Konstantin Chaykin is better known for playful complications and serious horological theatre than for blunt-force instrument watches.
The SC02C changes that without abandoning the watchmaker’s taste for character. It’s a civilian version of a mechanical chronograph developed for cosmonauts, tested outside the International Space Station, and built around the unusually hard demands of extravehicular activity.
That makes it one of the rare modern watches with a space story that goes beyond styling cues and optimistic marketing language.
At a glance
- Konstantin Chaykin has released the SC02C, a civilian version of its space-tested cosmonaut chronograph.
- The 44mm stainless steel watch is built for harsh conditions, with vacuum resistance, antimagnetic protection, a secured sapphire crystal and suit-compatible straps.
- Production is limited to 28 pieces, priced at CHF 50,000, with the watch debuting at Geneva Watch Days.
From Mars concepts to a working EVA watch
Space has been part of Chaykin’s vocabulary for years, from the Lunokhod projects to the Mars Time wristwatch and the Mars Conqueror line.
Those watches showed the independent watchmaker’s fondness for cosmic ideas, but the SC02C belongs to a more demanding category.
The project began through communication with Roscosmos in 2018, followed by development work in 2019 on a wrist chronograph intended for operational use by cosmonauts.
The first Space Conqueror reached orbit in April 2021, and a prototype was worn outside the station by cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky during two separate spacewalks.
That testing led to further changes, including work on how the crystal was secured in the case.
The latest generation was worn again during an EVA in May 2026, when two cosmonauts spent just over six hours outside the ISS.
A traditional chronograph shaped by abnormal conditions
At first glance, the SC02C reads more like a rugged vintage-leaning pilot’s chronograph than a piece of orbital equipment.
The 44mm stainless steel case has rounded lugs, a black dial, oversized markers and a rotating bezel, all arranged with practical legibility in mind.
The red rocket-like tip on the hour hand recalls Chaykin’s Mars Conqueror Mk3 and gives the dial a small but distinctive signature.
It also has a functional role, since the wearer can align the hour hand with 12 on the bezel at the start of a task and read elapsed time from the hand’s position without using the chronograph pushers.
Luminous material appears on the hands, markers and bezel, while an anti-reflective sapphire crystal is intended to keep reflections under control in bright and dark environments.
The watch keeps Chaykin’s hands-at-ten logo at 12 o’clock, a small eccentric detail on an otherwise unusually straightforward instrument from the manufacture.
Built for vacuum, vibration and pressure shifts
The more interesting engineering is hidden in the way the SC02C protects itself.
An antimagnetic inner cover shields the movement to 4,800 A/m, and the sapphire crystal sits in a reverse dovetail seat with a bevelled edge.
The idea is simple and clever, with pressure changes and overloads pushing the crystal more firmly into place rather than working it loose.
Water resistance is rated to 100 metres, but the more unusual figure is its ability to withstand a near-total vacuum of 1 x 10-6 atmospheres.
Before leaving Earth, the watches are put through centrifuge, vibration, thermal and impact testing.
The strap system is treated with the same caution, using pins with two additional locking threads and supplied in both standard and extended lengths, the latter designed to fasten over a spacesuit.
The reworked Poljot movement inside
For the movement, Chaykin turned to the hand-wound Poljot 3133, a chronograph calibre with long-established roots rather than an experimental base.
The manufacture then re-engineered it with 60 in-house components to create the calibre K.20-5.
The changes include a 12-hour counter, stop-seconds, a damping ring and a balance regulated by micrometric weights instead of a conventional index.
That regulating system was chosen for greater resistance to vibration and overload, which matters more here than exhibition-caseback spectacle.
The movement is finished to a high standard, though the protective solid caseback keeps it out of sight.
Details & Specifications
| Brand | Konstantin Chaykin |
|---|---|
| Model | SC02C |
| Case size | 44mm diameter, 14.5mm thickness |
| Case material | Stainless steel |
| Dial | Black |
| Movement | Konstantin Chaykin calibre K.20-5, hand-wound, modified Poljot 3133 |
| Jewels | 25 |
| Frequency | 21,600 vph, 3 Hz |
| Power reserve | 45 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph |
| Antimagnetic protection | 4,800 A/m |
| Water resistance | 100m, 10 bar |
| Vacuum resistance | Near-total vacuum of 1 x 10-6 atmospheres |
| Strap | Black fabric straps in standard and extended lengths |
| Price | CHF 50,000, approximately £45,700 or $61,970 |
| Availability | Limited to 28 civilian pieces |
The SC02C is a curious and compelling turn for Konstantin Chaykin, because it puts the watchmaker’s imagination into a form that’s sober, physical and genuinely task-led.
For collectors who know the brand through its more whimsical creations, this chronograph shows another side of the atelier, one where the eccentricity is not on the dial but in the fact that the watch was made to work outside the airlock.
