Pocket Watch

"Molnija" (sometimes transliterated Molniya; Russian: Челябинский часовой завод) was a Russian watch and clockmaker based in Chelyabinsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast. Molnija (Молния) is the Russian word for lightning. The first watch factories appeared in 1769, but it would be a long wait for those who did not have access to the Imperial Court. Only with the Molnija factory launch in 1931 could regular people afford to own a pocket watch. Since most were commissioned by the Soviet military, Molnijas were very durable and reliable. The Molnija movement is basically a copy of a Cortebert movement as used e.g in Rolex watches from around 1940. The Russians improved accuracy of the movement quite a bit when they upgraded it to their 18 jewels version of the movement but the basic design remained the same until the closure of the factory in 2007. In other words the Molnija movement was originally a Swiss Cortébert movement. A high quality movement. The watch runs about 40 hours when fully wound. The legend of Saint George and the Dragon tells of Saint George who died in 303 A.D. defending Christians against the Emperor Diocletian, 1000 years later taming and slaying a dragon that demanded human sacrifices. The narrative was first set in Cappadocia in the earliest sources of the 11th and 12th centuries, but transferred to Libya in the 13th-century Golden Legend. The knights of the First Crusade believed that St. George, along with his fellow soldier saints Demetrius, Maurice and Theodore, had fought alongside them at Antioch and Jerusalem. Knights of St. George a secretive order of mostly military veterans St Georgs-Orden – Ein europäischer Orden des Hauses Habsburg-Lothringen appear at different historical periods and in different countries as mutually independent bodies having nothing in common but the veneration of St. George. Throughout history, warriors of many nations have related accounts of Saint George appearing on battlefields to help the righteous achieve victory. In the pages of the Bible it is no especially uncommon thing for God to send heavenly warriors to aid His people. 1918 A.D.: The White Cavalry of Bethune. 2 Kings 6:16,17