Volmax
| Volmax Ltd.
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|---|---|
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| legal form | Limited |
| founding | 2000 |
| Seat | Marksistskaya St. 34 Building 8 109147 Moscow Russia |
| Branch | Luxury goods manufacturer |
| Website | www.aviatorwatch.ru |
Volmax ( Russian : Волмакс ) is a manufacturer of wristwatches based in Moscow (Russia) and a subsidiary based in Porrentruy (Switzerland). The company sells watches with Russian references under various brand names, whereby all components necessary for the production are sourced from third parties.
Foundation and further development
Volmax was founded in 2000 by former employees of the first Moscow watch factory . In 2002 the company acquired the trademark rights to the three Russian watch brands Aviator, Buran and Sturmanskie and has been selling watches under these brands ever since. In 2005, watches were marketed for the first time under the new private label Russian Watch Factory.
Watches produced by Volmax were recognizable from the start that one of the brand names or brand symbols acquired from Volmax was shown either on the dial and / or on the case. In addition, the country of manufacture is always indicated on the dial ( сделано в России - “made in Russia” or “Swiss made” for Aviator and Buran watches manufactured since 2011). Watches marked Poljot (Russian полёт - "the flight") were never made by Volmax. The watch models sold are also often offered in limited series.
Nevertheless, especially in the early years when selling the watches, there was often confusion and ambiguity. One reason for this was that some dealers sold the watches under the historically better known brand name Poljot. This marking was possibly also because the manufacturer of the watch calibers was called Poljot by Volmax himself, although the calibers were obtained from the manufacturer Maktime, who had acquired the production of the calibers from the insolvency estate of the First Moscow Watch Factory. Another reason for the confusion and ambiguity was that some dealers offered Volmax watches in their range together with watches with fictitious, missing or dubious manufacturer information.
For this reason, too, Volmax's sales strategy was fundamentally changed in 2003 and 2004. Since the change, Volmax products are only sold through authorized sales partners. Another adjustment to the sales strategy was made in 2011. Since then, the official sales partners are only allowed to sell Volmax products to customers in their region or to customers in a region without their own Volmax sales partner.
Quality of the watches
In order to meet the quality requirements of the Western European market, the watches and especially the mechanical calibers are subjected to additional internal quality assurance. Volmax watches therefore have a quality level that corresponds to western watches in the respective price range. Depending on the model, the watches are usually sold to end users at prices of around EUR 120 to EUR 850.
Brands produced
Aviator - Aviator
The Aviator brand ( Авиатор - "the aviator") was aligned by Volmax in particular with reference to Soviet and Russian aviation history ( the Aviator watch by Volmax is the culmination of three quarters of a century of aviation watch development ). The brand is also increasingly making reference to international air history links, e.g. the manufacturer Douglas . Since 2008, the Aviator brand has been the official watch brand of the Swifts ( aerobatic team of the Russian Air Force).
Since 2011, the Aviator brand watches have no longer been produced in Moscow, but at the location of the new subsidiary Buran SA in Porrentruy (Switzerland). The watches produced there are particularly recognizable by the design of the dials, which are almost exclusively made with Latin script and the addition "Swiss-made". A dedicated website, www.aviatorwatch.ch, was set up for brand presentation. The presentation of the existing old models from Russian production continues to be exclusively via www.aviatorwatch.ru.
Buran - Буран
The Buran brand ( Буран - "the snowstorm") was aimed by Volmax in particular with reference to the symbolization of Russian provenance ( to reflect a marvelous beauty and rich soul of Russia in timepieces ). Analogous to the watches from the Aviator brand, watches from the Buran brand have been produced exclusively at the new location in Porrentruy since 2011 , labeled in Latin and given the addition "Swiss-made". A dedicated website was set up for brand presentation, www.buranwatch.ch.
Sturmanskie - Штурманские
The Sturmanskie brand ( Штурманские - "the helmsman" (adjective)) was designed by Volmax in particular with reference to Soviet and Russian space history. E.g. Reference is made to Yuri Gagarin , who was the first person in space to wear a Sturmanskie watch from the production of the First Moscow Watch Factory when circumnavigating the earth on April 12, 1961 . To mark the 40th anniversary of Gagarin's space flight, Volmax brought out anniversary chronographs, one of which was worn by Yuri Shargin from October 14, 2004 to October 24, 2004 during the 25th manned mission to the International Space Station .
