Vostok Amphibia

I just got this Vostok Amphibia yesterday. It's my second Vostok in my current collection, although I did have another non military-style watch that I sold because I couldn't warm up to it. This one is interesting to me for a number of reasons. First, unlike a majority of Vostoks, it's an automatic. Second, it's a different model than my other Vostok, but still made originally for the military (in this case, for divers) and shares the same DNA as the Komandirskie. Finally, I bought this particular version of the Amphibia because it is the same watch worn by Bill Murray in the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. It's a very solidly built watch and feels very similar to the Komandirskie, although thicker and heavier, partially due to the increased size of the automatic movement. It came with the bracelet you see in the photographs, and it is the worst bracelet ever. Feel free to look through my blog at every other watch on a bracelet and know that this is by far the worst. It is almost impossible to remove the so-called "removable" link pins without mangling the link or pin or both. Fortunately the bracelet is made of such terrible quality metal that straightening the link or "sort of" straightening a pin is pretty easy with only pressure from some fingers or pliers. To make a long story short, I managed to remove a link from each side and get it back together, and a couple hours after I took the photos you see here I swapped the bracelet for a leather strap. It is infinitely better (I don't need to tell you about the strap, any strap would be infinitely better) and I will never use that bracelet again. I was very tempted to throw it away, but the collector in me stopped that idea in its tracks. I also have on order an 18mm rubber diver's strap (similar to what Steve Zissou wore) and will switch it to that when it arrives.