- #OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBERS#
- #OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBER#
- #OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIES#
Company branding was allowed to appear on Mark V watches only to interior surfaces, eg the movement, cuvette, inner case back, etc.
#OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBER#
Whilst the suppliers of Mark IVA watches were required to apply a serial number followed by a letter code to each dial, the Swiss manufacturers of Mark V watches applied their assigned (digraphic) letter code to the dial, followed by the item’s serial number.
#OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIES#
It allowed each individual item to be referenced in a contract ledger, giving details of the size of the order, the series number range allocated to each order, the item to be delivered, the name of the contracted supplier, the contract reference number, and dates. It was standard practice during WWI to mark military equipment supplied under contract in this way.
#OMEGA POCKET WATCH SERIAL NUMBER SERIAL NUMBERS#
War Office items carried individual serial numbers applied to the dial, followed by a letter code that identified the supplier. This applied whether the watches were issued by the War Office or the Admiralty. The dials of British WWI aviation watches carried as a minimum the name of the supplier and the specification that the watch was intended to meet (eg Mark II, Mark IVA). up to 1917, an 8-day Swiss movement was used for all watches (until the Mark V introduced 30-hour movements as standard whilst allowing 8-day movements also to be used).military issue indicated by markings to the dial and/or to the case.luminous and non-luminous versions (although luminous versions were restricted to RNAS issue until late in WWI).nomenclature applied to the dial (specifying, amongst other things, the contracted supplier of the watch).The archetype for British aviation watches comprises: Unlike other aviation instruments (eg the compass, altimeter, ASI), no particular development was forced on the aviation watch by experience of war, although, by the war’s end, the 8-day watch had been supplemented by 30-hour movements, and this may have been a response to increased aircraft performance (particularly the increase in operating ceilings).Ĭommon Features of the WWI Aviation Watch (A Mark III aviation watch has also appeared but in such small numbers that it must be considered 'putative'). The Mark V aviation watch was issued to both services after supply chains had merged during 1917. During WWI, the Admiralty issued the Mark I, followed by the Mark II, whilst the War Office (via the Royal Aircraft Factory) issued the Mark IVA. The dials carried nomenclature that related to their supply under contractĪll watches were supplied according to published specifications and each iteration of the requirement was marked accordingly. The watches were cased in nickel or plated steel, with the usual military markings often applied to the case back. The watches under discussion ('aviation watches') are sometimes known as cockpit clocks but they are essentially pocket watches of no special design, apart from a pendant that was required to protrude from any housing that was used to fix them to a bulkhead in the cockpit. The procurement of aviation watches was no exception, although there is a clear horological connection between the watches issued by the two branches. Watch attached to instrument board in cockpit of WWI aircraftįor much of the First World War, British military procurement was pursued separately by the Admiralty and the War Office. A Taylerson Military Timepieces: Watches Issued to British Armed Forces 1870-1970 (Horological Journal September 1995 pp 293-296 October 1995 pp 334-337) (British Horological Institute,1995) (‘Taylerson’).Wesolowski A Concise Guide to Military Timepieces 1880-1990 (The Crowood Press, 1996) (‘ZMW’) Konrad Knirim British Military Timepieces/Uhren der britischen Streitkräfte (POMP, 2009) (‘KK’).
Notes on British Military Watches 1914-1919 1.2.6 Unidentified watches (vocab letter Q).1.2.4 H Williamson Ltd, London (vocab letter F).
1.2.3 H White & Co Ltd, 63 Cheapside, London E.C.1.2.2 W Ehrhardt, London (vocab letter D).1.2 British Watches, Pocket General Service.1.1.2.2 Luminous and non-luminous versions.1.1.2 Common Features of the WWI Aviation Watch.1 Notes on British Military Watches 1914-1919.