Romanoff Empire Collection

Peter the Great

The Romanoff brand of chronographs, manufactured at the Poljot factory in Moscow, became a registered trademark in Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in 1998.

In the west, the most well known of the Romanoff collections would be the military-themed chronographs, as at any given time there are numerous up for sale/auction on the internet. Whereas, conversely, chronographs from the Empire collection are rarely available. For some reason, the quintessential Russian chronographs are not overly popular with westerners.

Most are the Romanoff collection are the typically garish Russian-style watches that are not overly popular with westerners, but in my opinion that's what makes them so desirable. I hoping to someday own all of the cal. 3133 chronographs from the Empire collection, however, of all the models this one is my favourite.

Unique case back

This case back is unique to the older models, as the modern version has a very plain flat back with basic etched script.

Typical late-nineties Poljot cal. 3133 movement

With very nice gold-plated casing!

Peter the Great

Peter was a rationalist who implemented sweeping reforms in an attempt to modernize Russia. His Military campaigns brought major expansion to Russian land in what is now present day Estonia, Latvia, and the St. Petersburg region; opening access to the Baltic Sea where previously only the White Sea port of Arkhangelsk was inside Russian borders.

In preparation for his second attempt to conquer the fort of Azov from the Turks, Peter ordered the building of Russia's first naval fleet consisting of thirty ships, which played a decisive roll in capturing the fort. In 1996, the Russians celebrated the three hundreth anniversary of the Russian Navy (see 1996 - Skipper Chronograph).

Another Russian watch related accomplishment by Peter was the founding of St. Petersburg, and the Industrial complex in the Peterhof suburb that would one day house the Raketa watch factory.