Pocket watch St. Andrew's Order St. Andrew's Cross Saltire MOLNIJA 3602 Russian watch
Russian mechanical pocket watch with spring cover brand MOLNIJA - rare & collectable
- A very nice special model with the ANDREYEVSKY ORDER motif
- 18 ruby ??stones, manual wind, anchor escapement
- Heavy nickel silver case
- Dial: white, hands: blue lacquered, numerals / indices: black & gold-colored, on position - 12 crown, Molnija logo in Cyrillic and "Made in Russia" inscription in Cyrillic
- A rare collector's item!
ANDREYEVSKY ORDER - very first highest honor in the old Russian empire!
The Order of Andrew (Russian "Orden Swjatogo Andreja Perwoswannogo, Order of St. Andreas the first called ") was on 10. Donated December 1698 by Tsar Peter I for distinction in the Turkish War and was the highest Russian order, formerly called the blue ribbon. It was later awarded for other merits. At the same time it is also the house order of the Romanov dynasty and since 1998 again the highest Russian state order.
Extract from the book "Russian and Soviet Military Badges":
"The first Russian order, which was given the name of St Andrew the First-Called, was instituted at the very close of the 17th century. Its insignia consisted of a large silver-embroidered octagonal star bearing the motto "For Faith and Loyalty" and a badge of the order in the form of an X-shaped St Andrew's cross (called so from the tradition that St Andrew was crucified on a cross of this type) covered with blue enamel. In the post-Petrovian times, the badge was supplemented with a background in the shape of the Russian imperial eagle made in black enamel. The cross was pinned to a wide blue ribbon worn over the right shoulder and across the chest or, on ceremonial occasions, it was worn on a gold chain decorated with varicoloured enamels.
The first man to receive the Order of St Andrew the First-Called was Count Fyodor Golovin, a noted personality of the Petrovian period. Peter the Great himself was decorated with this order only in 1703 for a specific feat of arms - the capture of two Swedish warships in the mouth of the Neva River. In all, about forty people were given this order in the reign of Peter the Great. Five men out of thes number received it for gallntry displayed during the Battle of Poltava in 1709. The History Museum has on display the order given to General Yakov Bruce, a well-known associate of Peter the Great, for the Battle of Poltave, in which the entire Russian artillery successfully fought under his command. Another RELIC carefully preserved in the museum belonged to the famous Russian military leader Pyotr Bagration, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who was a disciple and comrade-in-arms of Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov. This RELIC is the ribbon of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called which General Bagration was wearing when he was fatally wounded during the Battle of Borodino.
The Order of St Andrew th First-Called had a special class with insignia adorned with cut or uncut diamonds. a set of such insignia is also in show in the History Museum ... "
A rare Russian mechanical pocket watch branded "MOLNIJA" GOST 10733-98
A real collector's item made from old stock items (NOS, New Old Stock). Mechanical quality movement as it is no longer produced in this price range these days.
Year of manufacture: 2004
The original MOLNIJA papers with short operating instructions are in Russian, German, English and French.
Standard plastic packaging - original from MOLNIJA is included in the scope of delivery.
CLOCKWORK:
3602 Molnija caliber, manual wind, 18 jewels, Breguet spiral balance, balance escapement oscillation 18000, power reserve when fully wound: 38+ hours
FUNCTIONS:
Time display: hours / minutes / seconds
INDICATORS | SHOW:
Small seconds at position 9
CASING:
Heavy nickel silver case, Ø 50mm, height 4.6mm
DIAL:
Dial: white, hands: blue lacquered, numerals / indices: black & gold-colored, on position - 12 crown, Molnija logo in Cyrillic and "Made in Russia" inscription in Cyrillic
MOLNIJA 3602
The Molnija 3602 was produced for almost fifty years, between 1960 and 2008.
It goes back to the Cortebert 616 produced in Switzerland in the 30s / 40s, the machines of which were probably then sold to Russia.
In the course of time, this work has been modified several times, above all the construction height has increased by over a millimeter, and the decoration became more and more economical, until at the end almost no decorative cuts or other decorations were applied.
