"Commander" - the clock of the USSR. Overview, description, history and interesting facts

To receive awards and encouragement is always pleasant, the more deserved. A distinctive feature of the times of the Soviet Union was the awarding for outstanding deeds and successes for hours, and the wristwatch "Commander" watches were considered particularly prestigious. The USSR has long since sunk into oblivion, but today's fans of such attributes will never give up such a pleasant and meaningful gift.

Such gifts were one of many varieties to encourage servicemen, and after a while they began to be called "Commander" hours. They could be obtained only by military specialists who showed outstanding prowess, boundless courage and courage, that is, what ultimately affected the positive outcome of the military operation.

The Value of a Reward

In those days, a serviceman who received the "Commander" hours of the USSR was considered an indisputable hero, and such a reward was sometimes more honorable than a medal or order. It was almost impossible to buy original award watches, because the release was limited and strictly controlled, and the rewarded heroes madly valued them. Therefore, the question of how much the Commander hours of the USSR are worth, has never been raised. It's one thing to buy them for a lot of money, but another thing is to explain to others about where you got such a reward. Of course, there were craftsmen in those harsh times who in one way or another took out such a watch, but these were isolated cases.

Today's realities make it possible to buy the "Commander" hours of the USSR (the price is from 2 to 8 thousand rubles.) In any shop or from Internet shelves, and therefore they completely lost their former material and, most importantly, cultural value.

Interesting Facts

A few years ago historian Viktor Isayev, rather well-known in his circles, engaged in his own and unbiased investigation of scam and fraud with different awards, and the "Commander" watches of the USSR were considered in priority order.

According to the collected data and interviews of direct participants of both sides (seller-buyer), he found out that in the early 90s of the last century it was possible to have the most respectful award in those days in writing for three thousand dollars, and Signed directly by the head of state. But the watch "Commander" (17 stones, the USSR - the original) cost more than six thousand dollars. The value of such a reward is obvious.

Among the general mass of this kind of "buyers" were mostly high-ranking officials: deputies of the legislative assembly, directors and owners of the largest enterprises of industry and farmland, that is, people who have high status, and hence, a solid income.

Naturally, in this case, the "Commander" hours of the USSR lost their significance as a cult and undeniable object, which was received for courage and valor, and the perfect and unique design became ordinary wagons, but not in any way won out in battle by reward. In any case, the morals of those times prove that the owner of such a unique award was considered a true patriot and hero, causing respect for everyone.

Our days

The current generation has no idea of the value of such an attribute as the "Commander" hours of the USSR, because you can buy "something like" literally at every step, and moreover at extremely affordable prices. In order to have such a toy, it is not at all necessary to perform any heroic deeds and all the more feats.

In our time, the production of such watches is dealt with by the company "Vostok", which bought the brand from the source for a mere penny. We can not say that the products manufactured by the plant are bad, but mass production still affected the quality. In the assortment you can see inexpensive watches "Commander" waterproof (USSR-analog) and more affordable models without protection from impact and moisture.

Origin of traditions

Rewarding for hours, and not only "Commander's", but also ordinary nominal mechanical, originates in the distant XIV century (the Middle Ages). At that time, such traditions had a purely interstate character, that is, various diplomats, merchants or traveling aristocrats gave such foreign souvenirs to foreign colleagues for the sake of a quick solution to the problem or the establishment of an important dialogue.

Europe

If we turn to the same history textbooks and archives of the Government and Posolsky orders, we will see that in Medieval Europe the walks were an extremely honorable and worthy kings gift. This attribute is often compared with the works of famous masters of costume jewelery and outstanding blacksmiths who created their products from precious metals.

In addition to the gift, the clock at that time was an indispensable attribute of decoration in aristocratic houses. Naturally, such a copy of solid money cost, and not every rich man of that era could afford such a pleasure.

Russia

In the Russian Empire, they were awarded with nominal watches at the beginning of the 19th century. But then it was a narrow and not a military phenomenon: only state officials and high-ranking courtiers received them (as a rule).

Rewarding was always in the presence of the emperor, and the watch itself was manufactured by the only elite Russian brand at the time - Pavel Bure. Production was located in St. Petersburg and did not differ in the variability - pocket walkers, inlaid with precious metals on the chain. The lid or dial of such masterpieces was decorated with the Russian coat of arms and the name of the future owner.

The Military Environment

In wartime, the culture of rewarding was born only at the beginning of the last century, and extended only to separate military units. For example, the glorified Siberian arrows could receive gold or silver wagons for their excellent possession of small arms.

In the time of the Civil War, the rewarding became a mass character for hours. They were given to the Red Navy, the Red Army soldiers and the Red Army soldiers. At that time, there was no award system, so this attribute was encouraged by many. This was one of the most common forms of rewarding fighters, so the commander of any unit could easily take a watch out of his pocket and deliver them to a particularly distinguished soldier right on the parade ground.

The White Guards also did not stay aloof from such awards. The well-known General Lavr Kornilov noted his subordinates for the accurate shooting on the red name-clocks with engraving.

However, this messy delivery and attitude in general to rewarding played a very insidious role in history. Awards, conducted around the main intermediary in the face of Moscow and all formalities, led to the fact that most of the hours were subsequently confiscated. For example, members of the First Cavalry Army lost their awards under the uncomplicated pretext of fighting the costs of the tsarist regime.

Since then, the official command, remembering the unsuccessful experience, strictly observed all the formalities of the rewards, and the ritual of awarding became stage-by-stage - thoughtful and organized. Such an important attribute began to be received only by those fighters who really deserved it, repeatedly showing their valor, courage and courage in a heavy fight.