Dirty Dozen Omega - Any saw combat? Vintage Omega Watches

bigbug1964

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. By the way, four of the five known WWW Promethium dial variants can already be seen earlier in this thread.

One point caught my attention, though. You mention that Enicar lost the WWW contract because it supplied shell or bomb timers to Germany. Do you happen to have a contemporary document or other reliable source supporting that claim? I’d genuinely be interested, as I’ve never come across documentary evidence for it.

I’d also be interested in your thoughts on the Longines WWW shown below. It clearly began life as a British WWW, but later received additional military markings during subsequent service.

How would you interpret a watch like this within the post-war history of the WWW programme?

Would you regard it simply as an example of the continued post-war service life of the WWW, with subsequent re-issue and re-marking, or do you see a different explanation?

bb64

bigbug1964

Thanks for taking the time to put this together. By the way, four of the five known WWW Promethium dial variants can already be seen earlier in this thread.

One point caught my attention, though. You mention that Enicar lost the WWW contract because it supplied shell or bomb timers to Germany. Do you happen to have a contemporary document or other reliable source supporting that claim? I’d genuinely be interested, as I’ve never come across documentary evidence for it.

I’d also be interested in your thoughts on the Longines WWW shown below. It clearly began life as a British WWW, but later received additional military markings during subsequent service.

How would you interpret a watch like this within the post-war history of the WWW programme?

Would you regard it simply as an example of the continued post-war service life of the WWW, with subsequent re-issue and re-marking, or do you see a different explanation?

bb64

G george.anthony.h

Hello @bb46, the info on the Enicar is in Konrad Knirim's book, ....

G george.anthony.h

Hello bb46, the info on the Enicar is in Konrad Knirim's book, I am in Hospital at the moment so can't tell you which page, will look later today.

I have seen WWW's downgraded to the lower ATP standard (possibly due to loss of its waterproofing) but never upgraded back to WWW.

There are examples of ATP's with WWW markings, but the consensus is that these are either fake or engraved by mistake (on a Friday before rushing to the pub perhaps!)

G george.anthony.h

Hello bb46, the info on the Enicar is in Konrad Knirim's book, I am in Hospital at the moment so can't tell you which page, will look later today.

I have seen WWW's downgraded to the lower ATP standard (possibly due to loss of its waterproofing) but never upgraded back to WWW.

There are examples of ATP's with WWW markings, but the consensus is that these are either fake or engraved by mistake (on a Friday before rushing to the pub perhaps!)

kfranzk

and @bigbug1964...
This information on a WWW Enicar in my book comes from investigations of Thomas König, whose article from him and Adrian v.d. Meijden I was thankfully allowed to take:
"This situation, combined with the fact that for Enicar, a stores number for a ‚Watch, Wristlet, Waterproof‘ had been allocated, may be a consequence of Allied investigations on Swiss supplies to the Axis. The Allies had investigated which Swiss watch producers were involved in the production of fuses for Germany. Probably at the same time the procurement procedure for the W.W.W. was started. As a result those Swiss manufacturers could be discharged or be placed on a black list."
Greetings Konrad Knirim

kfranzk

See here some oddly marked or dialed WWWs...

bigbug1964

As for the white-dial WWW collector lore that has circulated for years, I think the first two examples actually make the opposite point.

They are ATP watches by construction, not WWW watches built to the original specification.

A later “WWW” engraving may be historically interesting, but it cannot be taken as evidence that original white-dial WWWs ever existed.

Simply engraving “WWW” on the case back does not magically transform an ATP into a Watch, Wristlet, Waterproof.

A case-back engraving can be changed. The construction of the watch cannot.

I iht

Thank you. Yep that makes sense. My own watches with tritium all date from at least 1966. I had never heard of promethium before this. Did commercial brands like Omega use them?

G george.anthony.h

When I was in the Army, for my sins I was placed in the SQMS Stores (Squadron Quartermaster Sergeant) on a tour of Bosnia with NATO. All of our watches (and luminous minefield defile markers) were kept in a locked cabinet with the 'Radioactive' symbol on the door. Not lead lined or anything just a normal cabinet!

in the 2000's Tritium was deemed just about as unsafe as radium, so now any British Mil watches.. (and not many are issued anymore) have (L) Luminova markings..such as this Pilots watch.