Penrose Antiques

Description

We have very great pleasure in being able to offer an example of a very scarce WW1 Aviators cockpit watch.

These watches were provided by H Williamson of London to the British Army’s Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the forerunner of the RAF and also to Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) between 1914 and 1918. Although based on a pocket watch they had quite a peculiar design in that the winding stem was long and the watches did not possess a ring for attachment to a chain. This is because a pilot when using one of these watches would place the watch in a holder in the cockpit and the winder would extend from the holder allowing the watch to be wound in flight. So these watches actually functioned as cockpit chronometers in these early war planes and are thus referred to as cockpit watches. The watches were highly valued by the British Army, Navy and War Department, so much so that pilots who crashed their planes and survived were required to recover the their watches from the wreckage. Failure to do so was considered the basis for serious reprimand.

Unsurprisingly, like the pilots during WW1 these watches had a high attrition rate and many today remain buried in the battlefields of Western Europe. Thus the rarity of these watches.

This particular watch is in a remarkably good condition. The black dial consists of a railroad outer minute chapter and an inner chapter consisting of large white painted Arabic numerals. The face is signed NON LUMINOUS. H WILLIAMSON LTD, LONDON. 8 DAYS. MARK IVA No 2794Ac. The face is in a lovely condition although very close examination reveals a couple of fox marks above the subsidiary second hand dial. The face is finished by a nice original but worn hour and minute hands. The face sits beneath a pristine Perspex replacement crystal. The case is of a plated base metal, the plating has mostly worn off the bezel and the back. The back carries the markings for the British War Department (W arrow D) dating from about 1914. The case has stood the test of time well, although there is a little bit of pitting to the hinged case back. Opening the back of the watch reveals a pristine and very tightly fitting hinged dust cap. Opening this reveals the movement. The movement is in a very good condition and looks as if it has been recently completely overhauled and is running well. Typical of Mark IV H Williamson LTD cockpit watches of this period the movement carries no markings other than a serial number, which in this case is 2113395.

This watch measures approximately 2 inches (5.1cm) in diameter excluding the elongated crown.