Collected from a grand daughter... you can fill in the rest.
Mineral glass. U.S. ARMY AC movement. Longines Weems A-II case. Original one piece band. Case serial number and Movement serial within dozen of the A-11 posted on IHC185 NAWCC chapter.

http://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m/2901075381/p/2

I knew the existance of this watch for over 5 years. The father originally gave it to me for free, but
he didn't know the value. I returned it to him. Another 5 years would pass, and the father passed on.
Remained in contact with one of the sons. It was a old heirloom. I finally acquired it the proper way.
If anyone can donate a 10L movement, I can restore it to full glory. Still has all the dirt (1940s?)
The hunt begins for the crowns and possibly a sterile dial. Or just leave it as found and get it running again.

By the way what is this watch?

There were possible around 1000 produced.





It fills the gap in my small watch collection. Never had an A-11.
View attachment 476037

 

A real tool for macho men in 1940. At 28mm width, it beats any Panerai in terms of accomplishments . Not many were made. Congrats on the watch and the story!

 

I believe only 200 were ordered. How many survived? The watch was a real unicorn before the millenium before solid proof they existed.

The below should be verified as it could be fiction.


Update to this:

There were two types issued around this time frame.

One was the "Standard Weems" model which is large and has a rotating inner dial with the seconds. This may have been limited to about 200. There was also a "New Weems" model which my watch appears to be. These could number to about 1000.

 

God is this letter really from 1935?
What a find..

 

I think a xerox of the original document that is public record.

 

Oh oki see

 

Just a quick search gave serial numbers from 326 (maybe 101) to 662. Not sure if all were numbered sequentially but if they were, that would make more than 200 of them. Definitely less 1000 were made.

 

My experience with other military orders from Longines is that they are within a range, but they are not gapless.
Until another document is uncovered that a second order was submitted, the current document indicates that only 200 were ordered. Not all watches will pass the qualifications for the requirements. Hence more watches than required must be submitted for a military contract. Only the watches that pass the testing process will qualify towards meeting the quantity of the contract. Hence, there will be gaps in the sequence for most military orders. However, the serial numbers may be in tight groups. If you look at the start and end of a series of serial numbers, it will mislead you into thinking there are more watches than actually were accepted.

This is for example, since it is from someone else cutting and pasting and not the original spec. Just for illustration purpose.

 

Ah, someone changed the title. I actually was quite fond Skalli's title.

 

The internal memo looks authentic enough. If the facts are all true, then this is the group that received
them.

 

Matches the letter head of the memo.

 

On another forum, I am seeing case serial numbers added by US Army indicating could be 1000 were produced. Serial 40-1xx to serial 40-850. Year-Unit number.

 

Seems at least 1,075 were issued...

Kinda shocked 2 of these popped up at the same time. And even though they are only 28mm, they seem criminally undervalued for a military issued watch.

 

Did you buy the latest that finished today?

 

I did. Bit of a gamble without a movement shot. And I’ll have to find a donor for the missing crown. Maybe the best condition dial I’ve seen on one of these though and the price was right.

 

That dial is very nice and the crown indeed correct. Missing the bezel lock but you could perhaps get one made. Or try to find one on a donor watch but those are often the first thing missing.

Regarding the original subject, @Seiji I’m sorry to disappoint but that supposed letter /memo looks highly suspicious to me— what basis do you have to say it looks « authentic enough »?
I’ve done some research into some French military, administrative and colonial archives from 1944 after the liberation of Paris and all those documents were crafted using a typewriter.

Those fonts you have here aren’t from a typewriter. And this document reminds me a lot of those records CBS aired claiming they were military records of GW Bush from 1972 or 1973– except the font was Times Roman 12 and no typewriters ever produced that.
So I’m sorry, but with all of the money now flooding the world of vintage watches, especially issued, I see no reason to trust documents found randomly on line, that’s not identifiably sourced to a specific archive or historian or to a credible research predating the vintage price bubble.

 

[QUOTE="Syrte, post: 908982,
So I’m sorry, but with all of the money now flooding the world of vintage watches, especially issued, I see no reason to trust documents found randomly on line, that’s not identifiably sourced to a specific archive or historian or to a credible research predating the vintage price bubble.[/QUOTE]

Well, I have potentially some interesting news on that front. It turns out P.V.H. Weems, who invented these watches, was born in Tennessee and the state Library and Archives holds his papers. Since it’s only about 3 hours away, I may take a weekend trip down there and see if there are any papers related to the original purchase. As I understand it, he worked for Longines at the time.



I don’t think there is any way these would have been issued to U.S. pilots without some kind of lobbying effort on his part. Hopefully, there might be a record.

 

That’s a great project because the Weems archive is indeed where Longines themselves are getting a lot of their info. Stephanie Lachat, Longines’ chief historian (head of the Brand Heritage dept) referred me to the archive precisely for the purpose of research on the small Weems.