Can You Wear A Vostok Watch Every Day?

Having a watch collection with a few different watches that you can swap daily is always fun to have, but if you only had a Vostok, could you wear it every day?

The answer is yes, a Vostok would make a great daily watch, they are designed to be worn and enjoyed and I will go through some of the reasons why these watches would work in an everyday setting.

Vostoks Are Often Automatic Wacthes

A large number of vostoks, especially the newer models, are automatics, which means they are really designed to be worn a lot.

The whole point of an automatic watch is that you wear it all the time and the motion of your arm keeps it constantly wound. The watch has a built in rotor that will spin as you move you arm and this will wind up the watch.

This means you have do not really need to worry about winding up your watch. However, this only really works if you are wearing the watch a lot, so ideally you want to be wearing it every day to actually get the benefit of the automatic rotor.

Vostoks Usually Have A Date Window

A large number of Vostoks also have a date window, even if they are technically dive watches. This suggests that they are designed to be worn daily, so you can know what date it is.

However, wearing this type of watch daily actually makes a lot of sense just for administrative purposes. Occasionally wearing a watch with a date function will become very annoying, very quickly. Every time you do decide to wear the watch you will have to set the time …but also the date.

The time is usually not much of a problem, but the date will be. A lot of watches have a quick set function so you can quickly do this, but a Vostok does not.

Setting the date on a Vostok is quite annoying and can take a while, even when you use the “quick” way to do it. Wearing your watch daily and basically having it running all the time will solve this problem and even if your watch does stop, you will only have to wind it a little bit forward.

I feel like every time I pick up one of my Vostoks that needs the date set …I have to cycle through the whole month, which is a real test of my patience. I have in fact put the watch back down and said “I will come back to it on X date” just to avoid having to change the date.   

Vostoks Are Waterproof

Most vostoks are waterproof, which means they should be able to handle daily life.

As we go about our day we usually come into contact with water in some way or another. This could be as simple as washing our hands, the dishes, or being caught out in the rain.  Whatever life throws at us, our Vostoks should be fine.

A number of models are only rated to a depth of 20m, which means it should handle the basics of daily life, such a getting wet from washing your hands and so on, which is about as wet as most of us get.

However, a lot of models are rated to depths of 200m, which really means you wear it and not worry about anything. Even if you jumped in to a pool, it would be totally fine.

A lot of people like their daily watch to have this capability, just in case they get wet. Even I think this way, and I actively avoid falling into water, so really I shouldn’t even need to worry about more than a little splash from washing my hands, but I guess having that extra buffer of waterproofness keeps us all feeling safe in our minds.     

Vostoks Are Robust

Vostoks may be mechanical watches, but they are not dainty and delicate. They are actually quite robust and more than capable of handling the wear and tear of daily life.

The chrome case and acrylic crystal will scratch and scuff but these are only superficial and can actually make the watch look better. The important thing is that the movement inside should be fine. It is designed in a way to be shock proof, so it should handle the bumps and bangs of daily life.

You will hear that Vostoks can survive being dropped, which is something that will usually destroy most watches. I wouldn’t try this yourself, although I do have a feeling that if you did drop it, it would be alright.

(You can read more about – How Tough Are Vostok Watches?)

Vostoks Are Easily Replaced

Vostoks are also cheap and readily available. You can wear one every day without worrying about it, if something does happen, you can easily replace it.

It’s not made of precious metals, it doesn’t cost thousands of pounds and no one wants to steal them …you can put in on your wrist and just go about your day, which is exactly what you want from your daily watch.

Vostoks Have Lume

The majority of Vostoks are dive watches and therefore most of them have lume so you can see the time in the dark murky waters, but this actually makes them great for daily watches.

You can see the time in the dark, so it is doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or what the lighting conditions are like, you can always use the watch.

People Worry About The Accuracy

You will often hear people moaning about the accuracy of Vostoks, and while they are not perfect, they are no more dreadful than any other watch.

Of course you are going to get more accuracy from the high end brands, but you are paying them a premium, so this is expected. However the tolerances of a Vostok are not to different to any other watch in a similar price bracket.

Vostoks are expected to run between -20 and +60 seconds a day, which is pretty broad. If we look at Seikos, they expect their watches to run between -20 and +40 seconds a day, so you can see the accuracy is not much different to Vostok. 

I usually find mine runs a little fast and after a couple of days it may have creeped a few minutes ahead, but this is easily corrected.

Vostoks are more than adequate for telling the time throughout the day. It won’t be correct to the second, but if you need this in your life …buy a digital watch.  

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

Conclusion

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons why a Vostok would make a very good daily watch.

Personally I wear my Amphibia most days, especially when I am working. I know it can handle anything daily life throws at me and I know any time I look down at my wrist, it will be there, ticking away and telling me the time.