I’m sure most of you are already familiar with the Luch (ЛУЧ) watch company from Minsk, Belarus. Let me just say that Luch is one of the few former USSR watch manufacturers that has been (apparently) successfully revived, partly thanks to foreign investment. In 2010, Franck Müller International B.V. invested in the company as well.
Luch’s current collection is quite large, but the majority of their watches are still affordable, lower-quality pieces powered by their old hand-wound 1801 movement. Judging by watch forums, their one-hand watches seem to be especially popular (I own one myself, by the way). More recently, the company organized a design competition and released a collection based on the winners’ designs—which, at least to me, is somewhat reminiscent of Alain Silberstein watches.
So yes, I keep track of what Luch is doing and have a general sense of what to expect from them. But then—out of the blue—I discovered the Sirius. What a pleasant surprise! Everything I had ever hoped to see from a revived Soviet-era watch brand is here. I just never expected it to come from Luch. It’s a huge departure from their usual approach.
First of all, the design of the watch is clearly inspired by some of the USSR’s iconic dress watches. My first impression was that the Sirius is a tribute to the Poljot de Luxe models, which were also produced by Luch during the 1980s—first for Poljot, and later under the Luch brand.
My second thought was that it echoes the heritage of the 1MChZ Orbita. But the more I look at it, the more I’m convinced that Sirius brings together elements from many Soviet-era dress watches in one piece: the case, the curved crystal, the beautiful sunburst dial, the distinctive “6,” and the vintage “ЛУЧ” logo in Cyrillic. It’s the whole spirit of USSR design in one watch.
The Sirius watch comes in three versions: stainless steel with either a black or cream dial, and a gold-plated stainless steel case with a white dial. That’s already a major improvement over typical USSR-era watches, which were mostly housed in brass cases. I chose the gold-plated version because it feels the most “USSR-like” in terms of design. Still, I’d be thrilled if there were a black-dial version in a gold-plated case—that would remind me of my father. He bought himself a Luch de Luxe with a black dial in the 1980s, and I still have that watch in my collection.
As mentioned, the crystal is slightly curved and made of sapphire. I’m not entirely sure, but I believe this might be the first watch in the Luch collection to feature a sapphire crystal.
The crown is signed as well—which is quite uncommon, both for Soviet-era watches and for Luch in general.
The case diameter is 44mm. When I first read that, I was delighted. “Finally, a larger watch from Luch,” I thought. I’ve always liked slightly larger watches, so you can imagine my excitement. BUT—when I received the watch, I realized it looks absolutely enormous! I measured it twice because I couldn’t believe it was “only” 44mm. So even though I’m a fan of big watches, this one feels very big, even by my standards. Consider this a warning: don’t even think about getting this watch unless you’re into 45mm+ watches!
Why does it appear so large? My guess is that watches of this size are usually chronographs or divers with wide bezels, which make the dial itself appear smaller. In the case of the Sirius, the dial stretches almost all the way to the edge of the case, making it appear much bigger than other watches in this size category. So the dial is huge—and that’s what creates the visual impact.
The hands are pure and simple, exactly as they should be. There’s a subtle touch of Luminova on them, which gives you just enough orientation in the dark—not spectacular, but perfectly acceptable. I wouldn’t call this a downside, though. This simply isn’t the kind of watch where you’d expect high-performance lume.
And then we come to the heart of the watch—the movement. This is the biggest surprise of all. The watch is powered by—unbelievable but true—an ETA 2824-2 movement! Not just any Swiss movement, but an ETA. Not Sellita, not STP1-11. That’s a huge revelation.
ETA movements are rarely found in watches made by former Soviet watch brands. The exceptions are Aviator and Buran, but those have relocated to Switzerland and now operate as Swiss brands. There have been a few attempts at collaboration by smaller companies (like Denissov, for example), but for Luch to use an ETA? As I said—shocking.
Naturally, if you’re putting an ETA movement in a Luch, it makes sense to show it off. So the watch has a sapphire display caseback, allowing the movement to be seen. Interestingly, Luch didn’t brand the rotor with their logo—which raises the question of whether they were even allowed to.
With the ETA 2824-2 inside, there’s no need to talk about accuracy, power reserve, or reliability. You all know what this movement is capable of, and there’s no reason it would perform any differently just because it’s housed in a Belarusian watch.
Of course, there’s a downside to Luch’s decision to use ETA movements: availability. This watch is extremely hard to find, simply because Luch can’t secure many ETA movements. It’s entirely possible that, in the future, they’ll have to replace the pure ETA with one of the aforementioned clones.
The second downside is the price. But let me be honest here—this watch is expensive only when compared to other Luch models. If you compare the price of the Sirius to watches from other brands using the ETA 2824-2 (or its clones), the Sirius is actually quite competitively priced. In Belarus, it costs around €580 (not including import taxes in your country). Poljot24.de was selling it for €625, which is a very reasonable price.
So far, I’ve been very positive about this watch. But now it’s time to address some of the flaws.
The first strange thing is the placement of the lugs. They’re positioned unusually close to the case. When you put the watch on your wrist, the lugs suddenly stick out like little blades. It seems the designers tried to reduce the lug-to-lug (L2L) length by pulling the lugs inward—but in doing so, they made a miscalculation. The lugs (or “horns”) end up looking quite awkward and pronounced. Maybe someone with a much larger wrist than mine (19.4 cm) would experience a better fit, with the strap curving more naturally and the lugs appearing less prominent.
But we’re not done with the negative points just yet. Another frustrating detail is the folding clasp. At first glance, seeing a gold-plated folding clasp on this watch is a pleasant surprise—it adds an instant sense of luxury. BUT...
The folding clasp opens by pressing two push-buttons—a common and familiar mechanism. But here’s the issue: the push-buttons are large and sharp. The result? The watch—or more precisely, the strap with the clasp—is very uncomfortable to wear. You can literally feel those sharp edges digging into your skin. Don’t worry, I tried tightening the strap in multiple positions, but nothing worked. The clasp remains irritating.
The only real solution is to replace it with an aftermarket one. And to be completely honest, the strap itself isn’t great either. However, with a better clasp, it becomes wearable. Since I already had to replace the clasp, I ended up changing the entire set—strap and clasp together.
It’s a real shame that such a small, poorly executed detail manages to spoil what is otherwise a fantastic overall impression.
If the clasp is a major disappointment, the packaging certainly isn’t. As befits a watch that seems intended as the brand’s flagship, the Sirius comes in a very well-made wooden box—just as it should.
So, to conclude: I’m genuinely pleased that Luch took this step and created such an interesting watch. While wearing it, it got noticed—by family, friends, and co-workers alike. The comments were unanimously positive. “Oh, what a nice watch,” was by far the most common reaction.
I still can’t understand why Luch didn’t pay more attention to the clasp—it's an important part of the overall experience. That said, it’s an issue that can be easily solved. And perhaps not every watch has this problem—maybe it only affects some units.
The Sirius is fairly priced—Luch didn’t go overboard, as many former USSR brands tend to do when releasing something “premium.” So, if you’re lucky enough to find one in stock, have a wrist large enough to wear it comfortably, and are willing to take the small risk of a potentially annoying clasp—go for it!
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I was right! Second generation of Luch watches has STP 1-11 movement instead of ETA 2824-2. That is also declared on the back plate (on my watch you can see stamp ETA 2824, new watches have STP 1-11. Now they offer four models, prices have gone up!