Hi,

My great uncle has a watch which he claims he has had since WWII, I have attached photos. can anyone confirm its age and if its genuine? ? I havent been able to find anything on the Omega website. Sorry the photos are not that good...

Many thanks
J ools

 

Hi
It's a nice looking and genuine Omega "dirty dozen" watch. They are popular amongst military watch collectors and you will find loads of information on the web.
Here are a few links.
http://www.time514.com/BritishX.htm

http://milspectime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WWW11.pdf

http://milspectime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WWW21.pdf

http://milspectime.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/WWW31.pdf

A nice family heirloom that deserves a service and to be worn with pride.
John at http://www.obsoletewatchandclockparts.com is a great UK based watchmaker who knows these very well.
(It will need a service unless you intend to ruin it!).

Good luck.

 

Thanks very much for the quick reply and useful info!

Cheers
Jools

 

No doubt, original and genuine. The crowns then were unmarked but looks good to me. Those flex bracelets were popular, but ugly as heck. I think a nice pigskin strap would complement this nicely.

 

Nice watch! Looks like the fixed lug bars are still there, but how did they get the bracelet on?

 

I guess you can pry the end link of a metal bracelet like this open, and then press it back into shape?

 

That's one possibility. It doesn't look easy to pry it off without scratching the watch.

 

I have removed one of those bracelets from a fixed lug watch once. (I do not like those bracelets very much to be honest).
I used a flat screwdriver to lever open the end links. In this way the only thing you scratch is the old bracelet. Worked well.

 

This band was on a watch from the early 50's, you could just slip the ends over the spring bars. Probably one of the cheapest expandable bands you could find at the time.

 

Why do you say "my uncle claims?" You sound as if you do not trust him very much??