Looking up history on this watch, it looks like it is a variation of an old prototype watch worn in the former USSR by a secret 'divers brotherhood' where you would have to wrestle and capture a shark by hand for the initiation. This watch was their only way to tell the remaining time on their oxygen tanks. Thus, the watch had to be big (the watch dial is 2", or 50mm, across), glow-in-the dark, and in some cases...be used to pommel the shark on the head (the watch weighs 200g, or almost 1/2 pound). The Russian Diver was their life saver. It was given to possible initiates before they were accepted in to the secret brotherhood because if they passed the initation they, of course, were still alive and inducted as a member. If, however, they did not pass, they were not in the 'position' to pass it on to anyone else.

The consensus seems to be that the iconical wrist bands that kept this watch strapped on the arms of the Divers were made by the 'Scrap Men', who would forage the fields for old tires which they would then use as they ripped out strips of rubber bare-handed and then deliver them back to the watchmaker. 1" across, or 25mm, is the width of this strap. It takes a bit of effort to get this wrapped around your wrist and 'pegged' into the right fitting because it does not want to give in, at all. The reason for such a thick armband is because the old Russian Divers had 1. Bigger than usual forearms from wrangling sharks, and 2. An abundance of arm hair. Add this to being in the water daily and you get a watch that would fall off and be lost many times. The clasp used to be forged from pure Iron, and although it still seems to be made from metal, Iron is left out I am afraid.

There are two conflicting stories on the 'canteen' like clasp on the side of the watch. The first one that is supported by many 'radicals' is that the brotherhood would include a small dosage of 'sedative' so that if things went wrong down there in the ocean, it would help it to go quick...at least. The majority of respected historians today, though, support that the Diver watch had been filled with 199 proof Russian Diver Vodka (the recipe has been lost for many decades) that would help to calm nerves, and keep warm, future initiates undertaking the initiation. It seems now, though, there is no longer a place to put any liquid inside the watch, and has been replaced with a knob to adjust the time, of all things.

Why buy a fashion watch when you can have a piece of history? Though we may never be a true Russian Diver, we can always pretend with their watch on our arms.

Made in China? Made in Switzerland? Pfft.

Give me a watch made in old country Russia.