Hopefully someone can date the sets from the gold ... the type-face used on the watch is obviously later

 

Yep - he replied the same thing to me directly as well. I was trying to understand from his post and how the USS Hornet got upgrades, etc. if he was saying that it was possible that the kits were upgraded. I am assuming that is the case from what @Foo2rama posted.

I was thinking of replying with something like "So if someone opened a sealed box of rifles that were marked 1943, except the box was filled with M16s, what are the chances that the box was indeed sealed in 1943?"

 

Yeah basically what I was going to say until I accidentally deleted my response.

 

Nice watch, how much do they go for??

 

I contacted Milus (I´m not sure if someone else did the same) and this was their answer:

"Hello Sir,


Thanks for contacting us.


The Life Barter Kit was produced by the former Milus company whose doors closed in 1999.

Unfortunately the memorabilia of those interesting watches and their history is very scarce and we can no longer assist you.

The son of the founder of Milus which started the company in 1919 passed away a few years ago.

Best regards

MILUS INTERNATIONAL SA

Rte de Reuchenette 19

CH - 2502 Biel-Bienne

Phone: +41(0) 32 344 39 39"

 

Sorry for waking up a death thread.

Great and very informative Thread to read, thanks to those that contributed.

Today I saw that Milus still claims this WW2 nonsense in a Review of aBlogtoWatch
https://www.ablogtowatch.com/milus-snow-star-watch-review/

 

This was certainly a joke !

I have had this very box in my hands during a Milus products presentation and I could bid my salary this is nothing from the forties

how could I have missed this thread?

hey @eugeneandresson do you remember the Milus sales guy? If you can’t convince, confuse

 

Guys I figured it out... It is all easily explained! Turns out this movie was historical non fiction, not science fiction. This is how obviously 1960's or later kits ended up in the start of WWII!

 

@kov yeeeeeeeah...I didn’t get it either...apart from the fact that French is like Greek to me, he said he would speak for 10 minutes, but 1h+ later it was beyond funny. Nice umbrellas though...

 

I loved this movie when I was a kid! Haven’t thought about it in years.

 

My take on this.

The kits containing solid gold watches (maybe 1940s MILUS models) eventually found their way back into the US supply system where they lay almost forgotten.

Then one day, an enterprising stores clerk or other person who had access to the kits, opened one in curiosity, saw the gold watch and came up with a cunning plan.

They immediately went out and procured X number of current cheapish watches and replaced the gold ones (later to be melted) with ones of much less value. They then sealed up the kits, as evident by the dried glue and put them back on the shelf where they slept until being offered for disposal.

While some here may think that fanciful, I had over thirty years in the military and have seen all sorts of shenanigans going on in the supply system, such as returning expensive accountable tools (actually a crap broken one found at the dump) for a brand new one.

I also know of examples where weapons such as L1A1 rifles and 9mm Brownings were assembled from spare parts, and the mandatory accountable items (receiver etc) were obtained by submitting parts from other weapons because the supply person signing off on the destruction certificate didn't know a receiver from their elbow.

 

Having worked in government for 20 years myself (and doing purchasing)- this isn’t out of the realm of possibility. There is always a paper trail in government- if the kits had been updated at some point to be made usable again after sitting on a shelf for 20 years (old watches- need to replace with working new watches-it’s easier to do a PO to replace than to repair), there would have been a PO for new watches with a stated justification. But that later PO would be hard to tie to the original kits as it could have been lost in a sea of paperwork with different names for the kits etc (“requisition for replacement parts to field gear Xyz”).
There would be no need to replace the other parts in the kit, just the mechanical watches that would have been obsolete in the refurbishment of the kits.
It’s all speculation- but as I said, there is always a paper trial...you just have to know where to look. If the watches can be narrowed to a specific year, then there would be a requisition for replacement “parts” for the year before or after.

 

@JimInOz

one problem the one in the Smithsonian which came from a different source then these others clearly was not opened. Its clearly a 60's kit.

 

No probs gents, just throwing it out there. Appreciate the feedback.

 

Fascinating thread.

Reminds me of when I was a medic in Bosnia in the 90s on Sea Kings. We had a photocopied 'Blood Chit' in Serbo Croat 'I am a member of the UN, my government will reward you if you look after me' etc. Still got it somewhere.

The pilot was also issued with a money belt, gold Krugerrands if I remember correctly, they were in a long bandoleer each in a separate little cloth pouch I think. Funny how little things change.

No watches though unfortunately!

Thanks. Carl.