Hi All,
just received this one today finally, Looks authentic to me, but what do I know being a little green. Run it by the experts and get your opinions,
Thanks,
Bill

Hi all again,
I've been trying to upload more oics but for some reason I am not able to get them downsized to be able to put them on. I'm going to stop for awhile as I am getting really quite frustrated with this, and will try later.
Thansk for your patience, which I might add is not one of my long suits.
Bill

Hopefully this is clear enough to be able to tell,
Thanks again,
Bill

Looks kosher to me Bill!

These ebauches were supplied to Rolex by Cortebert - the curved index lever is the give-away, it's common to the Rolex & Cortebert calibres only as far as I'm aware.

See my post here for pic's of a similar Cortebert military watch

https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m...441030342#5441030342

You watch isn't finished to as high a quality as a similar Rolex I have here and similar military calibres - all of which appear to have the train jewels set into gold chatons - same as the Cort'

Maybe yours is an early incarnation of the link between the watch houses.

If you can post a larger image of the case back, maybe someone will be able to comment on the military provenance.
All the Mil' Rolex's I've seen have had black luminous dials with Cathedral style hands.

Nice find though, well done and thanks for showing us the watch!

Best regards

John

Hi John,
Thanks for the info. I think this watch is from the 30's, as I have seen some, with the same type of movement and similar case markings on a few UK and american websites. I'll try to get a closer pic of the rear of the case with the markings on it.
Thanks,
Bill

Also this is the inside of the case,
Bill

Good afternoon everyone,
Just wanted to say thanks to John for the info on this Rolex watch, and a big thanks to Lin, for all the help in downsizing the pics so as I could put them on here. The free software that he had recommended was great, that being Picasa.
So again thanks for all the help given on this forum,
Bill

Hi Bill.

That is a nice looking watch and seems to be in great condition.

It is not a deck watch, though. It is a British Army backup watch (the B on the back stands for backup). It would have been inserted into a holder on the dashboard of an Army vehicle or some kind of equipment where a backup watch was needed in addition to the primary timepiece that would have been used. Because it was only meant for backup use it is not as high quality as some other military watches like deck watches and chronometers.

Also, since it is meant to be mounted on a panel rather than carried it should not have the ring on the stem. Likely someone had a watchmaker add the ring at some point after it had been surplused after the war (or nicked during the war) so the it could be used on a chain as a pocket watch. You might be able to find an undamaged winding stem somewhere to put it back to its original configuration if you would like to have that way, but it may be more difficult that it sounds to find such parts for it.

They started making these in 1939 so if it is a very early one it could be as old as 1939 but my guess is it is more likely early 1940s given the high serial number.