Your humble editor loves Vostok watches, owning an Amphibian with the famous wobbly winding crown. It’s a clever, durable watch, with that old school Soviet era styling. But that From Russia With Love look doesn’t suit everyone, so the Expedition range, made by Vostok-Europe is a moder modern take on an adventure automatic.

There’s a Seiko movement inside the 48mm – yep it’s a biggie – steel case, which has a unidirectional bezel and hardlex type domed crystal. Depth rating is 200m. You get 40 hours power reserve from the Seiko engine and there’s a power reserve indicator on the dial as well. Nice touch.

There’s also a quartz movement variant if you’re on a tighter budget, available in four different dial colours, featuring a worldtimer inner dial chapter ring, with all those cities you’re gonna visit once lockdown ends!

There are seven different colour options for the dial and we love the graduated green, reminds us of a 1980s camera magazine free filter – remember those? Lume? Tritium tube on the markers and hands, so there’s light all the time say Vostok – this model is inspired by the exploration of a very deep cave, so it should glow every nicely indeed.

We checked online and the quartz models of the Vostok Expedition Everest start at around £300, with the auto versions at £689. Rivals to the Vostok auto version include the LIV 7750 Valjoux powered GX models, at 800 quid or therabouts, the trusty Seiko Prospex 1968 Recreation, which we spotted at Watch Nation for £679, or the Enosken Deep Dive at £390 – it lacks a chrono function but at 1000m depth aces the Vostok. Or the Seiko.