KOMANDIRSKIE- ORIGINAL VOSTOK ‘CHISTOPOL’ WRISTWATCH
1962, Precision watch "Vostok" are awarded with the big gold medal of the Leipzig international fair. "Komandirskie" watches are developed and started in manufacture and Chistopol watch factory became the official supplier of these watches to the Ministry of Defence of the USSR.
The Vostok Company was founded in 1942 when one of the Moscow watch-making plants of the First Moscow Watch Factory was evacuated to Chistopol, a small town located on the Kama River in Tatarstan.
Presumable "Vostok" brand was named after the Vostok space program, which gave the initial advancement of the USSR in the Space race (as some others soviet watch brands, named to space topics in 1960s - Poljot and Raketa).
The company was appointed an official supplier of watches for the Defense Department of the Soviet Union in 1965. This year also marks the creation of the well-known Komandirskie ("Commander's") watch.
Watches issued to the military were marked "3AKA3 MO CCCP" meaning "By Order of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR." These models were subject to rigorous quality control and sold exclusively through Voentorg stores, which catered to military personnel with identification only. (Today, these models have become sought-after collectibles.)