Like an episode from the cold war, a man whose name I never learned contacted me through a regular electronic channel with an interesting offer. He had, he said, something that I might want. Something he knew I had interest in. A few more covert messages later a deal was done. The one-handed Russian Luch was being sent to Berkshire. To say I’ve been looking for a Russian watch would be something of an exaggeration. I had made a few comments over time that I’ve not had a Russian watch before, barring the odd Sekonda over the years if you count them as Russian, which most people don’t as the factory transferred to the Far East a long time ago.

I had admired from afar some of the Russian dive watches like the Vostok Amphibia Scubadude. And I’m a huge fan of Konstantin Chaykin’s work, in my opinion he’s nothing short of a creative genius. To say I’ve been looking for a one-handed watch would also be something of an exaggeration. I don’t know many brands that do them but have been curious about the pieces that Meistersinger make which I first stumbled across in a forum post a year or so ago. The clarity of the dials made the novelty of the single hand something more serious than the bit of fun the layout suggests. Curiouser still the 24-hour model which tests the rule that a stopped clock is right twice a day.

So, when I got the message from a forum buddy that he’d picked up Russian one-hander in a lot and it was mine if I wanted it, I decided to buy it. A few days later it arrived. Mounted on a cheap mesh bracelet which is at odds with the watch head I gave it a wind and it started ticking. Through what I can only call a small porthole in the back of the 38mm case, I could see the small balance wheel and part of the escapement rotating, as well as a part of the winding mechanism. Pleasingly there is no nod to the west, with all text in Cyrillic without translation, meaning I even had no idea what make it was until I used Google Translate via camera mode and the word Luch came up giving me my starting point as I had heard the brand name before.

The next thing I realised is that unless you are on the hour, or maybe on half-past the hour, a one hander is difficult to set. Judging whether you are at five past or ten past is almost impossible. Which also of course means that reading the watch with any form of accuracy is just as difficult. The dial is dark, the matte black background surrounded with a browny-red ring. The minute ring is a dull silver for three-quarters of the way round and then the same red for the last quarter. The solitary hand is also red, although this is slightly brighter. There is no lume on hand or markers, no polished surfaces and the whole effect is one of a watch in shadow. With my eyes at least it’s very difficult to read. Although the mineral glass is not particularly scratched, maybe it would lighten up if I put a new one in, but not by much I’d guess.

The movement is a Luch calibre 1801 which is a 15-jewel mechanical movement with a 21,600 beat and a 38-hour power reserve. Research has told me that this movement, or derivatives of it, are used in an awful lot of (or should that be a lot of awful) women’s watches, although that’s a term we are not supposedly using these days. But I’m in the company of Leonid Brezhnev, one of the last true defenders of communism who was constantly on the news as I grew up, as he apparently wore a Luch as well as his yellow gold Rolex Datejust of course. The accuracy is… well, not that great. But who cares, I can only read this watch to an accuracy of plus/minus ten minutes or so anyway. It’s the type of watch that if I want to know the time I get my phone out of my pocket. The antithesis of what I want in a timepiece. What can I say? Джанет не одобрит.