after many,many years of finding run down examples......this one is near perfect. spotless enamel dial.( scratch is inside the glas.) the other 2 are Omega Pilots watches. one enamel dial; one metal dial. both excellent . 1933 for the omega enamel dial and 1935 for the metal dial. these 3 watches were worn by Czeck/German pilots in the 30`s. not issued, but private purchases. a few were traced through pilots log books as worn in the flying schools in germany and czeck and poland in the late 30`s. all are around 41 mm diameter without crown. all have turning pointers. all are screw in fronts and backs. the zenith has 2 backs . the inner is a glass back and shows the excellent snake fine regulation. all keep excellent time. HAPPY ! kind regards. achim
Really nice. Were these intended to be worn over the outside of a leather flying jacket cuff? If so, they certainly would have needed to be big and chunky. What are the pointers for - elapsed time, of course but for fuel consumption? distance flown?
i think it came down to fuel consumption. maybe pilots on this board here know better? kind regards. achim
Simply wonderful. (both collections!) achim Were these constructed specifically as aircrew wrist watches? I notice that they aren't like the Ukraine marriage watches but have the sub-second at 6 and not at 9 (which is a good sign of a converted pocket watch). Cheers Jim
Wonderful trio of early aviators, Achim, all in fantastic condition--the Omega with the inner elapsed time bezel is magic. Big congrats on achieving your special trinity! All the best, Tom
Jim - yes, all these watches have been built as aircrew watches. Some detail-Information below (sorry - in German). Maybe Achim will translate. Article by Konrad Knirim: Deutsche Fliegerei nach ‘Versailles’ Der am 28. Juni 1919 geschlossene Friedensvertrag von Versailles gestattete dem im Ersten Weltkrieg unterlegenen Deutschen Reich zwar eine ‘Reichswehr’ in Stärke von 100.000 Mann, der Besitz von Luftfahrzeugen jeglicher Art wurde Deutschland in dem gleichen Vertragswerk hingegen strikt verboten. Die seit dem Waffenstillstand vom 11. November 1918 entstandenen Fliegerformationen mußten wieder aufgelöst werden. Einige Fliegerstaffeln, die der deutschen Polizei noch gewährt worden waren, mußten in Erfüllung des Vertrages im Frühjahr 1920 ebenfalls wieder aufgegeben werden. Das generelle Verbot jeglicher fliegerischer Betätigung schuf eine Reaktion, die von den Planern des Versailler Vertrages sicherlich nicht in Betracht gezogen worden war. Die deutschen Flieger hielten die Bestimmungen zwar ein, sie flogen aber trotzdem. Es gab aber in den 20er und 30er Jahren viele Fliegeruhren, meist mit verchromtem aber auch Nickel-Gehäuse, relativ breiten Anstößen, z.T. mit Klappdeckel oder rändelverschraubt. Ich besitze davon einige mit Phantasienamen, aber es gab sie auch von den renommierten Schweizer Marken wie Omega, Longines, Zenith entsprechend sichtbar in alter Werbung. Es gab diese Art Uhr auch von IWC (Cal 83) in Stahl aber auch in einer Ausführung, die wohl nicht aus der Manufaktur stammt, sondern die mit Werken aus Damentaschenuhren mit zugekauften Gehäusen konfektioniert wurden. Ich weiß, daß noch Mitte der 30er Jahre also bei der Reichs-Luftwaffe solche Uhren von Zenith an die Flieger ausgegeben wurden. In der gleichen Art und in dieser Gehäuseform wurden ebenso Armband-Chronographen wie Breitling (Cal Venus 711 AU) oder Heuer (Cal Valjoux 22) gebaut und eingesetzt. .
The Zeniths with and without central second hands are avaitor's watches from the early 1930's. There is documentary evidence that an example of such a watch was used in 1937 in the Reich Luftwaffe's flying school in Oldenburg. Further proof exists that a Zenith with small second hand was used in 1937 in the flight school in Brandenburg-Briest.
Due to the prohibition of military avitation there were no official military aircraft clocks or avitation watches. However, there were many pilot's watches in 1920's and 30's Germany that surely were used by Luftwaffe. Most had wide lugs, occasionally with snap on or screwed backs. Such watches were officially distributed to, and worn by pilots of the Luftwaffe. Pilots' wristwatches were also produced by renowed Swiss clock makers such as Omega, Longines and Zenith.
these are outstanding. I love the way they look. They look like they mean business. Do you wear yours? I never understood why some manufacturers who made this type of watch chose sometimes enamel dials and sometimes metal dials. I think the original zenith special puts to shame its contemporary counterpart from a visual perspective. I have not yet been able to find an answer to the question of why Zenith also made a version without a sub seconds dial.