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The must-have Macro Loupe for all watch lovers

This model, whose design dates back to the 1960s, is a Raketa classic. It's the counterpart to the Atom, which divides the dial into three sections. The division into four quarters, or four quarter-hours, is much more natural. As always, I really like this type of watch because it's so minimalist and conceptual. It's like imagining a square within a circle, an eternal problem given the transcendent nature of Pi. The four horizontal hour markers are also remarkable because they are independent of the circle; they are not oriented centrifugally, but horizontally, expressing the superiority of the mind over circular motion.

The movement is a 2609 with 16 jewels. The case is chrome-plated brass; other versions exist in gold plating or with flattened numerals instead of hour markers. The case back is snap-on. The diameter is 35mm without the crown and 36mm with it.

The soundtrack I would associate with this great Raketa classic from the late 70s is Sputnik / Korolev by PBS https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=DsbYqX3umFs, which evokes the world of space exploration.

Raketa Academic, squaring the circle

This small watch (29 mm in diameter) from the early 1970s is very attractive, especially when fitted with a bund strap which gives it a more substantial presence. The black-on-white dial is excellent, although the minute track is necessarily limited by the small diameter.

The case is a Type 161 in chromed brass with long, straight lugs (37 mm lug to lug). The case back is steel and simply snaps onto the case.

The movement is a 15-jewel Zim 2602 (inspired by the historic French Lip R26 caliber) which beats at 18,000 vibrations per hour (A/h).

The soundtrack I would associate with this watch is the Dune Awakening soundtrack: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=A-Ktw2cVQUg

Small but mighty

Pocket watches offer the advantage of being quite large and easy to read. This one certainly is. It's 45mm in diameter, and although the crystal is only 39mm, it gives a real impression of spaciousness. The hands are thin and precise, yet stand out beautifully in black against white. It's very practical as a table watch, placed on a desk, although the movement is a bit noisy. But this can be an advantage when you want to keep time during a meeting or while waiting in a lounge before boarding; you simply place the watch on the table in front of you. The small seconds hand offers the benefit of not adding too much pressure when you glance at the dial, but the ticking sound reminds you that time is passing and you need to get to the point. Of course, if you're in a noisy environment, you won't even notice it anymore.

The closely spaced Roman numerals suit it well, in my opinion. Note that the IV is in standard watchmaking format to avoid confusion with a VI, which is absent anyway due to the small seconds subdial. The case back is simply scratched and clipped on. The movement offers good resistance when winding. The crown is perhaps a little small at 6mm; a slightly larger one would have provided a better grip, but aesthetically it might have been a drawback. It's an 18-jewel 3602 movement from the Chelyabinsk Watch Factory, apparently produced in the second quarter of 1962. The soundtrack I would associate with this watch would be "Run" by Ev3nmorn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFNIdGzdWoU&t=425s

In your pocket or on the table

I've already mentioned this hexagonal Slava model here, a very 70s-80s shape with its curved horizontal sides. But here the colors are reversed: the dial is black while the flange is off-white with the hour markers. Curiously, it often seems to me that the dial isn't black at all, but only very dark blue or green. The result is that the watch gives a rather different impression, much less of a dress watch and more serious, since it displays not only the minutes but also the hours. On the other hand, it's amusing to see this combination, since the dial indicates "21 jewels" in Russian, while "Made in the USSR" is indicated at 6 o'clock in English.

The case back is stainless steel, clipped onto the chrome-plated brass case.

The soundtrack I would choose for this watch would be "Sabakistan" (The Land of Dogs) by Gromyka, for its exotic atmosphere of a world that is not ours (and yet...).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSaioxh70Ms

The serious Slava arched hexagon - figures

This post-Soviet Poljot offers classic elegance and excellent legibility despite its gold hands against a cream dial. The 38mm diameter case is made of gold-plated brass with a 32mm opening.

The movement is a 17-jewel Poljot 2614.2N with a date function and a 46-hour power reserve. It operates at a frequency of 21,600 A/h (3Hz).
The word "Russia" is inscribed on the dial at 6 o'clock. The case back is marked "water resistant" and "stainless steel back" in English, contrasting with the Russian dial inscriptions.
This watch displays a distinctly 1990s aesthetic with its gold plating on the hands, numerals, bezel, and lugs. The winged crown logo is in the same vein; nevertheless, the watch remains a classic design with a tried-and-tested case and a well-known movement derived from the 2609N, produced since the 1970s.

