Raketa Amphibia 0257 Limited Edition [Revised & Expanded]
Raketa has kept their design language both consistent and modern in aesthetic and industrial design. When you look at a Raketa timepiece you know immediately what is important to the company: big, vibrant numbers and easily read at a glance. After wearing it now for the better part of a year, I decided we should look back at it and see how well it’s aged. This article contains both original and revised text.
Original Article Ran on WatchUSeek. Click here to view the original.
Watch Data
Reference: W-85-16-10-0257
Movement: Raketa 2615 Automatic
Case: PVD Black Stainless Steel
Caseback: Display (Mineral Crystal)
Water Resistance: 40 ATM (Approx. 1,320 feet or 400 meters)
Crown: Screw-Down
Sapphire Crystal
Lume: Super-Luminova
Strap: Black calf-hide with red accent on reverse
22mm lug spacing for straps
Warranty: 2 Years International
Limited Edition Size of 300 pieces
Raketa has always kept consistent case shapes between lines. Back in 2009-2016 before the big modernization was finished you could easily tell which model like you were looking at from the side or back. These days it’s a little more difficult since Raketa has moved to larger, thicker cases that are more difficult to tell apart from each other. However, very little has been updated since their older Polar models (which is the lineage of modern Amphibia if you look closely at the cases). If you look at the case-flank especially you can see very little has been changed. This results in a vaguely cushion-shaped case with integrated lugs. The case and lugs have a slight downward trend on the flanks. The effect on the wrist is that the case is supremely comfortable and doesn’t wear nearly as big as one might think. In fact this case wore closer to 38mm in feel than any other case this size ever has. It sits comfortably on the wrist in pretty much every situation.
The 43mm stainless steel case is coated in a PVD black with a matching (branded) PVD pin buckle on a calfskin strap. There’s no PVD black bracelet as an option on these, which is a real shame considering that it would look very handsome and be highly versatile from the pool to the office. Since that’s the case I really feel Raketa missed an opportunity to partner with a strap maker that can do a hybrid leather/rubber strap. That said, the PVD is executed very well with no eggshell texturing and all the pieces of the case are precisely the same color and depth of color. Even after being worn regularly for almost a year there are still no signs of damage, wear, scratching, or cracking in the PVD finish. Having handled other watches with a cheaper implementation, I’m very happy with the apparent longevity of the finish.
One of the most common points of failures on older Raketa models is the crown and stem assembly failing under normal use. Raketa’s current production solves this by precisely machining the crown tube and stem for much tighter tolerances. It locks up securely and the assembly doesn’t wobble or give when operated. The Amphibia has a screw-in crown that is kind of a pain in the ass to unscrew. It’s equally difficult to screw in and I found I was always worried about cross-threading it. It was never an issue but it always seemed like it could be cross-threading based on just feel because the threads felt quite rough.
The movement has a manual winding feature to get it going as well as a single crown position to set the time. Raketa’s 2615 doesn’t hack but is still vulnerable to the old “poor man’s hack” trick to set the exact time. Even after extended use the crown still has a rougher feel to it when screwing it in or out. This can be both good and bad. I feel that the crown being tough to operate is probably for the best if you use it in water at all. If you don’t, this model came on leather after all, the crown is still a pain. The only good thing to say is that the threads are in good shape with no signs of distortion. While it may feel a little rough, it’s clearly still working as designed to keep water out.
The dial sports a batman-style crest with a dive helmet that many might not recognize as the GRU coat-of-arms. This distinct and fun detail on the dial on this limited edition removes the 6 o’clock marker, which I’m not normally a fan of but I think the added interest on the dial for a limited series makes sense. The numerals at 12, 3, and 9 are all fully filled with white Super-Luminova that glows green, with circular orange plots in all the other positions aside from 6 o’clock which is devoid of any lume marker at all. Interestingly and somewhat unusual for a diver, is that the arrow-shaped seconds hand is also filled with orange lume, which makes it easy to identify if the watch is still operating while diving. Smart! Even smarter and rare in this price category is that the decompression-stop, the first 15 minute increments on a diving bezel, is fully lumed in orange Super-Luminova inside a ceramic bezel. The lume is great when fully charged and glows dimly after 3-7 minutes but maintains as long as this color of lume typically does, providing low-light readability for several hours.
Turning the bezel on this diving instrument is pure tactile pleasure. The ceramic edges are sharp enough to cut you by accident (it happened!) but is highly usable with gloves in the winter (or underwater for that matter). The bezel’s voice is this deep, throaty, tank-like ratcheting that oozes quality. In fact the 120-click uni-directional bezel action is so affirmative that it makes a $2,200 Oris 65 feel like a toy in comparison and I’ve sung Oris’ praises on their excellent dive watches in both the past and present. Not only does it sound good, but it looks good and is imminently readable.
Beating away inside the Amphibia is the manufacture movement 2615, which has been revived and modernized since it’s last introduction in Soviet times. Raketa claims that the movement is regulated in 4 positions and guaranteed to achieve -10/+20 from the factory. The watch consistently keeps roughly +/- 2spd since purchase on the wrist. With a watch winder on 650 turns per day, the delta increases to roughly +10spd over the course of two weeks monitored. This leads me to believe that Raketa highly tunes the movement towards being worn. That’s OK but something to know! The good news these days is that when your Amphibia does end up needing a service, Raketa has you covered right here in North America with a brand new service center.
Flipping the watch over allows the wearer to see the nicely decorated movement inside. This model features a machine-finished with a wave motif that Raketa calls “Onega Waves.” This laser engraved wave pattern is applied to the plates of the movement and are executed before plating occurs to prevent oxidation or corrosion of the laser-etched decorations for the life of the movement. The name “Onega” comes from Lake Onega in the northwestern territories of Russia. It’s the second-largest European lake after Lake Ladoga and is fed by a whopping 50 rivers. At the bottom of the lake is a Russian mermaid perhaps, as the other notable feature of the 0257 is a hand painted depiction of a mermaid. The mermaid is a lovely accent to remind the user that even though this watch is rated for extreme diving, to have fun also!
On the official images you’ll note that there is a uniquely-numbered rotor featured on every 2615 movement from this release. However, when you look at the images of the Raketa I received, you’ll note that it is missing this notation. This was discovered to be a factory error and is thusly a unique piece! Pretty cool! Considering that this line is now sold-out it’s not something to worry about so much. Raketa assures me this is very rare and I just got “lucky”. Sometimes being the first in line to receive models has it’s drawbacks, but I think factory errors are pretty rad to collect. I mean, just imagine the value of this Rolex just because it left the factory incorrectly.
With all things considered the Raketa Amphibia line is perhaps the best value vintage-reissue diver out on the market full stop. A dive watch with a manufacture movement, lumed ceramic bezel, and high quality rubber or calfskin strap is practically impossible to find at $1,500 much less even towards $2,000. Even though small details like the crown make it a little less refined than say it’s closest competition, your Raketa is mostly hand made and assembled in St. Petersburg Russia and not a lot of their competition can say the same. With Oris announcing new divers with a manufacture movement starting around $3,000, It’s probably safe to say that Raketa is the ultimate diving watch bargain at the moment.