HELVETIA “OMEGA” MILITARY ENGLISH G. S. T. P. BROAD ARROW WWII POCKET WATCH
Item History & Price
NO RESERVE AUCTION – EARLY “HELVETIA”, SWISS MADE, “GSTP” (GENERAL SERVICE / TRADE PATTERS) SIGNED MILITARY POCKET WATCH WITH THE BROAD ARROW IN A THE ORIGINAL NICKEL SILVER CASE IN GOOD CONDITION.
THIS WATCH IS MADE BY THE “GENERAL WATCH Co. SWITZERLAND” WHICH IS THE PARENT COMPANY AND FOUNDER OF “OMEGA”.
THIS WATCH IS RUNNING STRONG AND KEEPING GOOD TIME – THE BALANCE HAS QUICK MOTION, EXCELLENT POISE AND NICE STRONG BEAT. THE NICKEL SPLIT PLATE C...ALIBER 32A MOVEMENT IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.
THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL DIAL WITH THE 12, 3 & 9 OUTLINED AND THE REMAIN HOUR MARKES IN BLACK. THE DIAL IS IN VERY GOOD 100% ORIGINAL CONDITION AND HAS NOT BEEN REFINISHED OR TOUCHED UP. IT IS SIGNED “HELVETIA” LIKE THE MOVEMENT AND “SWISS MADE” IN SMALL LETTERS TOWARD THE BOTTOM. THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL MILITARY SPECIFIED “MERCEDES” HANDS WITH LUMINESCENTS.
THE CASE IS SHOWING WEAR ON THE CASE BACK AND HIGH POINTS BUT STILL HAVE THAT WONDERFUL MILITARY VINTAGE LOOK. THE WATCH IS RUNNING AND KEEPING GOOD TIME AND COMES WITH A 30 DAY WARRANTY! THE WATCH ALSO HAS THE ENGLISH INVENTORY NUMBER ON THE CASE BACK “P61587”.
THE WATCH IS POWERED BY A “GENERAL WATCH Co. HELVETIA SWITZERLAND” SIGNED SWISS MADE, 15-JEWEL NICKEL MOVEMENT WITH FINE REGULATOR FOR PRECISE TIME REGULATION. “GENERAL WATCH Co. IS A WORLD REKNOWN WATCH MAKER AND IS THE ORIGIN OF THE “OMEGA” WATCH COMPANY.
THE WATCH IS A 16-SIZE MEASURING 52mm IN DIAMETER OR ABOUT 2”. THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL GLASS CRYSTAL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. THIS WATCH IS STEM WIND AND STEM SET.
THE WATCH WINDS, SETS AND RUNS PERFECTLY. THE BOW AND CROWN SHOW LIGHT WEAR. JUST A WONDERFUL VERY COLLECTABLE PIECE OF MILITARY HISTORY - ALL ORIGINAL – NO RESERVE, GOOD LUCK! HERE IS SOME HISTORY OF THE “HELVETIA GENERAL WATCH Co.”:
History of The Helvetia Watch CompanyThe history of the Helvetia watch goes way back to 1848, when a certain Louis Brands established a sales office for manufacturing watches. By 1880 Louis and his brother César set up a watch manufacturing business, La Generale Watch Co (General Watch Company). Clearly names for their product were required and the two brothers picked a number of names for their watches including Patria, Jura, Celtic and Helvetia, with Helvetia, being the female personification of the Swiss nation, bearing testament to the Swiss origin of their watches. The watches produced by the Brands brothers were highly thought of and by incorporation of the new lever movements in 1885, they produced timepieces that were accurate to within an astounding 30 seconds per day. Four years later the General Watch company was producing more than 100, 000 watches per year and became the largest producer of watches in Switzerland. They formed collaborations with other manufacturers, most notably Audemars Piguet and produced highly desirable watches such as the minute repeating wrist-watch in 1892. This was way ahead of its time bearing in mind that wrist watches only gained popularity during the 1st World War.