The music I would associate with this watch is "Love Is The Answer" by Scorpions - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm146F__4TU

To get out of darkness, into the light

I really like the shape of this case, which is somewhere between a square and a circle. Its straight lugs give it an even more dynamic feel. The faceted gold and red hands and hour markers against a dark brown background contribute to this impression of raw energy, even though the Tchaika brand from the Uglich Watch Factory is known for its refined and delicate timepieces.

To get a general idea of Tchaika watches, you can watch Alexander Brodnikovsky's presentation of his entire collection outdoors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxylHXQ7GI4. These are all watches designed for a Soviet female audience.

The steel case back is screwed down with a six-pronged ring. The movement is a 17-jewel Tchaika 2609N. Produced by the Uglich factory, it is in fact identical to the Moscow 2609N movement. The caliber is marked with the Tchaïka brand logo (a X depicted within a shield).

The song I would associate with it is "L'enterrement de la guerre" by DDT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2cdzL1jH48

When Power Rhymes with Elegance

Raketa, founded in 1961, is a Russian watch brand from the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, whose industrial origins go back to 1721 near Saint Petersburg; it speaks to enthusiasts of atypical mechanical watches, Soviet design, in-house movements and instruments created for space, the poles, the navy or a deliberately different reading of time.
<h3>Petrodvorets, Peter the Great and the birth of a space watch</h3>
Raketa cannot be understood without distinguishing the manufacture from the brand. The Petrodvorets Watch Factory is officially linked to a much older history, begun in 1721 under Peter the Great, while the Raketa name appeared in 1961 after the first human spaceflight. The word means &ldquo;rocket&rdquo; in Russian and immediately places the brand within a technical, national and cosmic memory. This double depth gives Raketa an identity very different from a classical Swiss house founded around luxury or jewellery.
The brand developed in an environment where the watch first had to answer concrete uses: pilots, polar explorers, submariners, cosmonauts, engineers and citizens of a highly structured industrial world. This explains its taste for twenty-four-hour dials, immediately legible displays, robust cases and sometimes disconcerting designs. Raketa today preserves this idea of a cultural tool watch, with a visual language that embraces its Soviet roots without trying to imitate Western codes.
<h3>In-house manufacture, Russian hairspring and recent modernization</h3>
One of Raketa&rsquo;s strongest elements is its claimed ability to produce its movements internally, including complex components such as the hairspring. The manufacture explains that it launched a modernization programme in 2011 after a difficult period following the fall of the Soviet Union. It combines traditional machines, contemporary design offices, three-dimensional modelling, component production, hand assembly and rate checks. For a brand positioned at this price level, this industrial depth remains a rare and highly distinctive argument.
The most visible current calibres are the 2615 three-hand automatic and the 2624 twenty-four-hour automatic, with twenty-four jewels, a frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour, or 2.5 hertz, and a stated power reserve of around forty hours. Official product sheets indicate an average accuracy of minus ten to plus twenty seconds per day depending on models. Raketa also highlights a system that disconnects the automatic winding module during manual winding. The brand therefore favours robustness, historical coherence and internal manufacturing rather than a pursuit of thinness or high frequency.
<h3>Graphic icons, cosmos and unconventional reading</h3>
The contemporary catalogue takes up several historical or cultural signatures. The most accessible watches in the collective imagination are often those that turn time reading into a strong graphic sign: a zero at twelve, planet hands, reverse rotation, a twenty-four-hour dial or an aesthetic linked to the Russian avant-garde. Raketa is at its most appealing when the buyer accepts that the watch is an object of character before being a simple neutral timekeeper.
<ul>
<li>Raketa Big Zero &mdash; Emblematic model where zero replaces twelve, now one of the brand&rsquo;s most recognizable Soviet designs.</li>
