Raketa Big Zero Glasnost — Soviet Petrodvorets, 2609.HA Manual-Wind, CCCP Dial
$ 76.56
Description
Raketa Big Zero Glasnost — Soviet Petrodvorets, 2609.HA Manual-Wind, CCCP Dial. Raketa Caliber 2609. HA is the workhorse Petrodvorets caliber used across many of Raketa's most-collected references from the 1970s through the 1990s. Big Zero base design: Raketa's most-recognized dress design — oversized 0 at 12 / 3 at 3 / 6 at 6 / 9 at 9 with bold triangular hour markers between. A Raketa Big Zero in the rarer Glasnost (Гласность) edition — a late-1980s Soviet-era reform-commemorative produced by the Petrodvorets Watch Factory (Петергоф). The Big Zero design pairs oversized Arabic 0/3/6/9 numerals with bold triangular markers; this variant overprints a red Hammer + Sickle + star at center, with 'CCCP' and 'Гласность' running in red Cyrillic down either side of the insignia. The dial reads 'MADE IN USSR' at the bottom (confirmed period-authentic, not a post-1991 'Made in Russia' continuation) — narrowing production to c. 1985-1991. Glasnost reform-commemorative dial: Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost ('openness') policy from the mid-1980s opened the Soviet government to greater public transparency and reduced censorship — paired with Perestroika, the program led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. Raketa produced this Big Zero variant for state export, celebrating the reforms abroad and signaling the Soviet Union's evolving Western relationship. Compared to earlier propaganda watches, the Glasnost theme is reform-positive rather than militaristic — and the 'MADE IN USSR' authenticity mark places this specifically in the 1985-1991 window. Raketa Caliber 2609.HA: 17-jewel manual-wind mechanical movement at 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz), visible through the open caseback. The 2609.HA is the workhorse Petrodvorets caliber used across many of Raketa's most-collected references from the 1970s through the 1990s. Buyer should expect a vintage-Soviet mechanical experience — daily winding, and a CLA (clean, lubricate, adjust) service is generally recommended before extended wear if timing is off. Big Zero base design: Raketa's most-recognized dress design — oversized 0 at 12 / 3 at 3 / 6 at 6 / 9 at 9 with bold triangular hour markers between. The numerals are so prominent that the watch reads at a glance from across a room. The Glasnost overprinting layers a Cold-War cultural-history piece on top of an already-iconic Soviet design language. Condition: Gold-tone case shows light surface wear typical of a 30+ year vintage Soviet piece. Crystal clear. White dial face clean — the red Hammer+Sickle+star insignia sharp; 'CCCP' and 'Гласность' Cyrillic printing crisp; Big Zero numerals and triangular markers intact; 'Peterhof' / 'Петергоф' printing under 12 legible; 'MADE IN USSR' attribution at the bottom of the dial legible (confirmed period-authentic). Black hands clean. Brown leather strap (likely later replacement, not the original Soviet-issue strap) shows wear consistent with use. Caseback plain with small '875' marking. Movement visible through caseback showing clean Raketa 2609.HA bridges. For collectors of Soviet militaria and vintage Russian watches specifically seeking the Glasnost commemorative — and for Cold-War cultural-history enthusiasts who want a reform-era political artifact rather than a war-era propaganda piece. The USSR-marked authentication is the upper-band qualifier and the version this audience specifically hunts. Included: Watch on (likely-later-replacement) brown leather strap. No box, no papers.
