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  1. Ludi Mar 10, 2013

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    Dear respectable Omegaforums members,

    Would you please find enclosed some details about my last arrival in my military watches family... and of course feel free to correct any mistakes, or to fill any gaps, I will undoubtly make.

    Known as the Longines Greenlander (which has been proven to be wrong BTW : http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10994 ), these Longines W.W.W ( for Watch Wristlet Waterproof) were provided to the British Ministry of Defense or MoD from may to december 1945.

    11 over brands were supplied as well and the reunion of the twelve is well known as to be the dirty dozen; see here http://www.time514.com//BritishX.htm for further details if you wish

    [​IMG]


    Around 140000 to 150000 W.W.W were made then...

    [​IMG]
    (source horological journal 2008)

    The original MoD specs for the 12 (well, they were even supposed to be 13 :rolleyes: ) were:
    - black dial, arabic numbers, small second at 6
    - luminous hour and minutes hands, luminous dots (radium)
    - 15 jewels mouvement, diameter between 11,75 and 13 lignes
    - "Perspex" crystal
    - Waterproof... around 3atm
    - no mandatory shock protection... only the Longines had one

    Below are my watch details, courtesy of its former owner (many thanks to you Ross :thumbsup: )

    "We have pleasure in giving you below the information we found in our old, hand-written production register regarding your LONGINES watch.

    Serial number 6’929’xxx is a wrist watch for gents in stainless steel ref. 5707
    It has been invoiced on 17th July 1945 to Messrs. Baume, who were our agents in the U.K.for many years
    It is equipped with a movement calibre 12.68Z, 15 jewels
    We have no information concerning the markings on the case. Some markings are made directly by our agents.

    Hope this information is convenient to you, and always at your disposal, I remain with my best regards.

    Raymond Krebs
    Archives & Documentation
    [​IMG]
    Compagnie des Montres Longines Francillon SA "

    [​IMG]

    Its Caliber is the 12.68Z ( http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&0&2uswk&Longines_12_68Z ), except this one meets some proper specifications: 15 jewels, gilt mouvement, antishock system and "reglage special" chronometer

    [​IMG]

    The mvmt serial number is in the 6.9M range as it should

    [​IMG]
    (horological journal 2008 )

    On its caseback are stamped the usual W.W.W reference plus its civil and military serial numbers. The last 3 digits of this military number is also stamped on one lug.

    [​IMG]
    (horological journal 2008)

    The Longines W.W.W were removed from active duty on july 1973

    If you intend to go deeper in these watches history, have a look here:

    - http://www.freewebs.com/billyschorr/adrian pdf/WWW1[1].pdf
    - http://www.freewebs.com/billyschorr/adrian pdf/WWW2[1].pdf
    - http://www.freewebs.com/billyschorr/adrian pdf/WWW3[1].pdf

    35mm excluding crown, stainless steel case, cathedral hands... and strong history... I kind of feel honored to wear it ;)

    [​IMG]

    Best regards :) - Fred
     
    Alpha likes this.
  2. Ludi Mar 11, 2013

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    On second thought, I should have posted a review about my Omega W.W.W ck 2444 instead, shouldn't I ? ... Well, at least it would have made sens on an Omega oriented forum I guess :p
     
  3. Gavin It's the quiet ones you have to 'watch' out for. Mar 11, 2013

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    Hey Fred. There's plenty of love here for Longines here too.;)
     
  4. dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Mar 11, 2013

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    I think its great, and I know Dennis thinks its great. The thing is without guys like you that have a passion for these Longines models, their vintage lines aren't going to come into the mainstream as they deserve to.
     
  5. ulackfocus Mar 11, 2013

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    What's really great is we have a member that can help out with Longines' military watches. :thumbsup: Other than an identification, I know very little about them, or any military watch regardless of brand.

    Sweet watch Fred.
     
  6. Ludi Apr 29, 2013

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    Late, very late answer, I know :oops:
    So many jewels were issued to the british army in the past decades ... [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    ... when it comes to military watches, you can't go wrong there [​IMG]

    W.W.W, Mark XI, Omega 53, 56 6B, Lemania HS9, Military Sub, Smiths Deluxe, RAF chronographs, etc, etc.... oh boy [​IMG]

    ( ... not to forget the FAP issued watches which are even greater [​IMG] )
     
  7. sohail May 19, 2013

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    Hi what do u think about this longines military regards image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg image.jpg