<li>Raketa Big Zero Blue &mdash; Forty-millimeter blue version, calibre 2615, stated water resistance to ten atmospheres and observed official price of 2,200 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Big Zero Grey &mdash; Forty-millimeter grey version, calibre 2615, limited production of two hundred pieces according to the recent official product sheet and observed price of 2,300 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Big Zero Azur Blue &mdash; Anniversary edition limited to sixty-five pieces, forty millimeters, calibre 2615, steel bracelet with additional leather strap and observed official price of 2,300 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Copernicus &mdash; 39.5-millimeter model with planet hands, aventurine and agate dial, calibre 2615 and observed official price of 2,600 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Russian Code &mdash; Watch with reverse reading, whose hands move in the opposite direction to traditional reading, powered by the 2615CR calibre according to the official product sheet.</li>
</ul>
These models do not seek absolute discretion. They work because they immediately trigger a reaction: curiosity, smile, questioning or cultural attachment. The counterpart of this personality is obvious: legibility may require adaptation, case height is sometimes significant, and the most conceptual designs will not suit every use. The right choice therefore depends on the pleasure one takes in wearing a watch that says something at first glance.
<h3>Twenty-four hours, poles, space and tool watches</h3>
The other major Raketa territory is that of twenty-four-hour watches. This architecture is logical in environments where the distinction between day and night becomes difficult: polar regions, submarines, space or long missions. Raketa built part of its legend around this particular reading of time, visually slower, more circular and very different from a classical twelve-hour dial. The twenty-four-hour display is probably Raketa&rsquo;s most natural identity complication.
<ul>
<li>Raketa Polar &mdash; 41.6-millimeter watch, twenty-four-hour dial, calibre 2624A, rotating bezel, screw-down crown, stated water resistance to twenty atmospheres and observed official price of 2,400 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Baikonur &mdash; Forty-two-millimeter watch designed for cosmonauts, calibre 2624CA, twenty-four-hour dial, second time zone, solar compass, stated water resistance to twenty atmospheres and observed official price of 2,900 euros.</li>
<li>Raketa Sonar &mdash; Watch designed for submariners, powered by a twenty-four-hour automatic movement intended to distinguish day from night during long underwater missions.</li>
<li>Raketa Amphibia &mdash; Modern dive watch from the brand, part of the Russian tradition of marine watches and robust instruments.</li>
<li>Raketa Pilot &mdash; Aviation-inspired watch, more classical in reading but connected to the territory of professional watches.</li>
</ul>
The new Baikonur illustrates well how Raketa connects space heritage and contemporary use. The dial opposes light and dark zones to make day and night easier to distinguish, the second time zone answers the logic of the International Space Station, and the solar compass refers to a survival logic in case of an unexpected landing. This approach may sound romantic, but it gives real coherence to the Raketa tool watch.
<h3>Prices, availability and buyer profile</h3>
Raketa&rsquo;s current positioning is no longer that of the very inexpensive Soviet watch one may associate with the vintage market. New models observed often sit between around 2,200 and 2,900 euros depending on the references mentioned, with in-house movement, sapphire crystal on the dial side, twenty-four-month warranty and international delivery announced by the official boutique. This level may surprise, but it reflects a strategy of revived manufacture, limited production and strong cultural identity. The buyer pays as much for a singular Russian industrial identity as for purely rational watchmaking specification.
The ideal profile is that of an enthusiast who wants a different watch, with strong history, an internally produced movement and a design that does not resemble Swiss, Japanese or German standards. Raketa will suit less those seeking very luxurious finishing, tight chronometer-level accuracy, a very thin watch or a consensual international image. Before purchase, one should check sales channel, delivery conditions, service, warranty, real model availability and size compatibility with the wrist. The brand mainly rewards buyers who embrace its character, technical particularities and historical imagination.
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
Raketa is aimed at enthusiasts who want a singular mechanical watch rooted in rare Russian industrial history and carried by an immediately identifiable design. The brand stands out through the Petrodvorets Watch Factory, its in-house movements, space heritage, twenty-four-hour dials, graphic icons and refusal to imitate Swiss luxury codes. The choice should begin with use and relationship to symbol: a graphic watch, a cosmic piece, a reverse reading, a polar watch or a space-travel instrument.
Before purchasing, compare style, legibility, comfort, accuracy and service with real owner experience through&nbsp;Dialicious customer reviews.
(Updated September 2026)

