That time marked the start of the half-century era of Soviet and Russian cosmonautics,
and from that moment, our country became the universally recognised global leader
in rocket science, and later, in cosmonautics.Also at that time, before and after
the war, the First Moscow Watch Factory
made watches for pilots, and marine and aviation chronometers.
During the Great Patriotic War, the plant also made some parts for the first Katyusha
rocket launchers, and in 1949, it launched the production of the Sturmanskie watch
series. Those watches, made under a special state order, were only available to the
Air Force, but not to regular customers. Numerous tests of Sturmanskie showed high
quality of the products: exceptional accuracy, reliability and durability. The
Sturmanskie also passed
special military standard acceptance with brilliance.
The most significant event in the history of the Sturmanskie brand was undoubtedly
12 April 1961, the historic day when the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin made his
first ever space flight wearing the Sturmanskie watch made for him under a special
order. His watch continued to function
flawlessly even in conditions of weightlessness and overload.
For over half a century, these watches have repeatedly surfaced in the thick of events that made the headlines. Sturmanskie entered world
history as part of the most successful stress test for technology and man. The main confirmation of that was the first manned space flight in
April 1961.
Initially, Sturmanskie was designed for army and navy officers, and was not available to the public until 1983. Astronauts from France,
Germany, Japan, India, Poland and other countries who participated in joint flights under the International Space Programme took their
Sturmanskie watches with them on space missions. Ever since the brand was launched in 1949, Sturmanskie have shown only the best
qualities, being accurate, reliable, and durable.
The most important moment in the brand’s history, without a doubt, was Yuri Gagarin going on his first ever space
mission wearing a Sturmanskie watch.
12 April 1961 marked the most significant event in the history of mankind: the launch of the first manned spacecraft, Vostok, from the Baikonur space centre. The world's first cosmonaut, Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin spent 108 minutes in orbit, making a full circle around the Earth. That science and technology breakthrough of the Soviet school of rocketry and cosmonautics became a new milestone in world history, and Sturmanskie Watch became the FIRST WATCHES in the world to have been in outer SPACE. .
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