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Snackologist
Picture of BigJoe
posted
A little preliminary research leads me to believe this may be around WWII. What does the "OF-181971" stand for?

Any help is appreciated.

Watch

Reverse of watch


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Posts: 14050 | Location: WV | Registered: January 17, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Unflappable Enginerd
Picture of stoic-one
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Wyler?

https://www.ebay.ph/itm/275886874128


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Posts: 6402 | Location: Headland, AL | Registered: April 19, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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https://youtu.be/YFtHjV4c4uw

Looks like Granddaddy's "War Watch"


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Posts: 8654 | Location: Attempting to keep the noise down around Midway Airport | Registered: February 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
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It's a WW2-era standard issue US military mechanical watch, known today as an "ordnance watch". These were made to a standard Ordnance Department pattern by Bulova, Hamilton, Elgin, and Waltham, and were intended for use by non-aviation servicemen. (There were separate patterns of aviator watches, most notably the A-11.)

The maker's mark was generally put on the dial in the top center, between the 10 and 2. But yours may have faded away. However, do I perhaps see a hint of a "Wal..."? (For Waltham.) If you're feeling adventurous and can get the back off the case, the mechanism should be engraved by the manufacturer as well.

The "OF-181971" on the back is the two letter production block followed by the serial number.

 
Posts: 33457 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Snackologist
Picture of BigJoe
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
It's a WW2-era standard issue US military mechanical watch, known today as an "ordnance watch". These were made to a standard Ordnance Department pattern by Bulova, Hamilton, Elgin, and Waltham, and were intended for use by non-aviation servicemen. (There were separate patterns of aviator watches, most notably the A-11.)

The maker's mark was generally put on the dial in the top center, between the 10 and 2. But yours may have faded away. However, do I perhaps see a hint of a "Wal..."? (For Waltham.) If you're feeling adventurous and can get the back off the case, the mechanism should be engraved by the manufacturer as well.

The "OF-181971" on the back is the two letter production block followed by the serial number.


All that matches up. However, I don't see a faded name. If I feel adventurous tomorrow, I may try and take the back off. Thanks for digging up that info!


...You, higher mammal. Can you read?
....There's nothing sexier than a well worn, functional Sig!
 
Posts: 14050 | Location: WV | Registered: January 17, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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https://historyhub.history.gov...ord-stamp-on-a-watch

A lot of info about Ordinance Watches.


______________________________________________________________________
"When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"

“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
 
Posts: 8654 | Location: Attempting to keep the noise down around Midway Airport | Registered: February 14, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Optimistic Cynic
Picture of architect
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My Dad who served in WWII wore one of these, an Elgin, I think. ISTR my Mom passed it to a family friend who is now gone too, but memory fades in 45 years. As a callow youth, I wasn't interested in keeping it (to my sorrow today).
 
Posts: 6937 | Location: NoVA | Registered: July 22, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Page late and a dollar short
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One thing to keep in mind, the luminous paint used on the hands and faces of these is probably Radium based even though that many times they have lost their glow. From Wikipedia:
Although old radium dials generally no longer produce light, this is due to the breakdown of the crystal structure of the luminous zinc sulfide rather than the radioactive decay of the radium. The radium isotope (226Ra) used has a half-life of about 1,600 years,[6] so radium dials remain essentially just as radioactive as when originally painted 50 or 100 years ago, whether or not they remain luminous.


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Posts: 8502 | Location: Livingston County Michigan USA | Registered: August 11, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Snackologist
Picture of BigJoe
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Thanks for all the information. I appreciate it!!


...You, higher mammal. Can you read?
....There's nothing sexier than a well worn, functional Sig!
 
Posts: 14050 | Location: WV | Registered: January 17, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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