when you see the type of strap that comes with this one. It sets off
the dial, AND completes the aviation type theme flawlessly here imho. Wowee ! That is TOO
GOOD, TOO NICE, and TOO COOL ! ..However, the last, but not least part of this watch IS
the movement. This is one that can probably be called a masterpiece !!! ..Once you take off
the cool case-back, you find that this movement has more than enough horsepower, as well
as STUNNING looks to get into space in style ! ..Just can NEVER get enough of seeing such
intricate, spellbinding movements like this. What an historical, as well as DYNAMIC watch !
Congrats on finding it, and as always ..Enjoy !!!

Astronomically COOL watch, along with pictures !

Beautiful watch and great size!

Tom- I am out of breath just reading your post. No more caffiene after Noon from now on!

Thanks guys.

Tom, your very detailed comments are much appreciated!

Anomaly wrote:

We are going to have to have an INTERVENTION soon...LOL!

Remember, I still have this Rado automatic incoming as well.

Nice grab Tom. Always thought those were cool.

andrema wrote:

Beautiful watch and great size!

Tom- I am out of breath just reading your post. No more caffiene after Noon from now on!

pacifichrono wrote:

Thanks guys.

Tom, your very detailed comments are much appreciated!

Mark, I hardly had any caffiene today sir !

Tom, I'm really glad you like them so much ! ..Enjoy !!!

Super Sweet Watch Tom! Nice to see "your" pics of it. Hope all turns out OK with its function.