Beautiful vintage pocket watch Tales of Urals made in USSR

1970-1980th

Chelyabinsk Watch Factory "Molnija" (sometimes transliterated Molniya; Russian: Челябинский часовой завод) was a Russian watch and clockmaker based in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast. Molnija (Молния) is the Russian word for lightning.

The Molnija clock and watch factory opened on November 17, 1947. The company's main customer was then the Soviet Union Department of Defense, providing them with wristwatches, pocket watches and table clocks. Unique clocks were also produced specifically for use in Soviet tanks, fighter aircraft, submarines and, eventually, spacecraft.

Molnija's main product were mechanical pocket watches with military, religious and historical motifs. The Molnija movement is basically a copy of a Cortébert movement used in Swiss watches from around 1940. About 80% of the work on most of the watches was done by hand.