Russian Watches FAQ at Russia2all
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Here are some videos that answer FAQ's. Written questions and answers are further below:
This FAQ section is a work in progress. We welcome your input and suggestions for additional questions and answers.
Q: What do the time frames on shipping mean?
A: We have four availability options on our watches. Products that do not mention a delivery window are in stock and will ship within 24 to 48 hours. Those marked 7 to 14 days or 7 to 21 days will be ordered immediately upon your ordering. The time frames are based on our past experience of how long it will take for the watch to arrive for shipping. This may not be exact and we work hard to be toward the shorter end of the window. If you pay with a credit card, we will only charge your card after the watch is on the way to us. PayPal payments, obviously, will be transferred to us immediately. Our fourth option is for pre-order items that are not in stock at the manufacturer at the time of your order. A specific time will be posted. Anything marked "special order" we may be able to get but we are not certain and will look into it upon your inquiry.
Q: Why Russian and Eastern European watches?
A: Our watches have a 70+ year history behind them largely unknown to the west prior to the end of the Cold War. Russian watches offer immense value for dollar spent. With the predominance of Russian watches being built with mechanical movements, Russia is in a rather exclusive club. Only Switzerland, Japan, Germany, China and Russia have on-going watch movement production of any magnitude. With prices starting around $50 and a wide range of offerings between $200 and $700, comparable watches of quality and design from other sources go for multiples more. You won't find many watches with the same prices and features as ours that also have the same quality. Some say they don't exist.
Q: Are Russian watches well built?
A: Absolutely! Our manufactures go to great lengths to ensure quality control. For instance, the Volmax company dismantles every movement before assembly of the watch, runs it through an acid wash, reassembles it and tests the watch it goes into for 30 days before shipping. Check out this Volmax factory tour clip to see the process in action. As with any country's industry, quality depends on the maker and "you get what you pay for" is a useful guide. That said, the basic Vostok automatics and manual wind watches that run between $40 to $60 are remarkably rugged and accurate for their price. During the cold war era, the Russian watch industry was much different than it is today. Back then, quantity over quality did impact production. But since the mid-1990s, the major Russian watch brands have become formidable players in the world of western watches, competing in quality and certainly affordability with the Swiss and Japanese. Production is a fraction of what it was 20 years ago, but quality and longevity have improved exponentially.
Q: Do you sell only true Russian watches and are they really Russian?
A: If a watch on our site is marked as Russian, then it absolutely is. All of the Russian movements for our watches are built in Moscow, Chistopal or St. Petersburg. There are watches produced by our manufacturers with Swiss or Japanese movements and these are clearly marked as such. We have built our business around true Russian and Eastern European timepieces with true Russian movements and will continue in that vein wherever possible. In the case of Vostok-Europe, the movements are made in Russia with all the other design and assembly based in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Q: Are all of your watches new and genuine?
A: Unless clearly marked in our clearance section as otherwise, all of our watches are 100% new, direct from the factory with all originally packaging and paperwork. At Russia2all, we take pride in the brands we represent. You won't find replica, counterfeit or unofficial watches on our site. They are out there though. Whether you buy from us or not, we encourage you to buy only from authorized retailers or distributors. To do otherwise is to risk getting an inferior watch without manufacturer warranty protection. We are happy to identify, to the best of our ability, the origin of Russian watches you find of interest on the net that we don't carry.
Q: Is there a warranty and does my watch have to go back to Russia to be fixed?
A: We provide a 2-year North American warranty. That is double what the manufacturers offer. We do this because we believe in our watches and stand behind them. Here is more information about our Russian watch warranty . The watches do NOT have to return to Russia for repair. We have a repair facility in the Northeastern United States that is run by a Russian watchmaker. As the importer of record, we have easy access to parts and can often handle non-warranty repairs (for a fee) of older or vintage Russian watches. There are times when it actually makes more sense to send a watch back the manufacturer, depending on the complexity of the issue, and this may even be faster.
Q: I can't find the position on the crown to set the date on my Russian watch?
A: That's because there isn't one. The best way to learn how to set the date on a Russian watch is to view this "How To Set The Date On A Russian Watch" video.
Q: How do you ship your watches?
A: Our primary and most often chosen method of shipping is through the United States Postal Service. We offer priority mail and express mail services, both with signature confirmation. We also offer UPS and FedEx service as an option.
Q: Do you ship outside the United States?
A: Absolutely. We ship to many countries around the globe. If you don't find your country when you are setting up your shipping for your order, email us and we will look into it for you. There are some countries we are unable to ship to due to circumstances beyond our control.
Q: What is your return policy?
A: We accept returns for up to 30 days for a full refund or exchange if the watch is in 100% original condition with all packaging and paperwork returned. If there is an issue with a watch after 30 days, our warranty is available to address this.
Q: Will you sell or distribute my information to any other business or website?
A: Absolutely NOT! We are strident believers in the right to privacy in general and even more so when it comes to our customers. We want long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with our customers and we do everything in our power to ensure that the private information you share with us in your transactions stays that way - private.
Q: Is your site secure?
A: We use Go Daddy site security and all payment and shipping information is sent over an encrypted connection.
Q: I spent $239 and didn't get a free item or didn't get the one I ordered?
A: If you spent $199 and didn't get a free watch, most likely you didn't choose one when you placed your order. We have found that asking every time someone does not put a free item in the cart slows the shipping down too much. So, if there is no free item in with the order, we assume the customer doesn't want one. If you would like a free item after we ship and do NOT put one in with the order, we will have to charged for shipping. Sometimes, we run out of free items and if this happens, you may get a different watch than the one you chose. In this case, we try to pick one as close as we can to your original choice.
