The winners of the "Best Russian Watches 2022" competition have been announced
The results of the first Russian watch competition organized by Watch Media publishing house and the National Association of Watchmakers have been summed up. Let's tell you about who and for what 12 prizes were awarded, including the Grand Prix. No matter how tempting it is to compare the first Russian competition with the famous Swiss Golden Arrow (GPHG), we will not do this. And we don't recommend it to you. It has long-standing traditions, a developed industry, its own production facilities (including full-cycle ones), luxury brands. Here, first of all, there is enthusiasm, creative ideas and a desire to do something of your own. Therefore, it is worth considering the results of the "Best Russian Watches" competition in its category.
Against the background of the fact that the domestic watch industry as a whole, with rare exceptions, was considered long dead, the number of models nominated for the competition was pleasantly surprised: there were 74 of them. Winnerswatchaward.ru was determined by the popular electronic voting, 11,145 people voted. Let's not create an intrigue and immediately tell who got the Grand Prix: the first wristwatch manufactured by Anton Sukhanov — Racer Jumping Hour GMT.
Anton Sukhanov began as a student of the most famous of the current Russian masters, Konstantin Chaikin (whose models did not participate in the current competition). Sukhanov joined Chaikin in 2007, and in 2016 he won the young talent competition of the Basel Academy of Independent Watchmakers (AHCI). After that, Chaikin supported his employee in his desire to go on a free voyage, and in 2019 he founded his own brand Anton Suhanov. In 2020, he was already supposed to join the AHCI Academy and exhibit with his Lotus project, but then a pandemic happened, and the model was presented only in online format. Lotus is a mechanical flower with a bud, the petals of which close at night and automatically open during the day, releasing a glass sphere in which a triaxial tourbillon flutters like a butterfly. Chaikin himself admitted that "Anton produces outstanding things, this is already haute horlogerie, high watchmaking." Looking ahead, let's say that this particular model won the current competition in the nomination "Interior watches".
After the desktop Lotus, Anton Sukhanov took up his wristwatch. And in 2021, he created an original car-themed model, in which he decided to do without the chronograph expected in such cases. The design of the Racer Jumping Hour GMT looks very modern, but at the same time refers to the dashboards of vintage cars. Hours and minutes are displayed here on retrograde scales on both sides of the dial, seconds are displayed in a narrow horizontal window with a 20-second scale. The execution of the model is more complicated than it seems at first glance. The dial is made of ruthenium-coated brass and decorated with a complex guilloche pattern. An automatic Su100.20 mechanism is installed inside the case: taking the ETA 2824-2 caliber as a basis, Sukhanov connected it with a module of his own design from 172 parts. The estimated cost of the model is not small: it significantly exceeds 1 million rubles.
The most popular voting nominations were "Russian Mechanics" and "Heritage".
In the first of them, where only watches with mechanisms made in Russia or the USSR could be declared, the "Little Prince" model by Anton Yaitsky and Dmitry Chugunov won. There is no minute hand in it (according to the authors, the clock is not in order to find out the exact time), the hour is indicated by a star moving around the aventurine dial, and the seconds are indicated by a comet in one of the "small" windows. A decorated "Rocket 2609 NA" mechanism is installed inside. The watch is certainly spectacular, interesting and challenging. If only their dial did not resemble the back side of one of the IWC series models, which is also dedicated to the "Little Prince" — there was a rotating rotor in the form of a small figure on a large planet.
The nomination "Heritage" was dedicated to the domestic traditions of watchmaking. Here, the model of the Slava factory in the form of a TV is recognized as the best — which is reflected in its name. This is a reprint of the bestseller of the Soviet era in a rectangular case. The model was also sometimes informally called a "tank" — it was given a resemblance to military equipment by a steel bracelet made of solid links, similar to a tank caterpillar.
One of the most famous Soviet watch designs was recognized as the "Best men's watch", which turned out to be in demand today: a black-and-white dial with a large zero instead of 12 o'clock — the Big Zero model of the Raketa watch factory. The watch, of course, is equipped with a Russian automatic mechanism "Rocket" with a red rotor manufactured by the St. Petersburg plant.
"Rocket", Big Zero — The best men's watches.
The winner in the nomination "Best Women's Watches", admittedly, did not seem obvious to us: the Colibrica Design brand, the Uglich atelier of Sergei Volkov, created an elegant, but too simple-looking model "Uglich-Winter" in a polished titanium case, with the Flight 3105 mechanism. The most interesting element is the rotating second hand in the form of a snowflake. However, there is doubt that this is enough for a modern woman who knows and loves watches.
Colibrica Design, "Uglich-Winter" — The best women's watches.
In the nomination "Independent Watchmakers", the classic performed by St. Petersburg master Alexander Nesterenko — the Artdeco model won. The absence of a second hand removes all impetuosity from its appearance. The layering and engraving of the dial, according to the creator, reminds of the atmosphere and architecture of St. Petersburg. The concept of the brand is that 90% of the work with the watch is carried out by one master, including the manufacture of the case, dial, hands, and processing of the mechanism. Each instance is created by pre-order, their owner can make changes at will. It seemed to us that the calmer color version of the watch — blue, rather than red-green — looks somewhat more appropriate to the "appearance of St. Petersburg". But the master knows better.
In the nomination "Craftsmanship and ideas", the model "Sunrise on the Moon" from the Kosmos brand with a hand-made lacquer miniature on the dial was selected. It realistically recreates the surface of the moon. Several layers of varnish and paint are applied to the base, and a sheet of silver foil is used to convey the heterogeneity of the lunar soil.
"Cosmos", "Moonrise" — Skills and ideas.
The award "For contribution to the development of watchmaking and jewelry" was given to the Nika company, the largest manufacturer of precious metal watches: the capacity of its plant allows to produce up to 20,000 copies per month — from budget and mass to expensive and rare.
On his hand is a Lorie brand watch owned by Nike, an Alors model. A precious dragonfly on a transparent dial, whose wings sway when moving, is an exact quote from a corsage brooch made in the jewelry workshop of F. A. Lorie at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.
The participants of the popular vote also received prizes: books from the Polytechnic Museum and Konstantin Chaikin, a master class from the First Watch School and the main prize — a TV watch from the Slava company.
A source: https://rg.ru/2022/10/18/obiavleny-pobediteli-konkursa-luchshie-rossijskie-chasy-2022.html