Found It! A Vintage Raketa Copernicus

I have been on the hunt for a Russian made Raketa Copernicus for a very long time. Yes the company still exists and still manufactures variations of this time teller so theoretically I could have bought one ages ago, but you know the rules of the hunt: preferably I like to get watches second hand and for under $36. In the case of the Copernicus, there are plenty on the secondary market (Raketa is Russia’s most popular brand), but they rarely show up for under $100.

So imagine my absolute glee when I found this version last week! Cosmetically it looks unused. Mechanically it keeps great time. The only issue seems to be that you can only set the time by turning the crown anticlockwise.

Here’s a capsule history of Raketa from its website: “Founded in 1721 by a decree of the Emperor Peter the Great, the Petrodvorets Watch Factory has always been linked to the great names and great achievements of Russian history. For example the “Raketa” brand name was created in 1961 in honour of the first cosmonaut in the world Yuri Gagarin.”

Raketa, you see, means “rocket” in Russian.

Continuing on the cosmic theme, Raketa introduced the Copernicus in the 1980s to celebrate the work of the Renaissance-era Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus formulated the concept that placed the Sun rather than the Earth at the centre of the universe.

This is why I am so attracted to the pull of the Copernicus. It unique display represents the Sun and the Moon in a simplistic but clever way – the hour hand is a golden disc, aka the Sun, and the minute hand is a black ring, fka the Moon. It’s been a joy all week watching these hands eclipse each other.