Sekonda is a British distributor of watches that these days are imported from Asia, but up until 1993 it sourced it’s watches from Russian manufacturers, the majority being rebranded Raketa or Poljots. Unusually the subject of this article is a Sekonda branded Slava. Slava watches were produced in Russia at the Second Moscow Watch Factory for USSRs civilian population and the word Slava when translated into English means ‘Glory’. The 2427 movement is an interesting one due to its twin winding barrels. This example came in for a service as it was running poorly.
The caseback is a two piece affair with a pressed steel back secured by a locking ring.
The calibre 2427 is relatively low beat, a 26 jewel, 18,000bph, automatic, day date affair.
With the rotor removed there’s evidence of one of this calibres weak points, namely rotor post and rotor bearing wear. The rotor had a load of lateral movement and wouldn’t turn freely as it caught on the movement which was covered in tiny particles of rotor post and bearing!
The handset and dial bearing the legend ‘Made in USSR’.
The day and date rings are found beneath.
A peek at the calendar mechanism.
Another interesting point is the quickset mechanism for this calibre is added onto an extra ring that the mainplate secures to.
The movement sans quickset mechanism/ring. Five of the movements 26 jewels are ring bearings located on five pillars around the circumference, these support the date ring.
With the movement turned over I can start stripping the motion work side. Here you can see the twin barrels with a five wheel ratchet train to allow manual winding!
With the autowind mechanism removed you can see there are three separate bridges for the motion work.
The two barrels are ready for removal here.
The movement was now fully stripped and ready for cleaning and inspection.
After inspection, during which a new rotor post and rotor was found to be needed, the rebuild could start.
Second, third and fourth wheels back in position here.
I’d refitted the train bridge and barrels in this shot.
The movements calendar side with the keyless work and quickset ring refitted.
The date ring refitted onto its five jewelled bearings.
The dial and handset is back on here.
A good used rotor post and rotor was found, when they are compared you can see the wear on the old one. The replacement parts were advertised as NOS but I’m pretty sure they weren’t!
The autowind mechanism is refitted in this shot.
A new crystal was fitted as the old one was too deeply marked for polishing.
The movement is now refitted and the case is ready for closing.
And there she is, ready for a few more years of use! Not a bad looking watch (1980’s I guess) and it has survived remarkably well – especially the plating on the case.
By pressing the button in the slot (above the crown) with your fingernail you can quickset the date. In the words of Boney M – ‘Oh those Russians’ (apologies to anyone under the age of 40)!
The Watch Bloke 
Hi i have cccp gold soviet submarine commander watch and it’s works when i put him on flat surface but every time when i try to wear on the wrist it stop working . Then again i have to shake him and start running and stop when its up side down ??
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There could be so many things that could cause that but I expect it will be something in the escape/pallet/balance area that’s at fault.
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Nice & informative review,
I am a collector & enthusiast and I always keep finding these Slava movements interesting. What even makes this soviet/russian movement even more curious, is that it was designed from scratch by Slava, rather than being a “clever improvement” or a direct analogue of an existing swiss type (some of the clones vere actually licensed, not copied).
Even with its minor flaws, like rotor bearing wear (many Rolex watches with similar bearing have the same issue) and slightly shock sensitive balance pivot, it is very enjoyable with its low beat and surpising accuracy.
This Slava family of movements, particularly S2427 & 2416 have found their way to many many Hong Kong/China made cases and “mushroom brand” watches. I personally enjoy many examples in my collection. It seems that for a moment during late 80s – mid 90s Slava 2427 was quite popular as an affordable but well featured automatic movement. Probably at that time there were no comparable chinese automatics and ETA automatics were much more upscale in pricing. Many of these were made for impoters in West-Germany, fitted with nice custom made german day discs. Also some shady Seiko 5 clones with custom spanish day discs have appeared.
In my opinion, it is a movement well worth having in any collection, powering reliably original Slava/Sekonda watches of the era and making many chunky, modern “mushroom watches” more interesting and unique.
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Very interesting, thank you. I have a Moscow Time which uses the same movement – probably not from USSR but Asian as I think it’s more recent. It’s a great time keeper
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Thank you. Very interesting and useful.
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Hi All
I have lots of old watches in my collection and whenever I pick up a Sekonda is always goes after a small rotation of the wrist. Amazing. I like them for their bullet proof and reliable behaviour. But they are valued so low I cant understand it?
Dave
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They’re a niche market that’s for sure, a bit like Russian cars, tractors, motorcycles and the like!
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Just bought a working one from a charity shop for £15 quid. It seems to be working well enough. Guy in the watch repair shop near me said it was USSR made (I thought it said USA when I looked due to the many scratches and my poor eyesight). I don’t know if I’ve bought a dud yet, only time will tell 😉
Thanks for the article – interesting read 🙂
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What are the stain-type of marking on the face? There’s two visible, one between the dial centre and 25 (5) and the other centre and 35 (7)?
Can’t you remove them as then you’ll ruin the remaining surface?
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Hello! I am new to watch collecting. And I’ve begun my collection with Russian watches which I find to be interesting and different from what you usually find in the U.S. The latest watch that I’ve added to my collection, which was an impulse purchase, is a Slava 2427 mvmt with 26 jewels. The watch says “Slava” in Latin letters, and “Made in USSR” also in Latin letters. The day of the week are shown in Cyrillic letters. My question to the folks here in this forum is: Is this movement a good movement, or at least a decent one? Again, I bought this watch because I thought it has an unusual dial and really did not do my homework. Thanks for your feedbacks!
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Have the same movement in a Slava watch, since acquiring a few weeks ago have not wound once, automatic mechanism seems excellent, and around 10 secs accuracy a week which is kind of amazing.
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