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"Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving

Object/Artifact

Men's automatic wristwatch on a stainless-steel bracelet. Round steel case with a silvered dial (now heavily degraded), applied baton hour markers, and gilt hands; signed for Poljot with "Automatic" and jewel/shockproof text. Knurled crown at 3. The Soviet steel bracelet has a brick/"beads-of-rice"-style link pattern and a folding clasp. The clasp's outer face is hand-engraved in cursive Spanish: "Del Ministro de las F.A.R." The screw/snap caseback carries English durability legends; the clasp underside is stamped in Cyrillic.

"Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 2 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 2 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 3 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 3 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 4 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 4 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 5 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 5 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 6 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 6
"Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 2 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 3 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 4 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 5 "Poljot" (ПОЛЁТ) automatic wristwatch, Soviet, with Cuban FAR presentation engraving - Image 6

2025.11.24

2025.11

Purchase

Bought to Néstor Kim Enriquez

First Moscow Watch Factory

U.S.S.R.

Eastern Europe

Europe

Poljot

Maker: Poljot — First Moscow Watch Factory (USSR). The hand-engraved presentation inscription was added later (in Cuba). Date: Circa 1960s–1970s. The Poljot brand dates from the early 1960s and the 29-jewel automatic style belongs to its 1960s–70s production; no explicit date mark is present, so the year isn't determinable, but it falls within the 1959–1990 range. Place of Origin: USSR (Soviet Union) — watch and bracelet. Presentation-engraved in Cuba.

Dial: "ПОЛЁТ" (Poljot), "AUTOMATIC," "[2]9 JEWELS" (probable), "SHOCKPROOF." Caseback: "WATERPROTECTED – SHOCK-RESIST – ALL STEEL / AUTOMATIC." Bracelet clasp (underside, Cyrillic): "НЕРЖАВЕЮЩАЯ СТАЛЬ / СДЕЛАНО В СССР" ("Stainless steel / Made in USSR"). Bracelet clasp (outer face, hand-engraved Spanish): "Del Ministro de las F.A.R." ("From the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces").

Metal

Glass

Materials: Stainless steel case and bracelet; silvered metal dial; gilt hands; crystal (acrylic or mineral). Technique: Mass-produced Soviet self-winding (automatic) wristwatch; the clasp inscription hand-engraved as a presentation/award addition.

Poor

Moscow

U.S.S.R.

Eastern Europe

Europe

production

Havana

Cuba

Caribbean

Central America

use

In 1964 the First Moscow Watch Factory consolidated its brands under the single name Poljot ("Flight"), beginning a golden era spanning the 1960s through the end of the 1970s. Poljot De Luxe automatics of this period used a slim 29-jewel automatic movement. The English caseback legend marks it as an export-market watch.

Presentation: The clasp inscription "Del Ministro de las F.A.R." identifies it as a gift from the office of the Minister of Cuba's Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (Revolutionary Armed Forces). Across 1959–2008 that post was held by Raúl Castro; the engraving names the office/donor, not an individual, and no recipient name is visible — so there is no personal data to redact here. A Soviet import turned into a Cuban military honorific is a striking intersection of the collection's Soviet-import and Cuban-state-culture threads