A Large, Soviet-Made Split Timer
by C. Bradley Jacobs
by C. Bradley Jacobs
Today’s featured timer is a Russian-made “Slava” split-timer. Slava is the anglicized spelling of something that looks more like Craba on the dial. You can see by the photos that this is quite a beast. I’ve photographed it with a dress-size generic Swiss pocket watch to give some idea of how this thing compares to other pocket and hand-held timepieces. Some of the photos below show the actual measurements on a set of calipers.
I bought this timer around 1999 on e-Bay and at the time it was the only one like it I had seen. Now, they are more readily available and seem to be offered for anywhere between $50. and $115. For the higher price, you generally get a wooden storage box. This is by far the largest timer in my current collection (it was rivaled by some Omegas I recently sold—see image at bottom). It’s about 20mm thick and 65mm in diameter.
The case is either steel or nicely chromed base metal, it’s not marked but has held a nice shine during my ownership of it. The case has a screw-ring that holds down a large back plate…not unlike some 1960s Bulova automatics I’ve seen. The crystal appears to be plastic, and is domed slightly.
The dial is really quite nicely made. It’s brushed silver from the center out and has painted-on markings that are even and rather thick. In the photo above you can see the hands, which are on such a tall set of pinions that they can only be referred to as a “stack.” The folks making the hands were generous with the paint…to the point that I wonder if the hands are contributing to the total amount of friction the movement must overcome. I jest, but these things are thick.
The movement is a 20-jewel monster. Made by the 2nd Moscow Watch Factory. From what I’ve heard of Russian movement designs, this is probably derived from a design that was "appropriated" from the Swiss or Germans after WWII, although some Swiss companies such as Venus did sell, apparently to Russian and Chinese companies, the tooling and rights to produce their older movements. However, I would not be surprised if this is mostly a Soviet design…there is a lot of wasted space.
It runs at 36,000 vph and so is a 1/10-second timer. The crown is for winding and start/stop (it is harder to click than any timer I’ve ever used); the left-hand button stops and re-sets the split hand; the right-hand button resets the main second hand and the minute counter. There is nothing unusual about its operation, once you realize you need your full weight to push the buttons.
Aside from the difficulty of operation (how accurately can you time an event when stopping the timer takes such effort?), it’s a remarkable piece if only for its size. Throw in the fact that it has a column-wheel 20-jewel movement from Russia, and it easily occupies a unique slot in any timer collection.