Vostok-Europe GAZ 14 Limo Quartz Chronograph Watch Discussions | Drop

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Vostok-Europe GAZ 14 Limo Quartz Chronograph Watch

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Vostok-Europe GAZ 14 Limo Quartz Chronograph Watch

RayF

22220

Jan 8, 2020

According to the comment I made below, I've only owned this watch for about 5 or 6 months? Shocking--seems much longer than that! I ordered the OS22/5611131 version described as: Stainless Steel with BLACK dial. Truth is, that damn dial is not black, it's blue/black! Like a lot of dials with shifting color casts, which color dominates at any glance, depends entirely on the angle of view and incident light falling on the dial. All that translates to this: the dial is mostly blue, sometimes blue/black, and occasionally, straight-black. And I will tell you up front, I'm not thrilled about that. When I order a watch with a black dial, that's what I think I should get! Which brings up a point of contention I've had with the product photography used in watch marketing and advertising for a long time. As a whole, those boys are some of the lying-est damn SOBs you're ever likely to come across! Here's why: if a dial can look dramatically different depending on lighting, how do we know, as potential consumers, the color represented in any given advertising photo is "accurate" vs. just the one color (of a multitude of variations) the photo editor preferred to use? We don't! And you can bet they most certainly chose the most flattering version possible, with the sole purpose of selling the watch, as opposed to representing the color you and I, as the wearer of that watch, will most often find ourselves looking at. So, are they being deceitful? Absolutely! But is it reasonable for us to expect them to provide a full range of shots showing every variation in dial color possible? That just isn't going to happen. Our best defense (whenever possible) is to compare the supplied photos to a second source. eBay, Chrono24 are good places to try; finding a Youtube video can really help.

Now, if I were one of those lying-mug photographers working at Vostok's ad agency, I would blame the whole thing on the anti-reflective coating Vostok must put on the underside of that 43mm (mineral) crystal. They would certainly argue AR coating always affects color-cast.

To which I would reply: "Humm--a likely story!" So, other than that minor issue, the watch is actually pretty nice. It's certainly worth MD's asking price (though I haven't shopped around for this specific drop). It's a comfortable watch to wear and the complications are useful--even bordering on entertaining. That said, it's very hard to pick up this leather strapped, dressy (by my standards) watch in the AM, when it's competing with the sort steel bracelet, chunky divers, I admittedly prefer. Not surprisingly, this Vostok's wrist time has been shamefully limited. On the other hand, it always shows the correct time, no matter how long I've ignored it! Can't say that about those fancy damn automatic watches, can you?! Bottom line: no real reason not to get one, if you're so inclined--it's a decent watch for the dough ;- )