CATEGORY: INTERIOR DESIGN
On 13 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin made the first manned flight in outer space on the rocket Vostok 1. In honor of this achievement, the Petrodvorets Watch Factory named its watches "Rocket"; Raketa in Russian.
When Soviet Raketa designers created the Copernicus model, they had the following idea in mind: the big circle (minute hand) symbolises the Earth, and the intermediary circle (hour hand) symbolises Jupiter. Why? Because the Earth orbits the sun in 1 year and Jupiter in 12 years: exactly the same ratio as between the minute hand (big circle) that “orbits” the dial in 1 hour and the hour hand (intermediary circle) that “orbits” the dial in 12 hours.
Creator:
Raketa (since 1961) | Petrodvorets Watch Factory in Saint Petersburg (since 1721)
Object:
Copernicus wristwatch
Country:
Soviet Union | Russia
Design period:
1961
Production period:
1961-1980 (vintage)
Identifying marks:
Marked on top center with Raketa logo and below with Made in the USSR (CCCP)
Style:
Space age, MidMod, mid century modernism
Condition:
In mint condition.
Material:
Metal, glas, leather
Colour:
Silver, gold, black
Dimensions:
D 3.5 cm
Biography
The Petrodvorets Watch Factory is Russia's oldest factory, founded by Peter the Great in 1721. Raketa watches have been produced for the Red Army, the Soviet Navy, and for North Pole expeditions, as well as for civilians. Today, Raketa is one of a handful of global watch brands that produces its own movements from start to finish.
Created back in 1961 during Soviet times, Raketa was once one of the top watch manufacturers around the world. From the earliest days, space and kosmos have played an important role for the brand, down to the name of the company that was referring to the first manned space flight by the Russian cosmonaut Gagarin. There’s another important watch in the brand’s historical collection that is linked to space and kosmos, and that’s the Raketa Copernicus.
This watch is the Raketa Copernicus, named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its centre – a controversial (back then) theory named heliocentrism published his book "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" in 1543, just before his death. Now known as a major event in the history of science, this conception of the Sun being the centre of our system changed our entire conception of astronomy, time and philosophy.
On 13 April 1961, Yuri Gagarin made the first manned flight in outer space on the rocket Vostok 1. In honor of this achievement, the Petrodvorets Watch Factory named its watches "Rocket"; Raketa in Russian.
When Soviet Raketa designers created the Copernicus model, they had the following idea in mind: the big circle (minute hand) symbolises the Earth, and the intermediary circle (hour hand) symbolises Jupiter. Why? Because the Earth orbits the sun in 1 year and Jupiter in 12 years: exactly the same ratio as between the minute hand (big circle) that “orbits” the dial in 1 hour and the hour hand (intermediary circle) that “orbits” the dial in 12 hours.
Creator:
Raketa (since 1961) | Petrodvorets Watch Factory in Saint Petersburg (since 1721)
Object:
Copernicus wristwatch
Country:
Soviet Union | Russia
Design period:
1961
Production period:
1961-1980 (vintage)
Identifying marks:
Marked on top center with Raketa logo and below with Made in the USSR (CCCP)
Style:
Space age, MidMod, mid century modernism
Condition:
In mint condition.
Material:
Metal, glas, leather
Colour:
Silver, gold, black
Dimensions:
D 3.5 cm
Biography
The Petrodvorets Watch Factory is Russia's oldest factory, founded by Peter the Great in 1721. Raketa watches have been produced for the Red Army, the Soviet Navy, and for North Pole expeditions, as well as for civilians. Today, Raketa is one of a handful of global watch brands that produces its own movements from start to finish.
Created back in 1961 during Soviet times, Raketa was once one of the top watch manufacturers around the world. From the earliest days, space and kosmos have played an important role for the brand, down to the name of the company that was referring to the first manned space flight by the Russian cosmonaut Gagarin. There’s another important watch in the brand’s historical collection that is linked to space and kosmos, and that’s the Raketa Copernicus.
This watch is the Raketa Copernicus, named after Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish mathematician and astronomer who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its centre – a controversial (back then) theory named heliocentrism published his book "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres" in 1543, just before his death. Now known as a major event in the history of science, this conception of the Sun being the centre of our system changed our entire conception of astronomy, time and philosophy.
