Raketa Owner Review : Classic, iconic and historical

Soundtrack: "The Brutes" by Trust https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=56bL8DJjnpQ This 1960s Raketa watch became legendary thanks to a photograph by Czech Josef Koudelka during the repression of the Prague Spring. The photo depicts an empty square, refuting Soviet propaganda in advance. In the foreground, the wrist of a Prague resident, also noticing the absence of a crowd, is seen wearing this Raketa 593028 with small seconds. The drawback of this model is the poor legibility of the time depending on the lighting, or when taking a photo, as Josef Koudelka so clearly demonstrated (12:23 is not so clear to read). Hence the idea of using larger hands so that the next time an attack ordered by the Kremlin would avoid this problem. Certainly, it loses some elegance compared to the thin, more solar-like hands, in keeping with the indexes and numerals, but it clearly gains in readability. The movement is a 16-jewel PTchéZ 2603 (30 hours of power reserve and a frequency of 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph), with the small seconds at 6 o'clock. This movement has also been produced in other factories for other brands, with variations. The case is made of chrome-plated brass with a clip-on steel back featuring the shock-resistant inscription on the globe. The design of the elongated even-numbered hours, inscribed like rays, and the odd-numbered hours with tapered, blade-like indexes, contributes to this solar elegance. My watch has a slightly damaged dial, a crown that has been turned thousands of times and whose chrome plating is flaking, and hands that aren't original, yet it exudes the same sunny grace for an impromptu wrist shot, Josef Koudelka style. For its history, you can read: https://moonphase.fr/josef-koudelka-decryptage-du-plus-celebre-wristshot-de-lhistoire/ https://urss.watch/2020/11/07/la-raketa-2603-du-printemps-de-prague/ Adjectives: historic, real, true, centrifugal, radiant, rebellious