La marque&nbsp;Serica a &eacute;t&eacute; cr&eacute;&eacute;e en 2019 par J&eacute;r&ocirc;me Burget et 3 amis &agrave; Paris, en France. Le nom Serica vient d'une r&eacute;gion perdue au bout de l'Extr&ecirc;me-Orient que les Grecs et les Romains avaient baptis&eacute;e ainsi. Ce lieu fait &eacute;cho &agrave; la gen&egrave;se de la marque, qui vise &agrave; concevoir des montres m&eacute;caniques de qualit&eacute; au style n&eacute;or&eacute;tro, pr&ecirc;tes &agrave; vous suivre aux confins du monde.
La gamme comprend des montres telles que la <a title="Page Serica 4512" href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/4512">Serica 4512</a>, la <a title="Page Serica 5303" href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/5303">Serica 5303</a> et la <a title="Page Serica 8315 GMT Chronom&egrave;tre" href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/8315">Serica 8315</a>. L'une des particularit&eacute;s de cette marque est que son nom n'appara&icirc;t nulle part sur le cadran, afin de pousser le passionn&eacute; &agrave; acheter un design, des finitions et des proportions, et pas seulement un nom. En juillet 2023, Serica a lanc&eacute; la Serica 5303 COSC une version chronom&egrave;tre certifi&eacute;e par le Contr&ocirc;le Officiel Suisse des Chronom&egrave;tres.
Leur avant-dernier mod&egrave;le est la <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/6190">Serica 6190</a> surfant sur les bases de la 1&egrave;re r&eacute;f&eacute;rence de la marque, la Serica 4512. Cette 6190 &eacute;pouse les codes stylistiques de la marque, des anses lyres, un choix de cadrans diff&eacute;rents et la possibilit&eacute; de choisir la position de la couronne &agrave; 3 heures ou en mode "Destro" &agrave; 9 heures. Cette Serica 6190 est &eacute;quip&eacute; du calibre Soprod M100 certifi&eacute; COSC (Contr&ocirc;le Officiel Suisse des Chronom&egrave;tres) &agrave; l'intar des productions actuelles des autres mod&egrave;les 5303 et 8315.&nbsp;
La Serica Parade est quand &agrave; elle une collection audacieuse lanc&eacute;e en novembre 2024...&nbsp;Une montre habill&eacute;e sortant des sentiers battus nomm&eacute;e "Parade" sous la r&eacute;f&eacute;rence 1174. Ces 4 chiffres, comme toutes les autres r&eacute;f&eacute;rences Serica, propose une symbolique issue du nombre d'or ou divines proportions dont le ratio entre la longeur et la largeur sont de 1,174... Une montre tr&egrave;s &eacute;l&eacute;gante propos&eacute;e &agrave; 1,490 &euro;.
Mars 2026 est une date importante avec le lancement d'une nouveaut&eacute; attendue par les collectionneurs... Enfin une Serica avec la fonction Date. La&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/5330">Serica 5330</a> reprend les codes de la 5303 avec de multiples &eacute;volutions esth&eacute;tiques permettant d'int&eacute;grant le guichet date tout en subtilit&eacute;, comme Serica nous en donn&eacute; l'habitude. Patience, les pr&eacute;-commandes viennent d'ouvrir pour une 1&egrave;re livraison pr&eacute;vue d&eacute;but mai 2026, au prix de 1,690 &euro;.
L'ann&eacute;e 2026 ne s'est pas arr&ecirc;t&eacute;e l&agrave;, avec lancement en Mai d'une <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/7505">nouvelle collection Serica nomm&eacute;e 7505</a>&nbsp;et proposant une d&eacute;clinaison de la filed watch 6190 dans un format plus petit en 35mm, plus adapt&eacute; aux petits poignets. Serice ne fait rien &agrave; la l&eacute;g&egrave;re et accompagne cette nouvelle collection d'un nouveau bracelet Bonklip plus robuste. Le signe de la maturit&eacute; pour la marque qui r&eacute;pond ainsi &agrave; une demance clairement exprim&eacute;e par ses clients.
<h2>Quel est le prix d'une montre Serica ?</h2>
Les prix des montres Serica &eacute;voluent et diff&eacute;rent selon les mod&egrave;les. La plupart co&ucirc;tent entre 990 &euro; et 1,890 &euro; selon les mod&egrave;les et finitions. Le mod&egrave;le GMT de la marque, Serica 8315 GMT Chronom&egrave;tre co&ucirc;te 1,890 &euro; tandis que le dernier mod&egrave;le lanc&eacute; par Serica, la r&eacute;f&eacute;rence <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/serica/6190">6190</a> est propos&eacute;e &agrave; 990 &euro;.
Serica est ind&eacute;pendante et produit environ 5,000 montres par an, tous mod&egrave;les confondus. Serica fait partie du <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/top/les_meilleures_marques_de_montres_francaises">Top 10 des marques de montres fran&ccedil;aises les plus populaires</a>, ainsi que du <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/top/les_meilleures_micro_marques_de_montres">Classement des meilleures micro-marques de montres</a>. Pour choisir le mod&egrave;le Serica qui vous correspond le mieux,&nbsp;les avis clients Dialicious sont une ressource essentielle pour &eacute;valuer les diff&eacute;rents mod&egrave;les &agrave; travers l'exp&eacute;rience r&eacute;elle des clients
(Mise &agrave; jour Novembre 2024)

