Chuck In Oregon

Looks great, Doc. You are way more organized than I am. Chuck

* * * * * Hi Christophe You already know everything that I know about Ms. Potsova. The museum displays probably didn't survive the sacking and looting after independence -- the museum itself didn't, either -- and all I know is what was related to me by friends. I have seen some high-value and historic museum items that were most likely taken by museum staff but this photo was more likely to have been grabbed during the general pandemonium and rioting. I'll never know for sure. Until very recently there was almost nothing in Tbilisi that in any way reflected their Soviet history. Now I understand that there is a new small museum, or maybe it's part of the national museum, that displays some Soviet-period items. I'll be there in a week and I plan to check it out then. Now about that watch ... Chuck

* * * ** I really do have trouble with posting decent images. Operator error. I hope these will suffice. If not, let me know and I'll try again. Chuck

So that's what this is. I've had this for several years and never knew. No case, though. I'd guess that this is plated bronze with maybe a silver center piece. Thank you very much for the ID. Chuck

Hello Graeme Welcome to the forum! I think you're going to like it here. Thanks for the history. I always enjoy it. This watch is from an earlier period. Last hint: 1928

Hello Jim Welcome to GMIC and to this forum in particular. I think I'll learn a lot from you. For instance, I had never heard about the supposedly hidden gold coins. Thanks for your comments in this thread. Would you be kind enough to post images of your cups? Have you seen marks stamped in the bottom as on the eBay example we discussed? Do you know their significance? Chuck

Thank you for the interesting history and for sharing your terrific collectibles. This is the first time I have seen any of them. Another great learning experience. Chuck

I'm pleased to scan close-ups of any that you ask for, if I can do close-ups at all. Sometimes that seems to be beyond my pay grade. I agree that a couple of these are pretty rare. As for authenticity, I seldom debate the merits of items that I already think are genuine and I do not venture that opinion of items that appear on the forum. I leave that for others to argue. It seems an unusually popular endeavor, but arguing never improves my serenity and I am better off avoiding it. What I will do, from time to time, is offer examples that I own for comparison to something under discussion, or very rarely a comment via PM, but no more than that. There are enough experts in this hobby without me pretending to be one. I merely offer my small collection for viewing here and I hope you enjoy it. Each of these seems consistent with, or a minor variation of, badges in Avers or Likhitskiy. I think there is an authoritative para badge reference book out there somewhere, but this isn't a particular interest of mine and I don't own one. Regarding saying something about them, I recall that I bought two, maybe three, of these at one time and the others one at a time over a period of several years. For the life of me, I have never understood why anyone would jump out of a perfectly good aircraft. Chuck

Great topic, Chris! There are some very rare variations out there but I seldom found any. While I was in Georgia there was a very serious American collector of parachute badges and insignia working there and he got most of the good ones that became available while he was there. I'm pretty sure there are still some guys wondering when he's going to come back. He bought a lot of stuff, treated everyone well and was quite well respected. He did things right. Here's my modest collection. I figure the little one on the bottom right to be a souvenir, but what the heck, souvenirs need homes too. Chuck

* * * * * As a matter of fact, reasonably close. It is a special presentation piece but not one to members of the Supreme Soviet. This watch was made in the Kirov factory. I'm told that it is the most well-known and highly-regarded of all the Russian watch factories. Since I've owned it, this watch has been to the factory for cleaning and repair. When it got there ... well, I'll tell more of the story later on. Chuck

I am a great fan of the mystery writer Martin Cruz Smith and his worn-out Moscow investigator Arkady Renko. His Wolves Eat Dogs is a first-rate mystery set largely in Chernobyl and Pripyat. It includes some chilling descriptions of life in and near The Zone today. It is a continuing nightmare with every possibility of getting worse, not better. His description of the sequence leading to the catastrophe, if accurate, is beyond all understanding. I know a Georgian who was sent to the disaster back then. According to him, each man was given a liter of vodka daily to ward off the effects of the radiation. I didn't really believe him until I saw that same thing in print elsewhere and Smith alludes to it in his novel. Teams were sent from every region so as to minimize the losses from any one region and thus hide the total number of deaths from the nation. Как жаль.

