Strela Sekonda Chronograph

A Strela model with the Poljot 3017 column-wheel chronograph movement was introduced in the 1970s and was used in space by Russian cosmonaut Alexey Alexandrovich Gubarev during the Soyuz-28 mission. Gubarev and his colleague Vladimir Remek – the first non-Soviet, non-American to travel to space – were launched aboard Soyuz-28 on March 2, 1978. To put things into context, this is after the American's moon landing (1969) and Leonov's Spacewalk (1965). The crew docked with the orbiting Salyut-6 space station. On Gubarev’s wrist, a black STRELA (labeled SEKONDA). Established in 1966, Sekonda started out as a British brand offering a collection of mechanical watches originally manufactured in Russia.

Ref: Strela Sekonda Chronograph
Diameter: 36.00 mm
Thickness: 14.00 mm
Lug width: 18.00 mm
Caliber: Poljot 3017

Gubarev wore a black Strela - branded Sekonda - Chronograph watch with the Poljot 3017 hand-wound movement during the Soyuz-28 mission. A great Omega Speedmaster alternative that is getting rare, but can still be found on eBay.

This model can be found with a white or black dial. The design of this watch is quite different from the first Strela chronograph from 1959, with silver luminescent hands that have a red tip and lumed hour markers which have a distinctive green color. The black Strela Sekonda looks great on a green or brown leather strap. We can assume that Strela produced this watch to be used as a tool rather than a jewel, with the highly contrasted display for enhanced visibility.

Vladimir Komarov was wearing a Sekonda labeled Strela with a cream dial during his training and the Soyuz-1 mission. Credits: STRELA

This vintage Strela Sekonda has a diameter of 36mm and a thickness of 14mm, it is not water resistant (unsurprisingly, like many vintage timepieces). In 1979 the Poljot 3017 movement got discontinued. It was replaced by the 3133 Poljot manual wind movement, which has an architecture very similar to the Valjoux 7733 and 7734 calibers as the equipment to manufacture those movements was imported from Switzerland.