Some pictures of my Elgin canteen watch (the granddaddy of military dive watches). Obviously, the watch needs some cosmetic work and a service but it has some soul.

I already posted on MWR, so sorry for the duplication for those who visit that forum.
http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?81607-Elgin-Canteen






As a bonus, a movie unearthed by a MWR member that shows some canteen watches in use:

 

Nice! Does this also use the 539 movement?

 

yes, 539 movement (I posted images on the MWR forum).

 

Mine spent so much time at my watch maker and so many return trips.... Well its running well now and a pleasure to wear.

Caliber 539. serial dates it to 1944.


its got the black on black BuShips markings on the dial but I've never managed to photograph them clearly. Much of this watch was trash when it was found, it took the watchmaker ages to find all the bits to bring it back, most of it NOS.

 

Thanks for the post and pictures Fritz! How does it wear (I need to restore mine before I can put it on a strap)? The diameter is on the smallish side but the crown probably makes up for that.

 

It wears fine, like my 30T2, but I've got skinny arms and can't wear modern hubcap sized watches anyway.

I wore it to an NAWCC meet a few years back and it drew some attention, it was assumed to be a modern replica. When told it was an Elgin the guy asking seemed quite shocked that I would actually wear it!

Whats the point of having it if you can't wear it???

 

Nice one! Congrats. They’re getting rare I reckon.

 

I've read that Elgin made about 1200 USN xxxC engraved watches during WW2 and that over half of the "combat swimmers" that used them died in combat, throw another 70 years into the equation and there should be few left.

There were further batches made in the 50s for the UDT teams, but these are labeled as such.

I've seen statements that the watches used in combat were the Elgins, but then if you look at the more Hamilton oriented sites, I've seen that Hamilton made all the "real" watches

The truth behind these watches, what went to war and when, seems lost in time, opinions vary and I've seen some heated exchanges about these watches, so we may never know what these watches saw in their service lives.

I'm just happy to have lucked into the remains of one and been able to get it running again.

 

Back from the spa mounted on a vintage shell strap. Still a few things to iron out but a real beauty and a lot of fun to wear.