Have just made this purchase awaiting arrival, and was wanting to talk about the condition of this watch.

this is my knowledge of the dd watches:

As far as i know, this has been re-lumed, possibly in the 60s they replaced the radium with tritium.

With the double marked case back, second number means it was returned for repair during the war, the crown isn't original and possibly replaced in the war.

Old guy I'm buying it off has said hes owned it for 25 years and has mainly been in his drawer for that long, he was aware of a service but wasn't sure of any repairs made.

What do you guys think of condition, originality? and just chat about dirty dozens in general?

 

Everything looks original except the dial/hand lume and crown as you noted. Radium lume often removed on these. Dial is washed out to a degree, more than I usually see on these but they do tend to degrade this way. Case has some wear but still looks sharp. Much rather have the scars than someone taking it to the polishing wheel. Here's my original radium dial for comparison:

 

She's a beaut. Have you had any adverse affects from the radium? Maybe a 6th finger or a tail growth?

 

Not sure about the second number denoting a service. AFAIK all examples have this second number, and all look like they were stamped at the same time as the larger number, in the same font, albeit smaller, with the same relative position and alignment.
To manage that consistently, for every example, after the fact, would be almost impossible.

 

I’m right aren’t I that the WWW were only delivered in late 1945 so weren’t actually worn during the war.

 

I suppose you shouldnt believe in everything you read, do you have any idea what the second number means?

 

I was under the impression that they were made in 1944-1946, for use in the RAF...
How would you date this?

 

I don't know the full details but think late 1945 based on general records, and used across the services not just the RAF.

Much more knowledgeable people on the WWW watches on mwrforum.com or similar might be able to help but I haven't seen any database for Cyma watches. Some of the big websites have written on the WWW watches:
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/dirty-dozen-twelve-military-watches
https://www.fratellowatches.com/you-asked-us-what-watches-does-the-british-army-wear/#gref

I have read that the 2 numbers are the manufacturer serial number and then the MOD stores issue number.

 

I had a bit of time yesterday to read through some more stuff about the dirty dozens.

You're right about the numbers on the back.

 

what s the size?

 

I believe its 38mm