Hello, I am new to this board. I just acquired a Breitling Wakmann all mechanical aircraft clock produced by the Wakmann Watch Co., NY NY. Mfr'serial no. 667 and the Mfr's part no.640-12-10. This info is on the back side. Also on the back it gives the following info.; Clock, aircraft/ 8day, elapsed time, 12 hour dial. It is approx. 3.5" in dia., has a windup knob at the 8 o'clock position, a "seconds" timer/repeater button at 4 o'clock position. Also a switch at the 6 o'clock position with "stop" on the right side and "go" on the left, and a "0"(zero) just below this switch. My questions are:
1) What is the switch at the bottom for? I cannot seem to get it to do anything
2) Does this clock have any jewels in it?

Any info, including history would be great. It is not hermatically sealed. Thank you for your help. Sincerely, John #0159010

John,
Your clock has a 16 jewel movement. The small lever at the 6 o'clock position starts, stops, resets & returns to zero the elapsed time register hands.
Regards
Fred

Fred, thank you for the info. can you recommend any publications (books, articles, etc.,.) that can give me historical background on this clock and other military clocks. also might you know where I could get schematics or diagrams of this clock. I would love to take it apart but I'm afraid I may damage it. Thanks again, John

Hello John,

Wakmann aircraft clocks are excellent and high quality items. However, I think they are not as old as 1940, more like the 1960's. Those I have seen have been marked for issue by the U.S. Air Force and some for civil aviation use.

As far as books, I highly recommend MILITARY TIMEPIECES by Marvin Whitney, AWI Press. In this book there are pictures, parts lists and factory schematic drawings of the various Wakmann products issued by the Air Force. This book is also excellent for other military timepieces - watches clocks, timers, etc. mostly U.S., with some mention of items used by other nations.

Best regards,
Greg

One more thing, In the 1966-67 Wakmann price list the Model 640-12-10 was $400.00 new. Alot of money for a clock in 1967 dollars!

John,
As Greg recommended the Military Timepieces book by Marvin Whitney. There is a break down of your clock in this book as well as a wealth of information on other Military Clocks & Watches. ( see the listing in items for sale) Unfortunetly my father has sold all of the books he had and the book is no longer produced. I have still seen this book at some of the meetings. There was one at the Florida regional in February on one of the book vendors tables.
Fred

To Greg and Fred: thank you both for your help! If either of you know where I can get a copy of Marvin Whitney's book please let me know. I have learned so much from the message boards and to all of you who take the time to help us newbies. Thanks again. Sincerely, John #0159010

Whitney book is 667 pages with hard covers and despite its limitations it is the best reference at this time for U.S. military timepieces. The problem is that it has been out of print for many years now and from what I have seen recently it is no longer available from the usual sellers of horological books. When it was widely available it sold for $75 which was its full retail price and no one offered any discounts. Recently I noticed Windy City asking $150 and I just did a quick Amazon.com search and all that turned up there was two used book dealers who are asking a staggering $525 and $551 respectively for copies they are offering. If you do some searching hopefully you will be able to find one somewhere for the original $75 price, or at least close to that - maybe someone on this forum or maybe over at the mwrforum.net forum there might be someone willing to part with one, or then again maybe Ebay might be a possibility though I that is always a hit or miss thing given the relative rarity of the book.

John,
Your best bet is to try and find one at one of the regional or national meetings. There is a slight chance that AWI Press will make another run of 1000 copies. The last time my father talked to AWI about the books( in January) they told him they were in negotiations with the late Marvin Whitneys family to produce additional copies, but there was some kind of problem concerning royalties. Another excellent reference book by Marvin is called Military Chronometers, but it has been out of production for many years and I have never seen a copy for sale.
Regards
Fred

John,
If you look in the items for sale section, back in February this year, there are several pictures of whats included in the book. In fact I think one of the pictures shows you clock.
Fred

John,

This book seller list the book as available at 75 dls: http://www.idsabooks.com/cgi-bin/idb455/100957.html
Here is another but at 150 dls: http://chronometer.net/nav.htm

Good luck with your order!

Good Find Carlos,
I posted the address in the original "for sale" section, in case John doesn't want it and someone else is still looking for a copy.
Regards
Fred

Carlos,thank you for the websites. I went to the IDSA site and ordered the book "Military Timepieces" and received a confirmation of purchase so I guess there are still some copies available. I would very much like to get Whitney's book on chronometers but they did not have it. Again thanks to all of you for your help! Sincerely, John

Just one other thing. Is Tony Mercer's book, "The Chronometer Makers of the World" worth purchasing? Sincerely, John

Dear John,

Tony Mercer's book is excellent and reasonably priced for chronometer books.

Andy Dervan