Here we have a good-looking example of a 1945 Record ‘Dirty Dozen’ WWW, British Army Issue military watch. It has a well sized 36.5mm case, which is a chrome plated brass composition with the bevelled bezel design. It has the brushed finish to the bezel, tops of the lugs and the sides of the case. It also has the original broad crown to the right.
The dial is very good for the age, it still has a good black tone, with a light speckled patination. The luminous plots are good and clear, with an aged pumpkin tone. It has bold arabic numerals, which have developed a slight cream tone with age. The railroad track sits around the outside, with the sunken sub-second dial above 6. The dial is signed ‘Record’ below 12, with the Broad arrow.
The luminous Pencil hands indicate the time and have the aged pumpkin tone lume. The screw back is signed with broad arrow and ‘W.W.W.’ marking, with the two serial numbers. It is also stamped inside. Inside is the manual wind Record calibre 022K movement. It is in good condition, keeping time to within + 40 seconds a day.
It is estimated that around 25,000 Record examples were produced. The case is chrome plated brass and the model is known for its distinctive Pencil style hands. It has a good case diameter of 36.5mm, which places it towards the middle of the bunch in terms of sizing. The dial has developed a light speckled patination to the black dial. The white signing has developed a cream tone which is a pleasing sign of the age. The case is in pretty good condition for the age. The brushed finishes are still visible, but as expected it has some brassing to the edges.
No two dirty dozen watches are the same. The sizes vary, ranging from 35mm (Vertex) to 38mm (Longines). The handsets also vary across the watches, with the Record having the Pencil style hands. The Record also has a recognisable numeral font with the flat topped 4 and open 9. The sub-second dial has individual second markers, with no arabic graduations.
The serial number to the rear, does not match the 3 digits on the rear of the lugs. This is somewhat un-desierable to some collectors, however we see it as more likely that it was actually worn, due to the potential for back mix ups when visiting the REME.
History of Dirty Dozen:
They are affectionately known by collectors as the Dirty Dozen, after the 1960s film, which depicted the misadventures of 12 fictional soldiers during WW2. It is also a neat reference to the 12 different examples.
During the 1940s the MOD in Britain required watches to be issued to the military during WW2. They needed to be reliable, accurate and durable. The specification required that they have a black dial, clear Arabic numerals, luminous hour/minute hands, luminous plots, a railroad minute track, a sub-second dial and a shatterproof crystal.
They invited Swiss brands to build watches to these specific criteria. 12 brands were chosen. These were; Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, jaeger LeCoultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex.
They were delivered in 1944 and into 1945, which meant that many of the watches may not have seen action. Comparatively, ATP issue watches were worn throughout the second world war. Despite this, the WWW watches are desirable and widely collected due to the larger sizing of the cases, the black dials and for some examples, the full Stainless cases.
They were issued under the classification of ‘General Service’, but they were issued to special units, including radio operators and artillery staff members.
The watch has the Broad Arrow (pheon) which indicates that it was British Government issue property.
The watches carry the W.W.W. stamp to the rear, which was a code established by the British Army. It simply stood for ‘Watch.Wrist.Waterproof.’ Two serial numbers were engraved, one being the manufacturers and the second with the letter, from the military store.
Less than 20 collectors in the world have a complete set. Even though over 150,000 were produced in total, one example in particular, the Grana, has a very low production number and subsequently, a high value.
Good examples are hard to come by. They were sent back to the Corps of Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers (R.E.M.E), which dealt with all mechanical equipment. They had little interest in preserving originality and with so many watches needing work, the concern was to get them back on the wrist as soon as possible. This means that on the models with serial numbers on the case back and the lugs, not many match due to other backs being put on.
Post war, examples were also replaced with non-radioactive dials.
Please see the images as these compliment and aid the description provided below. A further condition report is below.
Dial:
The dial is original and is in good condition. It has a pleasing light and even speckled patina. The signing white was originally white, has turned to a cream tone. The signing is clear without wear. The lume plots have aged and are a dark tone.
Hands:
The hands are original and are in very good condition for the age. They are silver, of Pencil style with the aged luminous paint.
Glass:
The acrylic crystal would appear to be an older replacement. It is in good condition with no obvious marking.
Crown:
The crown is stainless steel and is original, with neat coin edge finish. It has slight marking to the face associated with ageing.
Case:
The case is chrome plated and is in good condition for the age. The case has a light brushed finish to the top of the bezel, the lugs and the sides of the case. There are small scratches all over, as expected with age and wear. The fixed bar lugs are good and strong. There is brassing in areas of the case.
Caseback:
The screw on case back is original. It is in good condition with clear engraving and the original brushed finish. It does have light surface scratching and some deeper marks from poor opening attempts.
Strap:
The watch comes on a new green canvas NATO strap.
Movement:
The movement is a Record calibre 022K. It is a 15-jewel manual wind calibre, which has a beat rate of 18,000 BPH.
The movement service history is unknown, but it is in good condition. It’s keeping time to within + 40 seconds a day, with an amplitude of 280 degrees and a beat error of 1.2m/s.
Case dimensions:
Case width: 36.5mm
Case width with crown: 39mm
Case length: 36mm
Case length lug to lug: 46.75mm
Case Depth: 11mm
Lug width: 18mm