Hi all, I need your knowledge. Last week at a flea market I found an 8-day Omega watch. The seller says it is a WWII watch taken from a submarine.
It is the first time I see a watch like this, and I am very interested, where does this watch come from or how was it used? Is it a wall clock or table clock?
Any info on the watch would be appreciated.
Thank you.

 

Not entirely sure about the WWII submarine aspect, it could well be wishful thinking by the seller and should be taken as such until proven otherwise.

AFAIK these are definitely maritime/navy and were originally mounted on a bulk head or other angled instrument panel, hence the angled back case shape.

Date wise I'd say with the 81 million serial it is from the mid 1930's.

 

My guess is not military, all military maritime clocks I've seen from that period are marked with military serial numbers for in house service tracking. My knowledge tells me that these where issued when a ship left port and rotated around the fleet. I can tell you that it's not from a German sub, as that time period would have had another marking on it...

Wouldn't a maritime clock also carry certification as a chronometer from this period?

 

Here from AJTT:

 

Super close.. but OP looks more like Silver nickle then Brass. No bayonet fittings, and it doesn't look like this had them removed. Dial font is right, but markings are different. Definitely brothers, the question is how homogeneous are the Admiralty watches, and or offered to other vendors.

 

What's the key hole for then, if not to tighten a fitting? I still think the AJTT description is accurate for the OP's clock. The case looks brassy to me, I think it could just be the lighting giving a different hue.

 

Keyhole is to access the movement for service.

The problem I see is lack of any bayonet fitting and a different way of attaching to the case, which I admit could be added later.

 

I think it looks promising. Very nice catch. I have a 8 day Omega used in the Swedish navy, not the most honourable military provenance but still.

Try asking over at broadarrow.net

 

Wouldn't you call those a bayonet fastening on the caseback?

 

Dang missed those!!!!

 

Hi, Thank you, it's really look very similar to one from the book.
The case looks brassy.
It seems that the key is needed to fix the watch on the deck, so that during a storm they do not fall off the deck and to access the movement for service.

 

FIFY

 

And to clarify, many clocks on a ship were standard movements so wouldn't be marked "chronometer".

In general, one or two chronometers were carried (usually at different locations to reduce battle damage) and they were used to keep accurate time. The other ship's clocks were then checked and set each change of watch or at some other regular interval according to their use.

Deck watches or comparator watches were checked against the chronometer and synchronised immediately before use (taking star shots etc).

 

Fixed

 

The AJTT extract posted by cristos71 tells us almost everything.

The movement was a standard Omega 59-8D (which by this time had 15 jewels – went on later to become Cal.110).

The port of Barrow-in-Furness (north west UK) had built Royal Navy ships in WWI and WWII – including but not exclusively submarines.

These ships clocks were built by Omega for the ‘British Admiralty’ and supplied through their agents, the jewellers W.T.Story Ltd – and the dials were marked ‘STORY BARROW’.

The angled housing is (heavy) brass, secured as we see by a keyed lock.

Looking at Temprus’s clock, the crown is different, presumably a replacement. The other major difference is the dial – which is NOT the standard ‘STORY BARROW’.

I own more than one of these and the case and movement numbers are later (case numbers are 957****).

I attach two images. The first shows one of my clocks on the right of the Temprus clock and is (in my opinion!) original and typical in every respect. The second shows the two dials together – the STORY BARROW on the right is what I have seen on every one of the clocks I have seen (many were produced) and compares with the AJTT image.





So we come back to the question about differences in the Temprus clock/dial. Because of the earlier numbers, I suppose it’s possible that it was a prototype. Maybe it is a replacement dial from a different Omega? Seems unlikely.

 

Are we sure that thise were built exclusively for the British Admiralty? A simple explanation could Omega be that Omega produced a 'civilian' version, with a different dial not bearing Story Barrow name?

 

Absolutely. It could be.
I haven’t seen any other ‘civilian’ version (yet!). All the versions I have seen have been Story Barrow. Another ‘civilian’ will pop up some time, just to open up the debate.

 

Possibly not the most exciting provenance, but dishonourable? Surely not!!

 

Hello, OMTOM, many thanks for your explanation!

 

Funny old thing – but the ‘flea market find’ that @Temprus showed us a year ago is for sale (seemingly a dealer in Buenos Aires) for $3,500.

Regarding the ‘submarine’ myth, I guess this comes from the comment in AJTT that ‘at the beginning of the 21st century, submarines were still being built in Barrow-in-Furness’. Sure – but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t do many other things (any more than every NASA launch led to a moon landing). As @cristos71 said, in this case it’s ‘wishful thinking by the seller’.

In my opinion, these clocks (the true Story Barrow version) are not so ‘rare’ – they were fitted to many ships. If the provenance is to be believed, one that I have was fitted to what became a troop ship.

As for cost, one that I bought cost me $425, the one I bought last week cost $645. My view on the dealer’s asked $3,500 – would be deleted by the Mods…
I’m surprised he doesn’t call it art deco as well.