By 1894 the General Watch Company had developed a new type of watch movement incorporating the revolutionary idea of having component parts that were interchangeable. This of course decreased manufacturing costs, made the manufacture of watches more efficient and also made watch repair easier. I simple name for this new product was required and it was the companies banker Henri Rieckel who came up with the simple and quite elegant name Omega. The Omega brand was a tremendous success and by 1903 it was decided that Omega would split from the General Watch Company as an independent enterprise, with the General Watch Company focusing its attentions on the manufacture of cylinder watches under trade names such as Helvetia. At the time GWC Ltd made high quality watches for both the domestic and the military market. Emerging from the early 1930s was a growing trend toward rearming. This drove developments in the watch industry with the German military for example ordering high quality watches from Swiss manufactures incorporating design features such as the then new (1934) Incabloc shock proofing. Other countries followed, although the UK for example tended to buy comparable watches but of a lower specification that lacked the Incabloc shock-proofing modification. Thus Helvetia watches, being one of the major brands of GWC Ltd, found their way into the armed forces of both the German and Western Allies. Helvetia military pocket watches are currently quite readily available, although there are some quite rare examples such as the mid 1930s Royal Navy Helvetia pocket watch shown in Figure 1. This particular silver nickel cased black dialed Helvetia pocket watch carries British broad arrow, the Royal Navy Pattern No 301 and the serial number 4014547 on its back and has a Swiss made Helvetia signed caliber 32A movement (Figure 2). Understandably such watches had a habit of disappearing a fact that is probably related to the high losses of shipping experienced by the British Royal Navy during the 2nd World War.
PLEASE CHECK MY OTHER AUCTIONS - PLEASE READ MY POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND YOU WILL SEE WHY BUYING FROM ME IS A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE, I DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO PLEASE THE BUYER.
I am offering this beauty NO RESERVE! I accept Paypal! Please set up your Paypal accounts before you bid as it takes several days. Buyer to pay $9.00 for insured shipping in the US and $35.00 overseas. GOOD LUCK!
After you have placed your winning bid, you can visit my other auctions by simply clicking the “SELLERS OTHER AUCTIONS” located next to my user name. If you like what you see, bookmark my listing and I’ll bring you more each week!
SUPER COLLECTABLE – RARE OPPORTUNITY!
THIS WATCH IS MADE BY THE “GENERAL WATCH Co. SWITZERLAND” WHICH IS THE PARENT COMPANY AND FOUNDER OF “OMEGA”.
THIS WATCH IS RUNNING STRONG AND KEEPING GOOD TIME – THE BALANCE HAS QUICK MOTION, EXCELLENT POISE AND NICE STRONG BEAT. THE NICKEL SPLIT PLATE C...ALIBER 32A MOVEMENT IS IN EXCELLENT CONDITION.
THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL DIAL WITH THE 12, 3 & 9 OUTLINED AND THE REMAIN HOUR MARKES IN BLACK. THE DIAL IS IN VERY GOOD 100% ORIGINAL CONDITION AND HAS NOT BEEN REFINISHED OR TOUCHED UP. IT IS SIGNED “HELVETIA” LIKE THE MOVEMENT AND “SWISS MADE” IN SMALL LETTERS TOWARD THE BOTTOM. THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL MILITARY SPECIFIED “MERCEDES” HANDS WITH LUMINESCENTS.
THE CASE IS SHOWING WEAR ON THE CASE BACK AND HIGH POINTS BUT STILL HAVE THAT WONDERFUL MILITARY VINTAGE LOOK. THE WATCH IS RUNNING AND KEEPING GOOD TIME AND COMES WITH A 30 DAY WARRANTY! THE WATCH ALSO HAS THE ENGLISH INVENTORY NUMBER ON THE CASE BACK “P61587”.
THE WATCH IS POWERED BY A “GENERAL WATCH Co. HELVETIA SWITZERLAND” SIGNED SWISS MADE, 15-JEWEL NICKEL MOVEMENT WITH FINE REGULATOR FOR PRECISE TIME REGULATION. “GENERAL WATCH Co. IS A WORLD REKNOWN WATCH MAKER AND IS THE ORIGIN OF THE “OMEGA” WATCH COMPANY.
