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Record WWW Dirty Dozen, NATO Numbered Dial, WW2 Military Issued, With Matching Caseback and Lug Numbers, circa 1944 — view 1 of 6
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Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Record WWW Dirty Dozen, NATO Numbered Dial, WW2 Military Issued, With Matching Caseback and Lug Numbers, circa 1944

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Record (maker)
Date
c. 1944
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Wristwatch
Stock no.
vws3765
Credit line
Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws3765)
Catalogue title (original)
Record WWW Dirty Dozen - NATO Numbered Dial - WW2 Military Issued - c.1944 - With Matching Caseback and Lug Numbers (English)

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Record summary

Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws3765), this is a wristwatch by Record, 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 Superb Record Dirty Dozen Military Issued Watch with a NATO Dial with Attractive Lume, Very Collectable, With Matching Lug and Case back Numbers! c.1944 The Record Dirty Dozen watches hold a unique and revered place in horological history. Produced during World War II, these timepieces were commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence as part of a rigorous specification to equip military personnel with reliable, durable, and highly legible wristwatches. The “Dirty Dozen” refers to the twelve Swiss manufacturers—Record Watch Company among them—tasked with delivering watches that met strict standards of accuracy, robustness, and functionality under the harshest conditions. Today, Record Dirty Dozen watches are prized by collectors for their historical significance, craftsmanship, and the pivotal role they played in wartime timekeeping. What's on offer We are delighted to present this Record Dirty Dozen, originally commissioned for the British military during World War II. While it began life with the classic Dirty Dozen Radium dial, this example now carries a NATO replacement dial — a service update carried out by the Ministry of Defence to keep the watch in active use. The result is a piece that blends originality with service history, offering collectors a rare variation that underlines its authenticity as a true military tool - perfect for collectors with concerns about radium. The dial is crisp and clean, with Arabic numerals, luminous hands, and a sub-seconds dial at 6, complemented by aged lume that adds vintage character. The case remains in strong condition and bears original military engravings, which also confirms through matching case and lug numbers that the watch has been carefully serviced, and marking it firmly as an issued timepiece. This example is sure to pique the interest of any serious military collector. Recently serviced by our watchmaker and ready to wear.

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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