Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Cyma Dirty Dozen Military Issued Watch, 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Cyma (maker)
- Date
- 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 38 mm
- Stock no.
- W-2755
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Bulang & Sons (W-2755)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Cyma Dirty Dozen Military Issued Watch (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen (stock number W-2755), this is a wristwatch by Cyma, dated 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 38 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — Bulang & Sons
The ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches, marked W.W.W. for "Watch Wristlet Waterproof," were crafted to rigorous British Ministry of Defense standards in 1945. They feature a black dial, Arabic numerals, radium-lit hands, a 15-jewel movement, and waterproof capabilities. Twelve companies, including Cyma, Buren, Omega, and Longines, produced these iconic timepieces. We have a really lovely Cyma on offer today, featuring the Broad Arrow on the dial and WWW case back engraving. This example has a lovely 38 mm case with a step, and on the screw-down case back, there is the WWW marking and the serial and reference numbers. The black dial has radium lume on a rail track, Arabic numerals, and a small seconds at 6. The watch will come on the pictured NATO strap, and the movement has been fully serviced by our watchmaker. Military watches have such significant history, and we love finding cool ones for all you watch lovers. Please reach out to talk about this special watch. Specifications: - Cyma Dirty Dozen - 38 mm steel case - Dates to the 1940s - Case back with military engraving - Black Arabic hours dial - Calibre 234 manual wind movement, number 379xxx - Comes on the pictured NATO strap - Fully serviced by our watchmaker
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Military, pilot and travel watches
The wristwatch owes much of its adoption by men to warfare and aviation. Wristlets — small pocket watches soldered with lugs and worn on a strap — were used in colonial campaigns and became standard equipment in the First World War, with protective grilles over the crystal ('shrapnel guards'). Louis Cartier's Santos (1904), designed for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, is often cited as an early purpose-made pilot's watch.
In the Second World War governments specified watches in detail: the German B-Uhr observation watches, the American A-11, and the British 'W.W.W.' (the 'Dirty Dozen' set of 1945). After the war, jet travel brought GMT and world-time watches, which show two or more time zones at once — Louis Cottier's world-time mechanism and the Rolex GMT-Master (1955) are examples.
What to look for
- Military markings on the case back: broad arrow, issue numbers, 'W.W.W.', 'A.T.P.'
- High-legibility black dials with luminous Arabic numerals; oversized crowns for gloved hands.
- 24-hour hands and rotating 24-hour bezels or city rings on GMT/world-time watches.
- Wire lugs on early wristlets converted from pocket watches.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug wristlets: c. 1900–1925.
- Military specifications of the Second World War: 1939–1945.
- GMT and world-time wristwatches: mainly after 1950.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
Related records
Pocket Watches · c. 1940
Pocket Watch - Cyma, Switzerland, c. 1940
Museums Victoria, Melbourne
Wristwatches · c. 1960s
Cyma wristwatch, Navy Star, circa 1960s
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1950
Cyma wristwatch, ref. 9803-178, Oversize Pulsation Scale, circa 1950
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · c. 1950-1955
Cyma wristwatch, ref. 1261, Alarm;, circa 1950-1955
Antiquorum auction archive, Geneva
Wristwatches · 1900–1999
Wristwatch by Mercury, 1900–1999
Modemuseum Hasselt
Wristwatches · 1900–1999
Wristwatch by Nutrix, 1900–1999
Modemuseum Hasselt
Wristwatches · 1920
Wristwatch, 1920
Modemuseum Hasselt
Wristwatches · 1931
Rolex 'Oyster Perpetual' rotor self-winding wrist-watch, lever escapement, in steel case with glass in back, Montres Rolex SA, Geneva, Switzerland, 1931
Science Museum Group, London