Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Lemania WWW, Dirty Dozen Military Issued Soldiers Watch, circa 1944
- Maker / attribution
- Lemania (maker)
- Date
- c. 1944
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Stock no.
- vws3879
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws3879)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Lemania WWW - Dirty Dozen Military Issued Soldiers Watch - Original Condition - c.1944 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws3879), this is a wristwatch by Lemania, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1944. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. 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 — Vintage Watch Specialist
A Well Preserved Lemania Dirty Dozen Watch in Superb Condition with Original Military Markings and Buttery Lume - Rare and Very Collectable, c.1944 Founded in 1884, Lemania earned a strong reputation for producing reliable chronographs and military watches. During the Second World War, the brand was among the select twelve manufacturers commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence to produce the now-famous “Dirty Dozen” WWW service watches, built to strict military specifications. Lemania also supplied chronographs to the Royal Navy and Air Force, with their movements powering many legendary tool watches. Today, these pieces remain highly prized by collectors. What's on Offer This Lemania Dirty Dozen WWW is a fantastic example of one of the original twelve British military watches. In remarkably good, crisp and original condition, the dial retains its rich black tone, sharp Arabic numerals, and crisp outer minute track. The recessed sub-dial at 6 o’clock is well defined, while the lume on the hands and hour plots has matured into a warm buttery yellow. The chrome-topped case is also in very good shape, with clear military engravings and the Broad Arrow still present. The dial is encapsulated underneath a shatterproof Plexiglas crystal which is also in great shape with some signs of age. Recently serviced and keeping great time, ready to wear and enjoy!
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.
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