And here's the third picture. This early Soviet-era watch was fairly popular with higher-level nomenklatura. However, due to its high price -- and the obvious and unwelcome suggestion of wealth in the classless society -- not many of them were made, thus few survive. The very few you do find are similar to this one with one important exception: They do not have the hand-painted Kremlin clock tower and background. That detail was reserved for a very few. So my question is, what was the significance of this watch? As for credit for effort, since this is Christophe's thread I'll defer to him for the rules. But first you actually have to make an effort. Good luck all. Before you say it, I did warn you that this was going to be obscure. Chuck

Here's the second picture:

* * * * * OK, this is for all you maniac obscurians without real lives to tend to. No, no names. I'm going to show you three pictures of a pocketwatch, then I'll tell you a little bit about it, then I'll ask my question. Here's the first picture:

OK, no other guesses? I think this really was way too obscure for this thread. An image of the reverse of the photo is attached. I translate it as follows: Nina Pavlovna Potsova - a female spy.Before war, she worked at Pyatigorsk's carpet factory. She was prosecuted (shot) by the Germans in Pyatigorsk on January 6, 1943 I think that is the museum's archive or exhibit number in the lower left-hand corner on the reverse. I chose her because several of my (quite) older Georgian friends told me that Ms. Potsova was later widely held up to Soviet citizenry as sort of a model worker-spy against the German and that her photo and story appeared in most Museums of the Revolution. She doesn't appear in my HSU reference and she now seems to be generally lost to history. Aw, c'mon. Who would shoot someone wearing an embroidered lace collar and a cute little hat like that? Oh yeah, the Nazis. And now you know the rest of the story. (Thank you, Paul Harvey.) I'm re-thinking my other question as it is also pretty obscure. Maybe I'll share it on a separate thread instead. Chuck

Hi George Shipping is seven bucks. Got it. Thanks for the correction. I guess I just read it upside-down ... or something. Geez, I hate getting old. I know that I have seen one, maybe two, of these cups on eBay in the past 2-3 years. I haven't been watching for them and I had no idea that they might be a regular item there. This one is just sitting on a shelf above my computer, along with two regimental wedding goblets and a couple of Imperial-era vodka cups, and I thought I'd share it. Chuck

* * * * * One thing that occurs to me is that the eBay example, if real, is worth a lot more than the $7 that the seller is asking for an opening bid. Seven bucks?! Come to think of it, I believe I have seen one or two on eBay in the past. I didn't bother doing a search of closed auctions this time. Wonder what I'd find. I'm curious about the stamp in the bottom of the current one. Chuck

* * * * * Hi Rick I guess nothing is impossible regarding fakes these days. I bought this in 2002, as I recall, at the Tbilisi Dry Bridge flea market, where I bought much of my smaller stuff. The seller was one of those old guys sitting on a blanket on the ground selling what looked like family junk. Of course, maybe that's an effective way to sell fakes. I don't know. Yes, it could be a fake, but I don't think so. I've never seen another one in the wild, just a few on web sites here and there, and mine seemed to compare well to them. I've not seen another one with the stamps on the bottom like the eBay example. Chuck

* * * ** How can you even ask? Did I mention that I had nothing to do on most weekends except go to the flea market? I could never resist oddities, even heavy ones like this. Yes, I bought it and it's sitting on my desk as I write this. Someone called this "magpie behavior" and it's as good a description as any. Even worse, I bought a pair of unissued rabbit-ear binoculars still in the case. When I got back to the hotel I thought "Now what am I going to do with these?" They're sitting here, too, but not on my desk. In fact, they're what I was referring to as "another item" when I asked if this might be an inappropriate thread topic. Chuck

It was a surprising find indeed. And just who determined that the NKVD needed their own special line of equipment? "Oh. You wanted a compass that points north? Well, we'll make some special ones just for you." It occurs to me that this may not have been an appropriate thread topic as it has nothing to do with orders, medals or decorations. Can I get your thoughts on that? If you think it is appropriate, I have another item that I'd like to share. If not, I'll refrain. Chuck

* * * * * Well, that's a clever answer. Wrong, but darn clever. You've got the era right but she was not among the nomenclatura. Let's see, more hints may be in order. 5. Her fame, such as it was, was related to WW II. 6. Before the war she was a carpet factory worker. 7. She was held in low regard by the Germans. Good luck. I have the second question and pictures ready to post. Chuck

... And two more pictures ...

Here's an oddball item. I was strolling through a part of the Tbilisi flea market that I seldom visit because it is mostly cheap porcelain and old houseware items. I saw this box, looked inside and ... an NKVD-marked compass? Who knew there was such a thing? I know they had their own air arm and navy, sure, but I never imagined that they might have their own special-issue NKVD-marked equipment like this. I mean, would it have been so hard to use an ordinary navy compass? I guess so. This is a fairly small compass with an integral mount that must have fit over a support post so that it could be dismounted rather than left in the boat. I say boat because I imagine a small river or coastal patrol boat rather than a bigger vessel. Of course, that is my imagination speaking. Anyone ever seen anything like this before?

... And two more ...

Two more pictures ...