THE WATCH IS A 16-SIZE MEASURING 52mm IN DIAMETER OR ABOUT 2”. THE WATCH HAS THE ORIGINAL GLASS CRYSTAL IN VERY GOOD CONDITION. THIS WATCH IS STEM WIND AND STEM SET.
THE WATCH WINDS, SETS AND RUNS PERFECTLY. THE BOW AND CROWN SHOW LIGHT WEAR. JUST A WONDERFUL VERY COLLECTABLE PIECE OF MILITARY HISTORY - ALL ORIGINAL – NO RESERVE, GOOD LUCK! HERE IS SOME HISTORY OF THE “HELVETIA GENERAL WATCH Co.”:
History of The Helvetia Watch CompanyThe history of the Helvetia watch goes way back to 1848, when a certain Louis Brands established a sales office for manufacturing watches. By 1880 Louis and his brother César set up a watch manufacturing business, La Generale Watch Co (General Watch Company). Clearly names for their product were required and the two brothers picked a number of names for their watches including Patria, Jura, Celtic and Helvetia, with Helvetia, being the female personification of the Swiss nation, bearing testament to the Swiss origin of their watches. The watches produced by the Brands brothers were highly thought of and by incorporation of the new lever movements in 1885, they produced timepieces that were accurate to within an astounding 30 seconds per day. Four years later the General Watch company was producing more than 100, 000 watches per year and became the largest producer of watches in Switzerland. They formed collaborations with other manufacturers, most notably Audemars Piguet and produced highly desirable watches such as the minute repeating wrist-watch in 1892. This was way ahead of its time bearing in mind that wrist watches only gained popularity during the 1st World War.
By 1894 the General Watch Company had developed a new type of watch movement incorporating the revolutionary idea of having component parts that were interchangeable. This of course decreased manufacturing costs, made the manufacture of watches more efficient and also made watch repair easier. I simple name for this new product was required and it was the companies banker Henri Rieckel who came up with the simple and quite elegant name Omega. The Omega brand was a tremendous success and by 1903 it was decided that Omega would split from the General Watch Company as an independent enterprise, with the General Watch Company focusing its attentions on the manufacture of cylinder watches under trade names such as Helvetia. At the time GWC Ltd made high quality watches for both the domestic and the military market. Emerging from the early 1930s was a growing trend toward rearming. This drove developments in the watch industry with the German military for example ordering high quality watches from Swiss manufactures incorporating design features such as the then new (1934) Incabloc shock proofing. Other countries followed, although the UK for example tended to buy comparable watches but of a lower specification that lacked the Incabloc shock-proofing modification. Thus Helvetia watches, being one of the major brands of GWC Ltd, found their way into the armed forces of both the German and Western Allies. Helvetia military pocket watches are currently quite readily available, although there are some quite rare examples such as the mid 1930s Royal Navy Helvetia pocket watch shown in Figure 1. This particular silver nickel cased black dialed Helvetia pocket watch carries British broad arrow, the Royal Navy Pattern No 301 and the serial number 4014547 on its back and has a Swiss made Helvetia signed caliber 32A movement (Figure 2). Understandably such watches had a habit of disappearing a fact that is probably related to the high losses of shipping experienced by the British Royal Navy during the 2nd World War.
PLEASE CHECK MY OTHER AUCTIONS - PLEASE READ MY POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND YOU WILL SEE WHY BUYING FROM ME IS A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE, I DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO PLEASE THE BUYER.
I am offering this beauty NO RESERVE! I accept Paypal! Please set up your Paypal accounts before you bid as it takes several days. Buyer to pay $9.00 for insured shipping in the US and $35.00 overseas. GOOD LUCK!
After you have placed your winning bid, you can visit my other auctions by simply clicking the “SELLERS OTHER AUCTIONS” located next to my user name. If you like what you see, bookmark my listing and I’ll bring you more each week!
SUPER COLLECTABLE – RARE OPPORTUNITY!
