| This Buran Chronograph is the Rolls-Royce of 24 hour watches and it has plenty of unique features. It is the only Russian 24 hour chronograph, it is the only Russian 24 watch with a transparent “display” back, it is the only Russian 24 hour watch with 25 ruby jewels and a Poljot 31681 mechanism which is a complication of the famous 3133 Poljot mechanism, a Russian variation of the Swiss Valjoux 7734. According to an entry in Wikipedia, a Poljot 3133-based watch set a space record for the longest space flight in history on the hand of cosmonaut V.V. Polyakov (– take this, Heuer, Omega, Breitling & Co.!). Predictably, it is also the most expensive Russian 24 watch, going as it does (I should write “did” – see below) for about 500-550 dollars. Pennies, really, at least if compared to “equivalent” (assuming there is such thing) Western chronographs. Finally, this watch is stunningly beautiful (make sure to click on the pictures to see them at a higher resolution!).
Alas, this watch has now become a collectible with no successors on the horizon. Volmax, the company which produces the Buran brand, has made Buran a Swiss company and the “Buran V.M.” logo is now a thing of the past. Hopefully, Volmax will eventually release another 24 hour chronograph based on the Poljot 3133 movement as both the Aviator and the Sturmanskie brands would greatly benefit from a 24 hour chronograph in their lineups. |
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