Overall, the watch is well-made and it’s overall quality “feel” is better than Raketa, but not quite on par with Volmax brands (Aviator and Sturmanskie). Curiously, while the brand name is written in Russian (Восток) along with “made in Russia” (сделано в России) on the face of the watch, it is written in English (Vostok – Russia) on the back. The luming is decent, but far from the super-luminova seen on Volmax watches. The screws, glass rim and crown are very slightly tinted in gold. The mechanism inside this watch is an anti-shock Vostok 2423 (Frequency: 19800 vph daily rate from -20 to +60 s/day power reserve min: 38 h) and the case is made of polished steel. Another feature which distinguishes it from most other Vostok watches is that it does not have a screw-down crown. This Vostok is a simple yet elegant watch and, due to its size and style, this is arguably the only Vostok 24 hour watch which could be worn both by a man or a woman. This “Aviator Mamba” is both so functional and elegant that it can be worn on any occasion and I have made it my everyday carry (EDC) watch. The overall “feel” of this watch is one of strength, power and elegance, hence my choice of a Green Mamba as its model (I could never have taken a close-up picture of this extremely dangerous snake without the help of my friend Carl Barden, Director of the Medtoxin Venom Laboratories and the absolutely amazing Reptile Discovery Center in Deland, FL. One special feature of this model is the small magnifying glass which makes the date easily readable. The mechanism inside this watch is the highly dependable Poljot 2623 (Antishock. The overall “readability” of the dial is outstanding in both day and night (the watch’s 45mm size definitely helps here). The super-luminova on this watch might well be the largest and brightest I have ever seen on any watch. In particular, the soft but clear contrast of the green markings and the white dial is both extremely clear and very pleasant.
This watch’s real name is a much more mundane “Aviator 2623/1225556-45” which is really too bad considering how beautiful this watch really is.
That is the name I gave it after taking this picture. No, this watch is not really called “Aviator Mamba”. A ‘world traveller’ watch should feature decent water resistance. Should Volmax ever decide to re-issue this series, I hope that they give it at least ‘5 ATM’ or even ’10 ATM’. This model is water-resistant to ‘3 ATM’ which really means that it is only minimally water resistant. I wish Sturmanskie re-issued this model in a 45mm case and with a better, more readable, rotating bezel. This watch has a nice and solid feel to it, it is well finished and the overall look of the watch is one of quality. The date, however, is shown in a larger character and can be read rather easily. On my model the rotation of the bezel is not too smooth either, but that may be due to the fact that it is an ‘old stock’. Frankly, while this does add a traveller’s orientation to the watch, it is almost useless as the names of the cities are written in truly tiny characters. This model features a rotating bezel with 24 time zones, each identified by a city and a GMT reference. The luming, however, is every bit as good as the most recent Sturmanskie models. For example, the case size is for this model (40 x 11 mm) is probably a little small by today’s standards, in particular for a 24 hour watch.
In many ways, this is a transitional model between the older Sturmanskie models and the newer ones.
It is a so-called “NOS” – new, old stock. Even though I only got this watch recently, it is not a recent model.
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