Are Vostok Watches Worth The Money?

I often see people skirting around the idea of buying a Vostok, but they are a little hesitant as they are not sure if it is worth the money.

I think they are absolutely worth it and if you have seen one you like the look of, you totally buy it. 

What Price Are Vostok Watches?

Let’s start with price, then we will have a rough idea on what we would be expecting to spend and can then actually work out if it is worth it or not.

Over all the watches are very affordable. Depending on the model they will range from as low as £35 and usually are not any more than £110 at the higher end of the scale, although there an always be a few exceptions to this.

The Komadirskie models tend to be on the cheaper side and the Amphibians will usually be the more expensive watches.

(You can read more about – Where Is The Best Place To Buy Vostok Watches?)

What Are You Getting When You Buy A Vostok Watch?

So we have now seen roughly how much they cost, so what are you actually getting from the watch. What does your money actually get you?

Basic Specs Of A Vostok Watch

While the specs can change from watch to watch, in general, most of the range is pretty similar. There are only a few outlying watches that offer extra complications such as a GMT and you will need to check the specs of the exact model you are interested in to see exactly what it is offering.

All of the watches are mechanical and the majority of these are automatic. All of the movements are made in house by Vostok.

(You can read more about – Are Vostok Movements Good?)

They all have some water resistance, but of course the dive watches will be rated a lot higher, being able to offer 200m of water resistance.

They also all come with domed acrylic crystals. This gives them a cool retro look, but also comes with the ability to be very easily scratched.   

History of Vostok Watches

Vostok has a long and interesting history of making watches. It was asked to supply watches for the Russian military and this resulted in it producing and engineering its own uniquely designed watches.

The technology and design from these watches in 1960s are still seen in the watches today. The use of the acrylic crystal, the unique screw down case back and notorious wobbly crown are designs that where produced decades ago and this history is still alive in the watches today.

(You can read more about – Do People Collect Vostok Watches?)

Vostoks Have A Unique Look

It is pretty safe to say that Vostoks have a pretty unique look. Their case shapes alone are pretty unique, but when you take the interesting dials into consideration they really become extremely unique watches. 

People will take one look at them and instantly fall in love or absolutely hate them. You certainly can’t mistake one for something else when you see it on someone’s wrist.

Vostoks Are Not A Homage

If it wasn’t clear already, Vostok are very much their own brand. They are not a copy of anything else and they are not a homage of anything.

I have actually bought homages of luxury watches and they are poor quality, but also more expensive than a Vostok. It seems pretty stupid to pay for something that is a wannbe when you can buy something totally original for less.

Vostoks Are Robust

Vostoks may not be the most elegant watch on the market, but they are certainly robust. They are well build and engineered in a way to make them strong and long lasting.

They have a recommended service interval of 10 years which is much longer than most other brands. It is also very easy to get spare parts if there is a problem and you need to replace something.

(You can read more about – How Tough Vostoks Actually Are)

What Is The Accuracy of A Vostok Watch?

There is often a lot of debate about the accuracy of Vostoks. They are recommended to run within -20 to +60 seconds a day and most people say their watches run well within these parameters. They can also be easily adjusted to be more accurate.

They are often compared with the accuracy of luxury watches, which makes no sense to me. These watches are 100s of times the price, so it can be only expected that they would be far more accurate.

A Vostok is equally as accurate to any other mechanical movement that is at similar price range. However, can these other movements offer the same robustness and longevity of a Vostok? Often they can’t.

(You can read more information about – How To Improve The Accuracy Of A Vostok Watch)

How Well Finished Are Vostoks

Vostoks can look cheap, but they are cheap, so you can’t exactly expect Rolex levels of finishing when you are paying £50.

The cases and bezel are often brass that is chrome plated, so it can look a little plasticy at times. Personally I don’t mind this. It’s all part of the overall retro aesthetic.

I actually find that if you get in and look at the dial and he hands, the finishing is perfect. I have always found them be immaculate and while the cases may look cheap, they are still finished properly.

There are no badly milled edges or questionable polishing on the watch. For me, this is a well made watch, it just happens to made from lower quality materials than a luxury watch. I am sure if they used the same materials; no one would be questioning anything about these watches, but then, their price would have to dramatically increase.          

(You can read more about – Vostok Dress Watch Review )

What Are The Straps like?

There is a lot of discussion about the Vostok straps and bracelets being cheap and uncomfortable. I will admit they are not amazing, but they do the job. It is very common for people to swap the straps. This is very likely something you will want to do too.

This means you are potentially going to have to buy a new strap, which will of course increase the overall price of the watch. Realistically straps are not that expensive so it should not change things too much, but it is still something you need to think about and consider.

(You can read more information about – Are Vostok Straps Bad?)

What Other Watches Are Available At This Price?

I think a good way to see if a Vostok is worth the money is to see what else would be available for roughly the same cost.

If we look at the options under £100 there is equally a lot of watches to choose form and also equally very little.

You will of course have a wide range of Aliexpress watches and general homage’s for under £100. These can often be so cheap as they are poorly made copies of other watches, but not always. The main thing missing from these watches is a good solid brand history and all the parts are just mass produced rather than in house designs and engineering.   

You also have Casio, which will give you a unique brand that makes its own watches. I would argue Casios produce a better watch and can certainly rival the £30 price. You could also go to the other end of the price scale and get a G-shock for around £100, which is arguably the only watch you will ever need.

However, Casio has one disadvantage. They are mostly digital watches and all quartz movements. This is fine, but Vostok are mechanical watches so it’s like comparing apples with oranges. Both delicious, but both are very different.   

Two other great brands you could go for in this price range are Timex and Swatch, they tick a lot of boxes but have one major difference. All their offerings are quartz.

While there is nothing wrong with quartz, it is a very different thing to the mechanical watches offered by Vostok.

So although there are plenty of watches you can buy in this price range, you are going to find it very hard to get an original, in house designed mechanical movement, which is exactly what Vostok offer.

Conclusion

Vostoks offer a lot of wtch at a very low price point.  It is very clear to me that they are worth the money. You can read more information about – How They Keep The Price Of Vostoks So Cheap

At the end of the day, they are very cheap and even if you don’t really like it or it doesn’t perform as well as you like, it only cost £30 or so. Just get one. They are worth the experience and you can just wear it until it dies and then move on.

There are a lot of expensive watches in this hobby and sometimes it is worth asking if the watch is worth the price. With Vostok I don’t think there is that risk. I strongly believe you get a lot more than what you actually pay for.

This is just one of those watches you can easily buy and see what you think for yourself and honestly, I think you will really enjoy it.

(You can read more about – Why Do People Love Vostok Watches?)