Slava (, meaning "Glory") watches were classic "civil" Russian watches. The Slava factory (known originally as the Second Moscow Watch Factory) was the second non-military watchmaker established in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, in 1924. The watches of this brand have always been intended for civilian consumption, without military or

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial, and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astron ...

pretensions.

History

In 1919, the Soviet Union bought and imported two watch factories from the USA to start its own watchmaking industry. The first, Moscow's first watchmaking factory, produced

Poljot Poljot (, literally meaning "flight"), is a brand of Soviet/Russian wristwatches, produced since 1964 by the First Moscow Watch Factory (, ''Perviy Moskovskiy Chasovoy Zavod''). The flagship brand of the USSR's watch industry, Poljot produced numero ...

watches. The second, also in Moscow, started production of watches in 1931, which became the Slava brand of watches during the 1950s. Starting in 1985, under the Gorbachev era, the brand manufactured models for the political party. In January 2006, the Slava factory and its site were sold for retail development. By 2010 the factory had been demolished for new real estate projects. The brand has been taken over by the municipality of Moscow in a debt swap.

In popular culture

In the 2016 film '' Glory'' (original title ''Slava''), set in contemporary

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, the protagonist's Slava watch with an engraving from his father plays a key role in the plot.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.slava.cz/ Soviet watch brands Watch manufacturing companies of Russia Watch manufacturing companies of the Soviet Union