Soviet Collectibles

[Omega1982]

I was curious if anyone here collects anything from the Soviet Union?  Apart from women of course... 

[Omega1982]

Here is an old Soviet ring I bought earlier this year. 

[Omega1982]

and to compliment the ring, a Soviet made mechanical Poljot I bought in Belarus. 

[Manny]

and to compliment the ring, a Soviet made mechanical Poljot I bought in Belarus.

I've had a few Poljots over the years. They seem to sell very well in the US.

[andrewfi]

and to compliment the ring, a Soviet made mechanical Poljot I bought in Belarus.

I've had a few Poljots over the years. They seem to sell very well in the US.

I have a Poljot automatic from the early 60's. Later they made all sorts of rubbish, crude quartz things in garish colours. They still turn up in the 'antique' shops here.

I have bought other bits and bobs but not as 'collections'. I had a nice gold plated Leica which was, of course a Russian made fake, purchased knowing it to be a fake. It was interesting though in that, unlike a lot of these items, the donor camera (Fed I) was itself a copy of the camera into which it was made and was contemporaneous with the faked camera (a Leica II). Most of these fakes, which can be bought on eBay, are made with much more recent donor cameras. Sadly it got stolen from my home by an unknown visitor.

[Ste]

I have a 'semistrunka' - a seven string acoustic guitar stamped as made in Leningrad in 1960.

[Omega1982]

I agree.  The watches from the sixties were good.  The ones from the eighties were inferior.  Most of the automatic movements are not as high grade as the Swiss.  Some Russian watch movements were copies of Swiss movements.  It is interesting the occasionally you come across a solid gold cased Poljot.  In my opinion they were good but not as good to have a solid gold case.  Usually solid gold cases are reserved for high end Swiss manufacturers. 

Does  anyone have any other Soviet item in their home?  Did you wife bring anything with her from Soviet times? 

[AvHdB]

I have several pieces of porcelain and pottery from the Soviet times. They were made near St. Petersburg, Moscow and in Kiev. The early pieces from before the Great War and shortly after are quite whimsical. The latter pieces are more crudely decorated.

Most are based on prototypes from Meissen and other factories around Dresden.

On different trips I have purchased Father Winter decorations. I mean a female cosmonaut that would make Pamela Anderson blush! 

Once a month there is a big flea market in Kiev and there are a large variety of stuff for sale.

What surprises me is that no one has mentioned icons. While they can be from every Orthodox land the majority are from Russia and Ukraine. They are frequently on the market in the West. One note they still create icons today and I suspect many are antiqued to look older. Buyer beware! 

[andrewfi]

In Russia at least there were restrictions on the export of icons. As a rule it was thus: if you can export it without documentation then it is fake. Thus almost all sold to tourists were valueless fakes.

[Manny]

In Russia at least there were restrictions on the export of icons. As a rule it was thus: if you can export it without documentation then it is fake. Thus almost all sold to tourists were valueless fakes.

It used to be simple to get them out of Estonia with help from a local to get the paperwork. I bought quite a few. I still have one.

I also used to buy and sell a lot of CCCP era military ship/sub clocks. They are hard to get now, I'll post a couple of photos tonight.

[AvHdB]

In Russia at least there were restrictions on the export of icons. As a rule it was thus: if you can export it without documentation then it is fake. Thus almost all sold to tourists were valueless fakes.

Icons are frequently the opposite of women who paint themselves to be younger than they actually are.

The vast majority of icons are based on a prototype some from centuries before. If the monastery continues to produce the same image today as it did in the 18th century it is not so much a fake as a copy, and at least from Ukraine you can export these copies. The problem comes when they are aged to look older than they actually are.

[Manny]

I'll post a couple of photos tonight.

As we were speaking of icons, here is one I kept that I got in the 90's in Estonia.



And this is a cast aluminium bodied Russian military submarine clock from 1958 (they were all battleship grey originally, this one I stripped and had stove enamelled in black).



This is a Russian military ships clock also from 1958. These are chrome over brass.



The same design of both clocks were once abundant dating from the 50's to the 80's. Now quite rare. Many have had the faces altered with stick on transfers to give them 'tourist appeal', these are original. The wooden mounting plinths are even rarer than the clocks. The same ones were also available with a 24 hour movement and dial, but many of these were faked. I saw rough ones but never nice ones.

[Manny]

I also used to pick up all kinds of crap to sell back home when driving to and from. From a TR in 07 here, I brought back these:











I used to bring back lots of similar stuff, old banknotes, medals, workbooks, passports, watches, etc.

[AKA Luke]

Who back home would buy those items Manny? Collectors


Quite niche stuff I'd have thought.

[Manny]

Who back home would buy those items Manny? Collectors


Quite niche stuff I'd have thought.

It used to fly out like it was on fire. A lot went to the US actually. A Russian themed bar bought the big copper relief I recall. There is a big market for Soviet time stuff, especially military stuff. A lot of cast iron and cast aluminium figures used to do well, especially Animals, and also Lomonosov porcelain and certain other figures. The military stuff is where the money was though. Especially to Americans and Germans.

[AKA Luke]

I'm not sure what you call that half torso statue but I saw many of those in St P. Who was that 1 of? Anyone in particular?

[AvHdB]

I'm not sure what you call that half torso statue but I saw many of those in St P. Who was that 1 of? Anyone in particular?

I suspect that it is a bust of V. Lenin, I think I have seen a porcelain version. J. Stalin the relief has a "fatter" or broader face.

[Manny]

I'm not sure what you call that half torso statue but I saw many of those in St P. Who was that 1 of? Anyone in particular?

You call them highly saleable. Even when the casting is piss poor.

When I used to sell this stuff, I used to include a scan of my return flight stub on the listing. That was provenance enough to bidders that it actually came from the region. Tell the story, people like the tale. "I flew from here to here on my Xth visit, I bought this from a wizened old man in X street market". American buyers love that history and provenance. They can Google the street, they can see how many miles from Moscow, etc. It assures them you are for real.

I recall a big Lomonosov Alsatian/German Shepherd dog I had on eBay. I had it listed UK shipping only. An American woman contacted me and said she bred that breed of dog, and *really* wanted it and would pay *whatever* shipping. She won the item at strong money, and was more than happy to pay $150 courier shipping [ten years ago].

If you can source proper stuff, show provenance, it matters not how obscure it is. People out there collect it. A pal of mine just did a bereavement house clearance. He found in it some old men's magazines from the 1960's in mint condition. I took a punt and offered him £5 each for them. Today he laughed at my offer and told me he had found similar at £75 each online someplace. There are some guys out there collecting magazines full of hairy women from the sixties. I bet they have a forum someplace.

[Omega1982]

I have several Soviet watches.  I recently took two into the jeweler's for repair.  One is the Raketa I love which I purchased in Lithuania this year.  The crown wasn't setting properly.  Minor stuff.  I have an extensive watch collection, mainly Swiss, and I have had the same watchmaker for fifteen years, basically since I was in high school.  I love watches.  Today my watchmaker calls me and inquires where I got these Soviet watches.  He is accustomed to cleaning, oiling and adjusting my Omega, Eterna, Longines, Bucherer, all great Swiss names.  He didn't particularly like these.  It was a slow day at the jewelers and we were talking for about 30 mins and he was telling me how the Swiss made watches are very much superior to the Soviets.  He didn't understand my love for these old Cold War relics from the 1960's. 

I told him you need to walk one hundred miles in a man's shoes to comprehend him.