This Dirty Dozen Record watch would have been used towards the end of the Second World War by British forces.

HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?

Twelve Swiss watchmakers were selected to make watches to a standardised design in 1944.  They were Buren, IWC, Cyma, Longines, Grana (the rarest), Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lemania, Omega, Timor, Vertex and Record.  Each was was designated W.W.W., which stands for Watch Wrist Waterproof.  They had to have a manual wind movement of fifteen jewels, a black dial with luminous hour and minute hands, sub seconds at 6, railroad track minute markers and a shatterproof acrylic crystal.  No specification on accuracy is available, but Omega noted that their watches used the Chronometer grade 30T2.  These Dirty Dozen watches were issued as quickly as possible, although that could also have been after WW2.

CONDITION

There are a few types of collectors for Dirty Dozen watches.  You have someone who wants a watch to look brand new, others that are looking to complete the set (they are normally trying to find the Grana, the rarest) and other people that want a mechanically sound watch that looks like it has seen action.  This watch falls into the latter category, and is certainly no safe queen.  The case plating has rubbed, the hands have had their radium lume removed (no bad thing) and the dial is likely a later MOD service replacement, which was far from uncommon.  But the 022K movement is running sweetly, the case is correctly marked and the serial numbers and letters cross check against the available archives, and the watch is marked with the crows foot/pheon in the three correct places – dial, case back and inside the case back.  The NATO strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour if preferred.  You’ll see on the video how easy they are to change, and what differences they make to the look of the watch.

This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.

Please see the HD video for more detail.  All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned.  We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.

​SIZE

Width with crown  38.6 mm

Width without crown  35.9 mm

Between lugs  18 mm

Lug to lug length  46.6 mm

Case Thickness  11.0 mm

All sizes are approximate.

Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses.  If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries.  Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us.   Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.

From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon.  By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.

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