Raketa 'Perpetual Calendar' Vintage Watch Restoration

Raketa (or Paketa) watches were made in the former Soviet Union for decades, and now you can find them in plentiful supply on eBay. They are cheap to buy, very quirky, and kind of fun, but are they any good?

Marshall picks up this "perpetual calendar" model off of eBay for under $50.00 (it's not actually a perpetual calendar) and dives in to see how it's built and to bring it back to life!

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[robbertsanders]

Watching Marshall's videos --> enrolling in online classes by Mark Lovick --> buying starter set of tools --> finding watches that need repair on ebay --> having a new hobby --> very thankful to you Marshall for introducing me to this utterly brilliant hobby --> hoping for extended lockdown ;)

[shrek_]

I have a mid 60's Raketa with the 2603 movement, and it has been the most accurate, reliable watch I own. You'd swear it was quartz, it's so accurate.

[JoshFranz]

I can’t get enough of these videos. No politics, no news, no worries about outside things. Just watches.

[neris_exe]

The way the calendar works is you align the year and a month at the bottom half of the watch face (if the month highlighted in dark you have to align it with the year on the dark background as well). And as a result you get a calendar for the whole month on the top half of the watch face.
For example, if you want to see the calendar for February (ФЕВ) 1990, you align the year directly at the 6th hour mark. And on the top you'll see that the 1st date is Thursday (ЧТВ), 2nd is Friday (ПТН) and so on.
And you can use it even after you run out of years, they're cycled. You just need to find out which year in the past corresponds to the current year (there is a pattern but you can also just match it by the calendar and go from that).

[frodriguezpc]

As a Soviet watch fan, I enjoyed this video. I guess you don't take requests for new videos, but I think you would enjoy servicing/repairing a Poljot 2612.1 movement. Its mechanical alarm complication makes them different, special, and great fun to work on, and again, while being legitimate quality movements you can find these easily and for cheap.
Love watching your videos, keep'em coming!

[SomeAngryGuy]

Surprisingly, Raketa are still around and they make some very expensive and good looking watches. Vostok are also around, but their watches are much more affordable.
Also, all the Soviet/Russian movements, regardless of manufacturer have the same numbering scheme where the first two digits are the diameter and the other two are the features
eg. 2628=26mm handwound movement with centered seconds and day-date complication.
2209=22mm handwound movement with centered seconds hand
2414=24mm handwound movement with centered seconds hand and date conplication
etc.

[conzmoleman]

I own about 20 vintage Soviet watches and this is one of the only ones I see all the time on ebay yet haven’t pulled the trigger yet, despite the next-to-nothing price. There are so many unique Soviet timepieces and in my experience they run amazingly well after a basic service.

[saxybeast]

пдн - понедельник - Monday
втр - вторник - Tuesday
срд - среду - Wednesday
чтв - четверг - Thursday
птн - пятница - Friday
сбт - суббота - Saturday
вск - воскресенье - Sunday
Hope this helps!

[joshisgarage]

knowing that my project car skills could translate into repairing watches, and knowing tools can be way cheaper by comparison, I’m definitely going to make the jump down this rabbit hole soon!

[chuckbarney]

You know you've been binge watching Wristwatch Revival enough when you say to yourself "Oh snap, he forgot to put the sliding clutch in before the yoke!" then feel good when he mentions it later and that's when you realize you've actually learned something about watch making. Good stuff!

[jarrodanderson]

Someone loved the hell outta this watch and wore it for what looks like decades. I like the perpetual calendar.

[giraudetxavier]

Thanks for your work, great explanations.
As someone working at today's Raketa's factory, I can give you a hint, found in all mechanisms based on a 2609HA like yours, the minute wheel can have it's brass teeth worned off due to a tight friction. If the friction is very tight, it is a factory standard actually.
Great daily wear, modern proportions, and good to practise some russian language skills!

[aaronrumfelt]

Your voice over skills are second to none. Amazing natural talent at making flawless, seamless commentary. Thank you for all the content Marshall!

[vartikcsaba]

My grandpa has a Reketa watch since 40-50yrs. It need to be serviced twice.

[caspermakesthings]

I have one of theese. Since i own it (4 or 5 years now), it's been serviced and never stoped ever since! I likes so much i bought a Raketa 24h afterwards! My perpetual has a subarine in the dial, rare they say!

[werd]

I appreciate you working on a more commonly attainable piece. I love the higher priced movements, but this one was a thoughtful piece.

[albertoviale]

Raketa is a fantastic watch, sturdy and reliable, I have an old one and still going strong. I've seen their actual models and the big zero looks amazing. Now they're expensive though, but definitely I would get one. Good video

[J.DeLaPoer]

Interesting! I always liked Raketa's old Soviet-era designs. Vostok too. Russian watchmaking, like their famous weapons, tended to be on the "crude but extremely reliable" side rather than the stylistically notable, but there's many obscure gems. Also, just want to point out, speaking of Russian gems, that Vostok's "Amphibia" line is the absolute hands-down best deal on the planet for brand new mechanical diver watches.

[PghFlip]

It *is* a perpetual calendar. There are 14 "types" of years. 7 where the first day is each day of the week, and 7 more for each day on the leap years. it takes 2 full cycles to get back to the same place in the position (say, a leap year starting on a sunday) In your case, since it has actual printed years it does kind of run out, but from that point if you follow the 28 years, it goes forever. I made a rotary paper one at one point.

[jonrobwil]

You totally nailed that. Even the strap. I would happily buy and wear that myself.