Description Vostok Amphibia DESERT SHIELD soviet watch   Manufactured on Chistopolsky Watch Factory “VOSTOK” The company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defence Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year also marks the creation of the well known Komandirskie (“Commander’s”) watch.   The Desert Shield Amphibia One of the most historically interesting Amphibias is the “Desert Shield,” a watch celebrating the success of the Iraq War military operation of the same name. Vostok produced (allegedly) 200,000 of these specially dialled watches, across a range of models – not only Amphibias.  These watches were marketed to military personal for $99 ($149 for civilians), though apparently many were given away to troops stationed in Saudi Arabia. The Desert Shield Vostok was the brainchild of an American import company called Timepeace Russian Watches, and is an artefact of a fascinating period of US/Russian relations. Aside from the oddity of seeing “Made in the USSR” in the context of the jingoistic dial of these Vostoks, they are a great example of Glasnost, a policy encouraging openness and reform in the previously very closed USSR. That this watch, made in a Russian factory, commissioned by a company from Beverly Hills, was made possible by the reformist policies of Mikhail Gorbachev makes the Desert Shield Vostok a great memento of international geo-politics writ small. *source   The watch is mechanical and does not need batteries to operate.   Original soviet Vostok Amphibia has automatic lever movement and manual winding.   *An automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch in which the mainspring is wound automatically as a result of natural motion of the wearer’s arm, to provide energy to run the watch, making manual winding unnecessary.   YEARS 1990s CASE SIZE 46x44mm THICKNESS 13mm LUG WIDTH 18mm TYPE  Mechanical MOVEMENT 2416Б FUNCTIONS Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Calendar   Watch went through a complete service by a professional watch tech and keeps good time.   Comes complete with vintage stainless steel bracelet. This watch ships from ����Ukraine with tracking number with optional black bezel - highly recommended addition! Modes of payment: PayPal Credit Cards (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover)   We guarantee that the item in this ad looks and works as advertised and offer money back guarantee on this. About the watch factory Watch Factory “VOSTOK” – began as the “2nd State Watch Factory” was evacuated during World War 2 to Chistopol in 1941. In 1943 began producing Kirovskie watch – first soviet man’s wrist watch earlier made on 1st Moscow Watch Factory. From 1949 famous “Podeba” watches were made here. From 1962 “Commander’s” watch Vostok were made on the factory. Since 1969 factory was official supplier of Ministry of Defence, all watches produced were branded as “Vostok” Other brands produced: Albatros, Amphibia, Buran, Chaika, General’s, Kama, Kolos, Comandirskie, Mir, Pobeda, Saturn, Sekonda, Sputnik, Svet, Uran, Vostok