Today I'm wearing... ***NO quoting photos***

I'll leave it B, might be a good topic for a thread though. Ebay, the interwebs and how this changed collecting/buying in our world. Interestingly his line/viewpoint "And, as with the rest of the contents of the world's attic, most of the really good ones are already in someone's collection." is still being trotted out 16 years later.

A recent thread on the Mil Watch Forum inspired me to strap on this today.



My Doxa "DH" as issued to the German army in WW2. A crapload(20+) of Swiss and German makers supplied these*. The specifications were for black dial with sub seconds and radium lume, "waterproof", screwback with a standard slot layout so one tool would open all, shockproof balance(rare at the time, none of the issued UK watches had it or it wasn't a requirement), 15 jewelled movement, 33-35mm(mine's 34mm, the Zenith and Helvetia are the largest IIRC), fixed strap bars.



I always remove full serials. Don't want fakers copying them.

They're stamped on the back D "Dienstuhr"(service watch?) serial number and mostly H for "heer"(army). Some have just the D and serial number and the theory is that this was for the Luftwaffe or other military organisations. Records are scant so it's anyone's guess. They were entered into the individual soldiers identity details and could be bought by the soldier for himself. 80 Marks IIRC.

Most of them were plated brass, which don't wear well or are horribly replated to sell them off. This is the rarer stainless steel case and you can see how well it lasted the years. The Zenith and Longines ones are also steel, but usually mad money. So if looking, look for Doxa, Mimo and Revue as they had the steel cases, but are much cheaper.

These are a common watch, even the "rarer" steel cases. Longines and Zeniths are rarer, but still come up regularly enough. Sadly so many are fecked with by dodgy sellers and not just the usual suspects in Ukraine and Poland. Indeed even in the Frankenwatch and fake epicentre of Ukraine genuine ones in various states of repair are about the only WW2 watches that aren't faked so much. They were common, don't go for big money(BIN prices of 300 plus go unsold), too small for the modern impulse buyer, so it's not worth as much effort and cash to fake them, not when you can get over a grand for a recased pocket watch with a Heinkel on the dial. :rolleyes: Common faults are non original crowns and hands, badly replated brass cases or over polished steel ones and bad relume jobs. Still with a bit of research and care you can pick one up easy enough. Price? I'd not pay more than 200 quid for a good one.

Speaking of reluming, one day I must relume the hands on mine. I got shot of the radium on it. *disclaimer* don't try this at home. Indeed be very careful with any such radium dialled watches. Trench watches can be very strong emitters, but even at this stage in the 40's they can be still quite "hot". Depends on the watch and lume application. The amount on the dial isn't that great an indicator. Some quite thin lume is hotter. I'd not worry a jot about wearing one, but I'd not sleep wearing it or have it a foot away from my head on my bedside table. Never open the back. The radium breaks down into various nasties like radon gas, which itself breaks down into various nasties which can solidify out on the movement surfaces. Other than the high energy gamma radiation, the alpha and beta is stopped by the crystal and case and even your skin will stop it. However if you breathe in a tiny dust particle… You really don't want to do that. How much of a risk is all of this? Well squiliions of watchmakers have worked on countless radium dialled watches for generations and before the safety aspect was known your average person was exposed to this stuff on a daily basis. Still, better to take precautions...




*The Swiss had no issue with supplying both sides in the conflict. Omega being a notable exception. The story goes that after the war Girard Perregaux who owned Mimo, went around trying to gather all these "nazi watches" up.

yea, maybe not CB. :pac:. Then again it seems their forum is down. My enquiry about the GP Consul got four replies, but when I click on the link it gives me an internal database error, so I've no clue what was written. Haven't seen any replies to any threads in over a month now.