
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Mulco D.H. Military Watch "Cal. AS 1130", 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Mulco (maker)
- Date
- 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Stock no.
- MLC1130
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Craft & Tailored (MLC1130)
- Catalogue title (original)
- 1940s Mulco D.H. Military Watch "Cal. AS 1130" (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Craft & Tailored (dealer), Los Angeles (stock number MLC1130), this is a wristwatch by Mulco, dated 1940s. 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 — Craft & Tailored
The art of collecting military-issued timepieces has never been more interesting or captivating than in today’s day and age. These alluring timepieces have been sought after for as long as collectors have been rummaging through estate sales and flipping through catalogs, however, due to the availability of archived information we now possess, the community has never been more interconnected or informed. This beautiful Mulco was a piece designed for the Deutsches Heer, the German Army, during WWII. A compact and robust design ensured its safe passage through the decades where now, 80 years later, it still feels and appears as solid as the day it left the factory. Stock # MLC1130 Brand Mulco Style Military Model N/A Serial N/A Size Men's Material Stainless Steel Dial Glossy Black Millimeters 34 Bracelet NATO Strap CASE & BRACELET The stainless steel case features a matte, brushed finish and is in excellent, recently polished condition. The case features its original unsigned crown. The screw-down case back has all markings still deep and crisp. The fixed spring bars are exceptionally well-preserved. The watch comes supplied on an era-correct nylon single-pass strap. DIAL & HANDS The non-luminous dial is a deep glossy black with gilt printing and text, featuring a sub-dial seconds hand at 6 o'clock, creating a much more full look on what would otherwise be a quite simple design. The dial itself is remarkable, showing no dmaamge and only gentle age. The original and classic military-style hands have been profeesionally restored and feature a cream colored filling to match the dial's gilt printing. ACCESSORIES None. The watch is keeping time, previous service history is unknown.
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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