OUT OF THE BOX...

Wrist watches were produced in large numbers during World War II for all the services. They had mechanical movements with a winding stem and typically had the hack feature, meaning that the second hand jumps from one second mark to the next, rather than move smoothly. This makes it more accurate to synchronize watches with others. Both black and white dial models were made, typically with a dull stainless steel or parkerized case.Here a nice example from Bulova displayed on a rare p40 british battledress that belonged to a 9TH AAF captain.

A common watch with Army personnel was the "ORD DEPT" ordnance watch series, produced by most of the watch manufacturers during the war. There was a system of part number prefixes such as OC, OD, OF that indicated the type of movement....

A privately purchased alligator band,makes this beautiful deadstock A-11 ,a little more stylish .......
The Type A-11 was produced in large numbers from 1940 to 1945 by Bulova, Elgin and Waltham for the Army Air Force and for the British RAF. Typical case marking for an A-11:
AN {army/navy} stamp on the seal....

The box as found...empty

Today's post,the first of the new decade,will feature a very rare item...No it's not a piece of closing for once,but rather fits in the men's furnishing/accessories category.I'm talking about the very desirable ww2 A-11 pilot's and ordnance watches .Official wristwatches were produced for the U.S. Army and other services during WW II. At that time, a watch was only considered necessary for ground and naval officers, aviators, and others with command or technical responsibilities. While official service watches were available, many enlisted men, and particularly officers, obtained their own stylish wristwatch or added a distinctive band to their military watch.Actually the original box in wich the actual watch was issued is a rare piece by itself,as they were most naturally disposed of.The above example was found while digging in a vet's trunk .Nothing unusual there ,just your average eaten by moth shirts and pants ,but as i was about to leave ,at the very bottom , i found a little cigar box .inside the box were 2 pocket bibles,a dead stock bunch of 5 leather name tags [as issued]another rare find and the watch's box ......