2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
Hallo Heiko, Here is mine in its original container. This is the only Deck watch for the Federal German Navy with cal. 9720, known as ref. 5301. The dial diameter is 41 mm and has been made of metal. Only 54 pieces have been produced, the last delivery took place in 1987.....
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
....The Nato Stock Number for this watch was 6645-12-151-5867 It seems that this watch never made it to a ship or submarine. The original sticker is still present.
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
.... Here is the original packing from IWC for ref. 5301. This watch was purchased in Wilhelmshafen, Germany, the current main port for the Navy in Germany... Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
...This is a confusing one. It is cal. 67 in a steel case, diameter of the dial 41 mm. Jürgen King,former IWC museum director, wrote about this watch : This had as reference number 135 and inside the case back it could have been marked as BWB. This might mean : Bundeswehr Bund. There was no inner case for dust protection. The case numbers and movement numbers have been documented clearly by IWC. The watch was delivered to the "Bundesamt in Koblenz, Germany, December 5, 1966. The case number and the movement number of this Deck watch matched for the small series of 125 pieces for this extraordinary time piece...
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
....But... on the outside case back , there was no indication of the Bundeswehr, German Navy or , most importantly, no Nato Stock Number. Just a 7 digit number, representing .... the movement number! So I wrote to Herr Jürgen King and via IWC I got his reply : this watch is the only military PW for the Federal German Navy for which some pieces got the NSN number :6645-12-144-3142 while on other lots only the movement number was stamped on the back lid. Sofar so good... Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
2,149 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 23, 2001
...Last but not least. This is the Deck watch from the third and last series used by German war ships and submarines (U-Boote), during W.W. II The number produced for these series is unknown. Very special is the dial. It has a soft green colour and it glows shortly in the dark. Until today sellers and collectors assume that the complete dial is covered with radioactive substance containing Radium, a radioactive material with a half life time of 1600 years. A potential hazardous watch, one could say! However, I was able to measure its radiation by using different Geiger counters in a hospital and found ....zero radiation! The surface of the dial is covered with Zinc Sulphid (ZnS), a greenish powder, not radioactive but glowing (illuminating) for a short time, when white light or ultraviolet light is falling upon it. Infact it is used until today for instance on radar screens, when the sweeping central beam is turning around and picking up objects being within the range of the radar. Already during W.W. II this technique was used , especially by the German submarines. They should be , once submerged, completely invisible. Any source of light on board was strictly forbidden. The submarines had an ultraviolet light source on board as part of their standard equipment. This was turned on for a short time, shining on the Deck watch. This responded by glowing for a short time, indicating the exact time and than extincting again. Among all watches around, military watches have a story to tell. Such story is connected directly to world history. Deck watches, whether used by nations one might consider as friend or foe, have determined the fate of many people, maybe including yours and mine.... This is why IWC Deck watches are special to me. Kind regards, Adrian, (alwaysiwc).
5,022 Discussions and CommentsMember since May 29, 2003Sarasota, FL,
United States
Adrian,
That last one is of interest to me as I notice that a few other brands have contemporary watches with dials that lume. I was unaware of the use of such dials during the 40's.
829 Discussions and CommentsMember since Aug. 4, 2006
alwaysiwc Wrote:...This is a confusing one. It is cal. 67 in a steel case, diameter of the dial 41 mm. Jürgen King,former IWC museum director, wrote about this watch : This had as reference number 135 and inside the case back it could have been marked as BWB. This might mean : Bundeswehr Bund. There was no inner case for dust protection. The case numbers and movement numbers have been documented clearly by IWC. The watch was delivered to the "Bundesamt in Koblenz, Germany, December 5, 1966. The case number and the movement number of this Deck watch matched for the small series of 125 pieces for this extraordinary time piece...
Hello Adrian, it might be confusing but it isn't if you have further look at the markings. BWB doesn't mean Bundeswehr Bund but rather 'Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung'. This is the government authority which is responsible for all acquisitions, technical and electonic developments of the Bundeswehr including weapons, armour-bearer and all kind of relevant material. So this watch was acquired by the BWB from IWC for instance as a kind of prototype probably among other brands and not issued to the troops later on. The watch remained in the stock of the BWB and was later sold by the VEBEG, the company which is responsible for the selling after the decomission.
2,129 Discussions and CommentsMember since March 22, 2001
Wow, wow, wow- this is fascinating, and I am really learning so much about the military past of IWC. Thanks to you all for showing us these extraordinary and rare pieces, and explaining the details.
Hallo Heiko,
Here is mine in its original container. This is the only Deck watch for the Federal German Navy with cal. 9720, known as ref. 5301. The dial diameter is 41 mm and has been made of metal. Only 54 pieces have been produced, the last delivery took place in 1987.....
It seems that this watch never made it to a ship or submarine. The original sticker is still present.
Here is the original packing from IWC for ref. 5301. This watch was purchased in Wilhelmshafen, Germany, the current main port for the Navy in Germany...
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
The case numbers and movement numbers have been documented clearly by IWC. The watch was delivered to the "Bundesamt in Koblenz, Germany, December 5, 1966. The case number and the movement number of this Deck watch matched for the small series of 125 pieces for this extraordinary time piece...
Just a 7 digit number, representing .... the movement number!
So I wrote to Herr Jürgen King and via IWC I got his reply : this watch is the only military PW for the Federal German Navy for which some pieces got the NSN number :6645-12-144-3142 while on other lots only the movement number was stamped on the back lid. Sofar so good...
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
This is the Deck watch from the third and last series used by German war ships and submarines (U-Boote), during W.W. II
The number produced for these series is unknown. Very special is the dial. It has a soft green colour and it glows shortly in the dark. Until today sellers and collectors assume that the complete dial is covered with radioactive substance containing Radium, a radioactive material with a half life time of 1600 years. A potential hazardous watch, one could say!
However, I was able to measure its radiation by using different Geiger counters in a hospital and found ....zero radiation!
The surface of the dial is covered with Zinc Sulphid (ZnS), a greenish powder, not radioactive but glowing (illuminating) for a short time, when white light or ultraviolet light is falling upon it. Infact it is used until today for instance on radar screens, when the sweeping central beam is turning around and picking up objects being within the range of the radar.
Already during W.W. II this technique was used , especially by the German submarines. They should be , once submerged, completely invisible. Any source of light on board was strictly forbidden. The submarines had an ultraviolet light source on board as part of their standard equipment. This was turned on for a short time, shining on the Deck watch. This responded by glowing for a short time, indicating the exact time and than extincting again.
Among all watches around, military watches have a story to tell. Such story is connected directly to world history. Deck watches, whether used by nations one might consider as friend or foe, have determined the fate of many people, maybe including yours and mine.... This is why IWC Deck watches are special to me.
Kind regards,
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).
That last one is of interest to me as I notice that a few other brands have contemporary watches with dials that lume. I was unaware of the use of such dials during the 40's.
Live and learn.
Regards,
Adam
PS - Oh yeah, about that JLC SEAL...
;-)
Hello Adrian,
it might be confusing but it isn't if you have further look at the markings.
BWB doesn't mean Bundeswehr Bund but rather 'Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung'. This is the government authority which is responsible for all acquisitions, technical and electonic developments of the Bundeswehr including weapons, armour-bearer and all kind of relevant material. So this watch was acquired by the BWB from IWC for instance as a kind of prototype probably among other brands and not issued to the troops later on. The watch remained in the stock of the BWB and was later sold by the VEBEG, the company which is responsible for the selling after the decomission.
Kind regards
Hajo
Fair Winds and Following Seas
Last edited: 9 January, 2013 - 09:24
Nelson