Here we have a Pre-Owned Lemania ‘Dirty Dozen’ Rare Crown Logo Dial W.W.W. British Military Wristwatch.
The Watch:
Here we have an excellent example of the highly sought out ‘Crown Logo Dial’ Lemania Dirty Dozen Watch. The watch has just been serviced and is under 12 months warrantee from the ‘The Watch Guy’
The Dirty Dozen is the name of a movie from the 1960s, depicting the misadventures of 12 fictional soldiers during the Second World War. It is also, in watch collecting circles, the name given to a group of 12 watches worn by those who actually fought in it – specifically, British soldiers.
The History:
Switzerland would export large quantities of watches and pocket watches during WWII, to both the Allied Forces and the Germans, but these were civilian market orders which pre-dated the war. The Ministry of Defence thought these were not suitable to the needs of British soldiers, and decided to place an order for custom-built wristwatches. These needed to be accurate, reliable and durable, which in watchmaking terms meant they had to be regulated to chronometer standards, and also be waterproof and shockproof.
The watches also had to have a black dial, Arabic numerals, luminous hour and minute hands, luminous hour markers, a railroad minute track, a shatterproof crystal, and a stainless-steel case. Powering them would be 15-jewel movements, measuring between 11.75 and 13 lignes.
Twelve companies would fulfil this brief: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, and Vertex.
Lemania History:
Before it became renowned for producing high-end movements for Omega, and eventually Breguet, Lemania, founded in 1884, made its own watches. After merging with Omega and Tissot to form the SSIH Group in 1932, Lemania (which took its name from Switzerland’s Lac Leman, or Lake Geneva) focused most of its efforts on developing complicated calibers for its partners, including the one that went to the Moon in the Omega Speedmaster. When called upon, however, Lemania built a military wristwatch to the WWW specs for the British Army, of which only about 8,000 were ever made. The watch’s steel-and-chrome case measured 36.5mm in diameter and contained the manually wound Caliber 27A.
Case:
36mm Steel & Chrome case with a smooth bezel, original crown and screw in case back that has the relevant MoD case markings with the arrow, service case number and civilian case number engraved. The watch crystal has some age related scratching but nothing deep or detracting.
Dial:
Matte black dial with the Sword hour & minute hands with intact lume and pencil small seconds hand. It has white Arabic hour numbers with Dot Lume markers. The lume on the hour markers and hands appears to be Radium as under a UV light the dot markers at 11 & 2 seem to have burnt out lume at 10 & 4 are faded (a known Radium issue), the rest of the lume is good (please refer to pictures). Also on the dial is the rare Lemania Crown Logo and the MoD Broad Arrow.
Movement:
The beating heart of the watch is the Lemania Caliber 27A manual wind movement. These movements were used in the Lemania Dirty Dozen watch due to their renowned toughness and reliability which was a requirement as detailed earlier by the MoD.
Strap:
The watch can be sent with either a replacement green Nato strap or a perfect replica A.F.0210 strap in Khaki (the original design these watches were issued with) although these watches can be worn with any colour nato strap and even with vintage looking brown leather straps. (please message me to indicate the colour strap you require once purchased).
The watch condition is very good for its age of over 80 years old with the dial face showing some small chipping at 3 o’clock, the dot markers at 11 & 2 seem to have burnt out lume at 10 & 4 are faded (both are a known Radium issue), the rest of the lume is good (please refer to pictures).
The watch comes in a Military style hardcase watch box.
Grab yourself a true memento to the heroes of WWII.
Please note that the movement has been serviced and comes with a 12 month warranty from The Watch Guy (Invoice provided).
The pictures form part of the description
When purchasing a watch for delivery outside of the UK, all local Customs Authority charges i.e. VAT and import charges etc. are the responsibility of the ‘Buyer’ and are not included in the sale price of the watch.
The photos form part of the description.