Today's post is a guest contribution by "DC guy," a denizen of the Affordable Watches and Russian Watches forums on watchuseek.com.
This is a review of the Vostok Amphibia SE 420361B, available exclusively from Meranom, an
authorized dealer in Chistopol City, Russia. It's fitting that my first
post is about an Amphibia, as it was the Time Bum's review of his
"Scuba Dude" Amphibia that originally led me to this blog. That article did
a good job summarizing the interesting history and innovation behind
this line of Russian diving watches, so I won't retread that ground
here.
I
was amused to read that the Time Bum spent more money modding his Scuba
Dude than on the watch itself. That shows what an exceptional value an
Amphibia represents. But the urge to mod is evidence that these budget
watches leave much to be desired in terms of material quality and
finish. Nearly everyone tosses the tinfoil-like OEM bracelet in favor of
nylon, rubber, or leather. Many also swap the chromed bezel for a
stainless steel one.
Enter Meranom and their Special Edition (SE) Amphibias.
Introduced in 2013, this ever-expanding series of souped-up Vostoks
finally brings these watches out of the post-Soviet era and up to modern
standards of look and feel. Not content to simply right the wrongs in
the bracelet and bezel, Meranom has taken the Amphibia to the next level with new/revived dial designs, case styles, and even movements.
When first released in August 2015, the Amphibia SE 420361B immediately sold out. One look
at its iridescent blue dial, and it's easy to see why. The watch is
just now becoming available again, along with its color variant cousins.
I ordered mine last month after incredulously spotting the words "In
stock" during a Google search.
The
watch features a "sandwich" dial consisting of two layers: a lower one
coated with luminous paint; and an upper one with cut-out indices that
cast shadows in the light and let the lume glow through in the dark. The
upper layer features a radial sunburst in a brilliant shade of blue
that makes my 2008 Scuba Dude look dim (see photo). The hour indices at
3, 6, 9, and 12 are triangles while the others are slits. This layout is actually based on a Soviet heritage dial though the sandwich format adds a new twist.
There's no whimsical frogman, captain's wheel, or other graphic on the dial; just a clean, centered "Boctok"
logo for a professional look. Below that are four lines of text ("31
Jewels / Automatic / 200 M / Made in Russia"), which is a lot, but since
it's in Cyrillic, I feel it adds to the cool factor of the watch.
Minute and hour hands are lumed swords with polished steel borders. The lumed seconds hand is the same as in other Amphibias, but painted white instead of red.
For
some of you, I'm sure my earlier mention of a sandwich layer consisting
of pure lume sent tingles into your nether regions. Sorry to
disappoint, but I find the lume on this watch to be on par with all my
other Vostok watches ... that is, barely visible and basically useless.
When
you finally tear your eyes from the dial, Meranom's other
customizations become apparent. First, there is the stainless steel
bezel providing a 12-hour chapter ring in matching metallic blue. Unlike
many Vostok bezels (e.g., the weird colored dots and dashes on the
Scuba Dude), this one looks thoroughly modern and attractive while still
avoiding the Submariner copycat look. It also has a much-improved grip
edge compared to the fine-toothed original.
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