The brand&nbsp;Serica was created in 2019 by J&eacute;r&ocirc;me Burget and 3 friends in Paris, France. The name Serica comes from a lost region at the end of the Far East that the Greeks and Romans named it like this. This place echoes the genesis of the brand, which aims to design quality mechanical watches in a neo-retro style, ready to follow you to the ends of the world.
The range includes watches such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/4512">Serica 4512</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/5303">Serica 5303</a> and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/8315">Serica 8315</a>. One of the particularities of this brand is that its name does not appear anywhere on the dial, in order to encourage the enthusiast to buy a design, finishes and proportions, and not just a name. In July 2023, Serica launched the Serica 5303 COSC, a chronometer version certified by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute.
The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/6190">Serica 6190</a> surfing on the bases of the brand's first reference, the Serica 4512. This 6190 follows the stylistic codes of the brand, lyre lugs, a choice of different dials and the possibility of choosing the position of the crown at 3 o'clock or at &ldquo;Destro&rdquo; mode at 9 o&rsquo;clock. This Serica 6190 is powered with the Soprod M100 caliber COSC (Official Swiss Chronometer Certification) certified, like the current productions of the other 5303 and 8315 models.&nbsp;
The Serica Parade is a bold collection launched in November 2024... A dress watch that breaks the mold, named &ldquo;Parade&rdquo; and bearing the reference number 1174. These four digits, like all other Serica reference numbers, embody the symbolism of the golden ratio&mdash;or divine proportions&mdash;where the ratio of length to width is 1.174... A very elegant watch priced at &euro;1,490.
March 2026 is an important mark with the launch date of a new model eagerly awaited by collectors... Finally, a Serica with a date function. The <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/5330">Serica 5330</a> builds on the design of the 5303 with numerous aesthetic updates that allow for the date window to be seamlessly integrated, as we&rsquo;ve come to expect from Serica. Be patient&mdash;pre-orders have just opened for a first shipment scheduled for early May 2026, priced at &euro;1,690.
But 2026 didn&rsquo;t stop there: in May, the brand launched <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/7505">a new Serica collection called 7505</a>, featuring a smaller 35mm version of the 6190 watch, better suited for slimmer wrists. Serice doesn&rsquo;t do anything halfheartedly, and has paired this new collection with a new, more robust Bonklip strap. This marks a sign of maturity for the brand, which is thus responding to a demand clearly expressed by its customers.
<h2 dir="ltr">How much does a Serica watch cost?</h2>
The prices of Serica watches change and differ depending on the model. Most cost between &euro; 990 and &euro; 1,890 depending on the models and finishes. The brand's GMT model, Serica 8315 GMT Chronometer costs &euro; 1,890 while the latest model launched by Serica, the reference&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/6190">6190</a> is offered to &euro; 990.
Serica is independent and produces around 5,000 watches per year, all models combined. Serica is part of the&nbsp;<a href="https://preprod.dialicious.com/en/top/the_best_french_watch_brands">Top 10 most popular French watch brands</a>, as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/top/the_best_micro_watch_brands">ranking the best micro watch brands</a>. To choose the Serica model that best suits you, <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/5303">Serica 5303 reviews</a>, <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/4512">Serica 4512 reviews</a>, <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/6190">Serica 6190 reviews</a> or <a href="https://www.dialicious.com/en/serica/8315">Serica 8315 reviews</a> are an #1 resource for evaluating different models through real customer experience.
(Updated December 2025)

Wind of change 's review on his Raketa

Raketa Academic, squaring the circle

Pros & Cons for this watch

Where to buy your Raketa?

YOU ARE :

Other reviews published by Wind of change

Zim

Molnija

Slava
Hexagon

Poljot

Chaika

Customize your Raketa with our selection of accessories:

Iconic Switzerland

Eagle Eye Watches

Wind of change 's review on his Raketa

Raketa Academic, squaring the circle

Pros & Cons for this watch

Where to buy your Raketa?

YOU ARE :

Other reviews published by Wind of change

Zim

Molnija

SlavaHexagon

Poljot

Chaika

Customize your Raketa with our selection of accessories:

Iconic Switzerland

Eagle Eye Watches

Slava
Hexagon