It is always a pleasure to receive awards and rewards, all the more deserved. A distinctive feature of the times of the Soviet Union was the rewarding for outstanding deeds and successes by the watch, and the “Commander's” watches were considered especially prestigious. The USSR has long sunk into oblivion, but today's fans of such attributes will never refuse such a pleasant and significant gift.
Gifts of this kind were one of the many varieties for encouraging military personnel, and after a while they began to be called the “Commander” watch. Only military specialists who showed outstanding valor, boundless courage and courage, that is, what ultimately influenced the positive outcome of the military operation, could get them.
Reward value
In those distant times, a soldier who received the "Commander" watch of the USSR was considered an indisputable hero, and such an award was sometimes more honorable than a medal or order. It was almost impossible to buy an original award watch, because the issue was limited and strictly controlled, and the awarded heroes cherished them madly. Therefore, the question of how much the “Commander” watches of the USSR cost has never been raised. It's one thing to buy them for a lot of money, but another thing is to explain to others where you got such a reward from. Of course, there were craftsmen in those harsh times who, in one way or another, got such a watch, but these were isolated cases.
Today's realities allow you to buy the "Commander" watch of the USSR (price from 2 to 8 thousand rubles) in any shop or from Internet shelves, and therefore they completely lost their former material and most importantly - cultural value.
Interesting Facts
A few years ago, a fairly well-known historian in his circles, Viktor Isaev, engaged in his own and unbiased investigation regarding cheating and fraud with various rewards, and the “Commander” watches of the USSR were considered in priority order.
According to the collected data and surveys of direct participants of both one and the other side (seller-buyer), he found out that in the early 90s of the last century it was possible to get the most respectful award in those days in writing for three thousand dollars, and signed directly by the head of state. But the Komandirsky watches (17 stones, the USSR - the original) cost more than six thousand dollars. The value of such an award is evident.
Among the total mass of such “buyers”, there were mainly high-ranking officials: deputies of the legislative assembly, directors and owners of the largest enterprises of industry and farmland, that is, people with a high status, and hence a solid income.
Naturally, in this case, the “Commander” clock of the USSR lost its significance as a cult and indisputable object, which was obtained for courage and valor, and the perfect and unique design became ordinary walkers, but did not suffer a prize in battle. In any case, the morals of those times prove that the owner of such a unique award was considered a true patriot and hero, causing respect for everyone and everyone.
Our days
The current generation does not have a clue about the value of such an attribute as the “Commander” watches of the USSR, because you can literally buy “something like” at every step, and at extremely affordable prices. To get hold of such a toy, it is not at all necessary to perform any heroic acts and, especially, feats.
Nowadays, the Vostok company is engaged in the production of such watches, having bought the brand from the original source for mere pennies. It cannot be said that the products manufactured by the plant are bad, but mass production still affected quality. In the assortment you can see the expensive Komandirsky watches waterproof (USSR equivalent) and more affordable models without protection from shock and moisture.
The origin of tradition
Awarding the watch, and not only the “Commander”, but also the usual nominal mechanical, originates in the distant XIV century (the Middle Ages). In those days, this kind of tradition was purely interstate, that is, various diplomats, merchants, or traveling aristocrats gave foreign colleagues such souvenirs in order to quickly solve the problem or establish an important dialogue.
Europe
If we turn to the same history textbooks and archives of the Treasury and Ambassadorial orders, we will see that in Medieval Europe, walkers were an extremely honorable and worthy of kings gift. Such an attribute was often compared with the works of famous jewelry masters and prominent blacksmiths who created their products from precious metals.
In addition to the gift, the watch at that time was an indispensable attribute of decoration in aristocratic houses. Naturally, such an instance of solid money was worth it, and not every rich person of that era could afford such pleasure.
Russia
In the Russian Empire, awarding with a nominal watch began at the beginning of the 19th century. But then it was a narrow and not at all military phenomenon: only state officials and high-ranking courtiers received them (usually as a gift).
Awarding always took place in the presence of the emperor, and the watch itself was made by the only elite Russian brand at that time - Pavel Bure. The production was located in St. Petersburg and did not differ in variability - pocket walkers inlaid with precious metals on a chain. The cover or dial of such masterpieces was decorated with the Russian coat of arms and the name of the future owner.
Military environment
In wartime, the rewarding culture for hours was born only at the beginning of the last century, and spread only to individual military units. For example, the famous Siberian shooters could receive gold or silver goats as a reward for their excellent possession of small arms.
During the Civil War, awarding watches became widespread. They received the Red Navy, the Konarmey and Red Army. At that time, any award system was simply absent, so very many were encouraged with this attribute. This was one of the most common forms of encouraging fighters, so the commander of any unit could easily take his watch out of his pocket and hand it to a particularly distinguished soldier right on the parade ground.
The White Guards also did not stand aside from such awards. The famous General Lavr Kornilov marked his subordinates for well-aimed shooting at the red inscribed watch with an engraving.
However, such an erratic presentation and attitude towards rewarding in general played a very insidious role in history. The awards, bypassing the main intermediary in the person of Moscow and all sorts of formalities, led to the fact that most of the watches were subsequently confiscated. For example, members of the First Cavalry Army lost their awards under the uncomplicated pretext of fighting the costs of the tsarist regime.
Since then, the official command, remembering the bad experience, strictly followed all the formalities of the rewards, and the award ritual became phased - thought out and organized. Such an important attribute began to be received only by those fighters who really deserved it, repeatedly showing their valor, courage and courage in a heavy battle.