For the time being, watches of the Sturmanskie brand will only be produced in Moscow. The Sturmanskie brand will continue to be presented on the Russian Volmax website www.aviatorwatch.ru.
Russian Watch Factory - Русский Часовой Завод
The Russian Watch Factory brand ( Русский Часовой Завод , РЧЗ for short ) was first introduced by Volmax in 2005. The watches of the first series were called Patriot ( Патриот ). The active sale of watches under this brand has been discontinued (status: 12/2013).
Trademark licensing
The brands Aviator and Sturmanskie were sold by Volmax to Scorpio Distributors Ltd. licensed. This has watches with the corresponding brand names or brand symbols produced by unknown manufacturers and sells the watches on board aircraft and in airport duty-free shops. In this respect, they are therefore not official Volmax watches. The watches can usually be recognized by the largely Latin lettering on the dials and the usually missing reference to the country of manufacture ( сделано в России - "made in Russia" or since 2011 for Aviator "Swiss made").
Caliber used
Initially, Volmax watches were equipped with mechanical calibers from the First Moscow Watch Factory . After the bankruptcy of the First Moscow Watch Factory towards the end of 2004, calibres for mechanical, non-chronographic watches, for example Partly also obtained from the Swiss company ETA SA and the Russian company Wostok ( Восток - "East"). Calibres for chronographs were obtained from the Russian company Maktime ( Мактайм ), which had taken over part of the production of the Russian chronograph calibers from the former First Moscow Watch Factory.
Chronograph calibers have not been produced since the Maktime company went bankrupt at the end of 2011. It is unclear whether the bankruptcy of Maktime was the trigger for the relocation of the Aviator and Buran brands to Switzerland. Since the relocation of the two brands, these watches have been equipped with mechanical calibers from the Swiss company ETA SA and Sellita Watch CO SA or with quartz calibers from the Swiss company Ronda AG .
The Sturmanskie brand mechanical watches are currently marketed with Vostok ( Восток - "East") calibers and chronograph calibers . Maktime calibers (known as Poljot) are also marketed. Since the production of these calibres was discontinued by Maktime in 2011, the calibers that are nowadays built into watches sold as “new” are, without exception, remnants of calibres produced in 2011 or earlier. Quartz watches are provided with calibers from Ronda AG . The Sturmanskie brand watches currently produced by Volmax are the last purely Russian watches in the Volmax range.
Web links
- official Russian website (in English)
- official website of the Aviator brand
- official website of the Buran brand
- Website of the German sales partner
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Explanations on the Russian Volmax website, 12/2013 ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Clarification on Poljot, Volmax, Vostok Europe, ... some Russian watch brands & UFOs , I. Maier from the German Volmax sales partner P. Maier GmbH, 02/2006, Post 1
- ↑ a b c Description of the Volmax company on www.russianwatchguide.com, 12/2013
- ↑ Volmax Distribution Rules , explanations by C. Hester from the US Volmax sales partner Detente Watches, 04/2011, Post # 18
- ↑ Excerpt from the brand description on www.aviatorwatch.ru, 12/2013 ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Cockpit Ready , article by C. Hopkins, International Watch Magazin, 10/2008, p. 214 ff.
- ↑ Aviator: Swiss watches with Russian roots , article on www.luxus.welt.de, 11/2012
- ^ Extract from the brand description on www.buranwatch.ch, 12/2013
- ↑ Explanation on the Russian Volmax website, 12/2013 ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Offer of watches from the brands Aviator and Sturmanskie on www.Scorpioworldwide.com ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ End of the production of Poljot clockworks , message from 02/2012 on www.deutsche-uhrmacher.de
- ↑ a b c Russian clocks: what time is it cosmonaut? , Article by M. Böhm on www.derStandard.at, 12/2013
- ↑ Current product descriptions in the 2013 Aviator catalog, as of 12/2013
- ↑ current product descriptions on www.buranwatch.ch, as of 12/2013
- ↑ a b Official video presentation of the Sturmanskie brand (in Russian), 12/2013
