Opening the box of the Zlatoust ChS195 is like opening a portal into the past – the smell of the hand-made, plain wooden box, the rough folded paper, containing the technical data and the warranty and, of course, the watch itself. Milled from a single piece of steel, it really feels more like an instrument than jewelry. It feels more vintage than many vintage pieces. And yet, it’s a brand new watch.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. What’s a Zlatoust, you might ask? Simply answering – “a Soviet-era dive watch” wouldn’t really do it justice, since the story of its conception (and resurrection) is a convoluted and interesting matter.

The Zlatoust ChS191 was the answer to the Soviet navy’s request for a watch for their divers. As all things Soviet, it was very much a “form-follows-function” design – the monocoque case and the canteen crown ensured its water resistance and the whopping 60mm case was made to accommodate the pocket watch movement housed within. Super thick glass was used to reduce the radioactivity emitted from the luminous paint. During the ‘70s, the navy moved on and the Zlatoust factory ceased production of this particular model.

And in the 2000’s, Invicta happened. Never the ones to miss an opportunity to rip-off an iconic design, they released their “Russian diver”, along with a concocted story, loosely tying the piece to their brand “heritage”. And while they shamelessly stole the Zlatoust design, they did spark an interest in the watch community for this particular look. And so, the Zlatoust factory re-stated the production – using the exact same techniques and tools as they had more than 50 years ago.

They’ve even followed the recent watch trends of downscaling the size of their watches, so besides the 60mm original-sized, they now offer a medium and a small version – in 53 and 46mm. Yep, you read that right, 46 is the small one.

But heritage and nostalgia aside, what is the Zlatoust ChS195 diver actually like?

Well, first of all, it’s still very much a tool watch, through and through. The case – machined from a single block of their proprietary steel (the Zlatoust region is famous for its steel-making) and hand-finished, is all-brushed and soft to the touch. The dial – all black, with a grainy texture and stark white numerals, filled to the brim with lume, and a simple set of stick hands, albeit easily distinguishable from each other. The bezel has a coin edge, even though it’s only used to access the movement from the dial side. There’s no branding or text of any kind on the dial – the only marking is the ЗЧЗ (Zlatoust watch factory) and a serial number on the back of the case. Instead of spring bars, screws are used to hold the strap in place. The movement, although not in-house, is very fitting – a Vostok automatic caliber.

What about the size? Well, the one I’ve got is 46mm with 53 lug-to-lug and around 16mm thick. And while those numbers sound imposing, if you get the one with the left-side crown, it’s actually surprisingly wearable. The sharp turn downwards of the lugs helps a lot, but that being said, you can definitely feel the 150g of steel on your wrist and it goes without saying it won’t be slipping under any cuffs.

The Zlatoust ChS195 has all the hallmarks of an icon – heritage and military provenance, unique and unmistakable design, small batch exclusivity and it’s hand-made, from start to finish. It kinda reminds me of Panerai in the days before its popularity.

So how come barely anyone has heard of it? The fact that the original was never made available to the public, as well as the very old-school approach of the company probably has something to do with it. It wasn’t endorsed by Stalone either, so there’s that. But the word is slowly getting around and I think the Zlatoust ChS195 is a gentle beast which will find its way into the hearts of many.