When you think of Vostok, you automatically think of the rugged, but kind of chunky Amphibia and Komandirskies, both of these are great, but “dress watch” is not exactly your first thought with them.
However, Vostok do have a little rarely talked about dress watch option, which I think is incredible.
If you go to any site that sells Vostok, search for the case number 581 and you will see what is variants are available.
Some dials are a little over the top with colour for me, but in general, this small line of watches is the perfect dress watch. Its looks, dimensions and price all tick the box for me.
Model- Vostok 581827
The model I bought was the 581827. This wasn’t my first choice, I actually wanted the 58108А. They pretty much look identical, apart from the one I actually wanted has the dial slightly rotated.
If you look at it, the 12 o’clock position is rotated around to where the 2 o’clock position would normally be. This is similar to the Vacheron Constantin 1921, which is a £43k watch.
The slight change in dial angle allows you glance at your watch without really having to move your arm as much, meaning it is much less noticeable that you are looking at the time. This is highly classy and makes this style of dress watch perfect in my eyes.
However, this model is rarely available. A lot of this line seems to always be sold out. I guess Vostok are more focused on the more popular Amphibias. Anyway, I was after this watch for a while, searching everywhere and checking quite regularly. The model I ended up with seems to be in stock, and then quickly sell out again, where as the one I actually wanted just never changed from out of stock.
As the political mess in Russia started to unfold I decided to pull the trigger. I wanted the angled watch, but it wasn’t happening. The 581827 changed to in stock and I jumped on it. I am very glad I did. A week later Russia invaded Ukraine and well, now I don’t think any of will be getting any new Vostoks for a while.
Brand
If you don’t know about Vostok, you are in for a treat. They are a Russian watch company that focuses on military style watches and are famous for the rugged no nonsense watches with a unique design and crazy dials covered in soviet tanks and the such like.
Most collectors either love or hate the brand, which is understandable; some of their watches are a little quirky.
Regardless of what you think, the dress watch I am looking at today is not their usual style of watch and I feel this slight change is a wonderful breath of fresh air from the Russians.
(You can read more about – Are Vostok Watches Worth The Money?)
Movement
The movement inside is the Vostok 2403, which is an in house movement with 17 jewels and is hand wound. This is not an automatic, but this helps keep this watch down in size and allows it to be 11mm thick.
(You can read more about – Are Vostok Movements Good?)
It has the hour and minute hands in the normal position, but the seconds hand is off to the side, which looks cool.
Like other Vostoks, it beats at 19800vph, has the usual tolerance of -20 to +60 seconds a day and should last 38hours full wound. It will also need serviced every 10 years.
The movement runs fine and it’s interesting to wind. It is my only mechanical watch that is not an automatic. When you wind it, you will feel the tension which lets you know it is fully wound. All my automatics have a clutch, so when they are full, they disengage to stop you from over winding, so you never get to feel the tension.
It also is a very loud movement. I am not quite sure why, but it’s loud.
(You can read more information about – How To Improve The Accuracy Of A Vostok Watch)
Dial
The dial on this watch is simple, but stunning. Pictures do not do it justice.
The dial is white with the hour markers written in gold numbers, which catch the light wonderfully. Around the very outer edge are a black minute markers, although they are indicated with the 24 hour numbers as well.
The hands look black, but the light catches them, they shine a glorious blue colour. There is a sub dial at the 9’oclock position for the seconds hand, which is also blue.
The Vostok name sits below the 12, although it is the Boctok spelling (Using Russian alphabet spelling)
There is also 17 jewels written in Russian above the 6 and as always Made in Russia either side of the 6.
I just love this dial. It is so clean and simple, yet the blue and gold really are beautiful when you look at it from right angle.
Bezel
Being a dress watch, there is no bezel. The case is actually very slim, which means the majority of the watch is just the beautiful dial.
Crystal
The crystal is the usual domed sapphire you get with Vostoks, although with this watch, it works exceptionally well and really give it a vintage look.
Normally they look cool on an Amphibia, but you know they are going to get scratched to death. On this dress watch its perfect. You are going to be more careful with this watch, but still get all the benefits from the look of the domed glass.
Case
The case is only 38mm in diameter and 11m in height and 46mm lug to lug. It is literally right in that sweet spot for a dress watch, it is the perfect size.
You will have also probably noticed that the crown is at the 2’oclock position and is just sort of hiding next to the lugs. This makes the watch look even classier and sleek.
The case is actually brass plated, but it looks good. It is a chrome colour and quite thin, the dial is really the star of this watch. The lug shapes are also very elegant, swooping upwards and just looking very classic in their style.
The case back is stainless steel and is a push down back. It does not have that usual Vostok case back, although it has got the usual Vostok engraving of some sort of Russian motif.
This different style of case back means the watch only has 10m of water resistance, which basically means don’t get it wet. This watch is pretty, but it not as tough as its brothers.
Lume
There is no lume on this watch, which makes sense. It’s a dress watch, so I would not expect any.
Strap
I will start by saying that model I wanted is pictured with a brown strap, but all the other 581s come with a black strap.
I don’t like the brown strap, so I was happy enough when I ordered my watch. The dial wasn’t as perfect as I wanted, but at least the strap was black.
When it arrived I opened the box and found I had the brown strap. So that was annoying. However, it still looks good and it works fine, so I’m not going to complain too much about it.
(You can read more information about – Are Vostok Straps Bad?)
The width is 18mm and its tapers down to about 15mm. The buckle is plane chrome with no markings and there are two loops, one attached and one free. The strap is leather, it is meant to be some sort alligator leather on one side and just plane on the back, but I don’t think it’s actually alligator. It does say Натуральная кожа – genuine leather, we will just assume it’s some other animal.
It also has Boctok on the back of the strap, which I love. The strap is good. It’s pretty thick and it is a little stiff, but I have been wearing it in and it’s slowly taking the shape of my arm.
You probably are not going to be wearing this watch every day, so you can get away with just keeping this strap on it. I think If I ever do wear it out, I will buy a black version of it from somewhere, but for now I will just keep it is as it, even if brown is not my favourite colour.
Price
This watch was 3590 Russian Rubbles, which in my money is about £35.
To me, that is unreal. This watch is beautiful and it is now my dress watch until the day I die. It is really well made and it is going to last me my whole life.
When you look at the 43k Vacheron, they are very similar (okay the case shape is a little different) but honestly, I would rather have this cheap Russian version over anything else.
As I said before, they always seem to be out of stock, so if you do ever see one of these available, you would be mad to turn it down.
(You can read more about – Where Is The Best Place To Buy Vostok Watches?)
Over All Opinion
I love this dress watch. It is easily one of my favourites and my only problem is that I do not really have any reason to wear it. I am not really invited to many formal events, so at the minute I just sort wear it around the house when I am watching TV, which is kind of strange to be honest.
Anyway, this watch is fantastic. It’s well made, it’s from a good brand and its extremely affordable, but most importantly, it looks amazing.
I can not recommend this watch highly enough, I really think everyone needs one.
(You can read more about – Why Do People Love Vostok Watches?)
Ian is the main writer at Horology Dream and is a lover all things watch related.
He has been a watch collector for over a decade and brings his knowledge and experience to this site to help you on your own watch collecting journey.
You can connect with him on Social media and talk anything watches or read more about him on his Author Page.
