Raketa Sputnik-1: space conquest on your wrist

Partner content

April 2023

Launched in 1957, Sputnik-1 opened the path to the conquest of space and to the creation of Raketa. The Raketa Watch Factory thus felt compelled to celebrate the 65th anniversary of this incredible human achievement by manufacturing a watch with a direct link to the original Sputnik-1.

Raketa Sputnik-1: space conquest on your wrist

Partner content

April 2023

Raketa Sputnik-1: space conquest on your wrist

he launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957 was the beginning of the space age, and its loud and repeated “Beep! Beep!” signals announced it to the whole world!

65 years ago, in the middle of the Cold War, the Soviet Union announced to the world that it had launched the very first artificial Earth satellite into space. This small metal sphere with four long external antennas was given a friendly codename “Sputnik”, which means “fellow traveller” in Russian.

Sputnik-1’s radio wave was chosen so as to be easily detectable by any amateur radio operator, and its flight path covered virtually the entire inhabited Earth. As a result, it’s “Beep! Beep!” signals could be tracked by amateur radio fans all around the world and people from every continent came out at night to try to see this man-made “star” flying in the night sky.

The whole world felt connected to this incredible human achievement and felt united in the dream of space conquest!

Sputnik-1 orbited the Earth 1,440 times and provided Russian scientists with very important scientific data. Four years later, in 1961, this led to sending the first man into space (the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin), which in turn led to the creation of the watch brand “Raketa” in honour of Gagarin’s space flight (“Raketa” means “space-rocket” in Russian).

Space is therefore strongly embodied in the DNA of Raketa watches. The Raketa Watch Factory thus felt compelled to celebrate the 65th anniversary of Sputnik-1 by manufacturing a watch in testimony of this incredible human achievement which was the real first step of the space conquest.

The watch Raketa “Sputnik-1” has a direct link with the original Sputnik-1 in two ways.

The design of its 24-hour dial is directly inspired by the Soviet watch design “Sputnik” created by the Raketa Watch Factory in 1974. This Soviet-era watch design was shown and approved by the construction bureau that had developed the real Sputnik-1!

Its dial is made of exactly the same special alloy as the metal heat shield that covered the sphere of Sputnik-1, an aluminium–magnesium alloy. The alloy’s reference – AMg6 – is engraved on the lower part of the dial.

The deep engraving of the metal dial indicates the 24 hours of the day, divided into the 12 hours of day time (upper part of the dial) and the 12 hours of night time (lower part of the dial). The red enamel dot at the tip of the second hand symbolises the Sputnik-1 that turns around the Earth.

The back of the watch reveals the beautifully decorated 24-hour automatic movement which is entirely produced by the Raketa Watch Factory in Saint-Petersburg – the famous Raketa “2624” movement. The reason why a 24-hour movement was chosen for the watch Raketa “Sputnik-1” is because it is not possible to distinguish day from night in space when looking at a normal 12-hour dial: you need a 24-hour dial!

The Raketa “Sputnik-1” watch model is limited to 500 pieces. The model is also available as part of a gift set. It includes: the Raketa “Sputnik-1” watch model with the stainless steel bracelet, an additional canvas strap with genuine leather lining and a beautiful model of the first artificial satellite - “Sputnik-1”.

The cost of the watch is from 1,550 to 1,650 EUR (without VAT). The cost of the gift set is 2,100 EUR (without VAT). For the comfort of customers, Raketa watches are delivered worldwide free of charge by DHL directly up to the front door.