Vostok k-34: cleaning dirty glass on the inside

In this post I will explain how I have dismantled a Vostok K-34 35006 to clean the glass on the inside, as it has the uncomfortable fog that makes it look very ugly.

After a couple of years of buying it and sporadic use, one day I find the watch with the famous "fog". In the following picture you can see perfectly how unsightly it is, as it blurs the black color of the dial, looking like a grayish color.

The funny thing is that it is a watch that has had very little use, and I would even swear that it had never been wet, nor opened the watch case.

So as I explained in the guide on how to clean the watch crystal inside, I will proceed to clean it to leave it in perfect condition.

The first thing is, using the jaxa key, to open the watch case, as we must remove the module to clean the glass on its inside.

This watch has two crowns. The crown, located at 3 o'clock, is used to wind the watch and set the time like any other automatic watch. The crown located at 7 o'clock allows us to move the inner ring with the hours, so we can adjust the gmt time.

To pull out the 3 o'clock crown, you must release the stem with the pliers by pressing the push button. The advantage is that the second crown (7 o'clock) does not need to be removed, as it moves the bezel through a gear, but it cannot be removed carefully without dismantling it.

So after removing the 3 o'clock crown, we carefully remove the movement from the watch case along with the plastic gown, in order to access the back of the glass.

In the following picture you can see the color difference of the dial, much darker than when we saw it inside the case due to the effect of the fog from the dirty glass.

Although you can't perceive it well, in this photo you can sense the layer of dirt on the inner side of the glass.

We will proceed to clean the glass with a microfiber cloth and before placing the movement back inside the watch case, we will blow on the glass with a pear to remove possible dust spots on the glass.

Once the glass is cleaned, we proceed to reassemble the movement inside the box. We take this opportunity to check that the crown that moves the internal hour bezel moves correctly.

We then put the time shift post back together with the crown in place. But first we take the opportunity to apply some silicone grease to the crown gaskets to keep them as good as possible and improve the water resistance of the watch.

We also apply a layer of silicone grease on the rear joint to keep it hydrated for as long as possible and prevent it from deteriorating.

We place the crown in its place, and check that it works correctly before closing the watch, so we avoid being around the same thing.

Finally, with the jaxa key, we close the watch box by tightening the back cover. We turn the clock around and check that the clock has changed completely, now it is a pleasure to look at it.

As we see it is a simple operation having the right tools and care when performing it. The truth is that it is worth doing it because it aesthetically improves the watch a lot, since originally it always gives the sensation of dirt.

About the causes of the problem, I am not very clear. From what I have read in forums, it could be due to vapors escaping from the battery (obviously not the case with an automatic watch), the evaporation of the oils from the movement or simply a small layer of condensation due to the humidity inside the watch case.

Personally, I prefer it to be due to the evaporation of the movement oils, although as I am not an expert, it is surely another cause.

If you have a watch with this problem, it is convenient to fix it, because at least for me, it is very uncomfortable to see the watch and realize the dirt. In case you don't dare or don't have any tools, it is advisable to go to a professional watchmaker, who will do the operation in a short time, and it will surely be cheap to repair it.