Review of the Vostok Europe K3 Diver-Style Watch
 

By: John B. Holbrook, II

May 9, 2005
(re-printed with author's permission) ©

I wish I could say that it was entirely my idea to get the Vostok K3 Submarine watch.  But, the fact is it wasn't - good friend and WTF General Forum Co-Admin Karl "kehac" introduced me to the K3.  Karl is well known for his ability to find good value time pieces.  When he posted some pictures of his K3 and gave his initial (positive) impressions of this sub $200.00 automatic, I was hooked. 

Prior to receiving my K3 I was largely ignorant of Vostok, and of Russian watches in general, so I did some research (many thanks to Russian Watch Forum Co-Moderator Andreas "UVox" for your help!) and discovered that Russian watches have some impressive horological history.  Vostok has been around since 1942, and are the official supplier to the Russian army, as well as the military forces of the former Soviet Union.  Vostok Europe is apparently a newer, separate company from Vostok - Vostok supplies movements to Vostok Europe, and Vostok Europe does the casework, assembly and sales outside of Russia.  

The K3 is a diver style watch that's available in a number of different variations, but this electric blue dial model really spoke to me. The watch arrives in simple but well done cardboard box (appropriate for the price point) with a black felt pillow. The manual which arrives with the watch is a stand out here - one of the FEW manuals that I've ever read which actually provides practical and useful information about the watch, including the complete technical specifications, and a dealer signed warranty (12 months from the date of purchase). After taking some time to review the manual, I got the watch out of the box and had some fun playing with it.

Right out of the box, I was really impressed with this watch. The fit and finish were right up there with some of the leaders in the value priced automatic watch category, like Seiko and Invicta. The case and bracelet of the K3 have a primarily brushed finish, with a polished finish applied to the sides.  I quickly sized the bracelet by removing a few of the adjustable links held in place via friction pins, and dialed in a perfectly comfortable fit with the fine adjustment pin in the flip lock style clasp. The bracelet attaches to the case via hollow end links, which are a bit noisy, but certainly OK for the price. There is no dive suit extension in the bracelet, but that's no surprise.  With a water resistance of 10 ATM, this watch is more suitable for swimming and snorkling than true professional deep sea diving. 

After sizing the watch, I unscrewed the knurled crown and set the time and date.  The Vostok caliber 2416 used in the K3 does not hack, nor does it have a quick set date feature.  It does however have a neat complication that you rarely see on dive style watches - a day/night indicator.  Such an indicator is no doubt a useful feature for military personnel inside a submarine. 

The K3 is 41mm in diameter (without the crown), and has 20mm lugs. A very nice size on my 6.5 inch wrist. It has some very attractive angles on the case - very aggressive looking.  The scaloped bezel rotates unidirectionally with 60 clicks. This style of bezel is very attractive, though not as easy to grip as a coin edge style bezel. The bezel had a really nice quality feel when rotating. Protecting the gorgeous dial is a mineral crystal which has a slight dome shape. The hands and markers are advertised as being Super Luminova coated. As you can see in this shot, the hands and markers glow quite well in the dark and provide nice low light visibility.