Here´s one of mine you won´t see very often, a Hamilton 987A non hack watch, which was supplied to the Russian Government between 1942-1945 under the " lend lease " program.
Lend-Lease (Public Law 77-11)[1] was the name of the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, France and other Allied nations with vast amounts of war material between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of the European war in September 1939, but nine months before the U.S. entrance into the war in December 1941. It was called An Act to Further Promote the Defense of the United States. Although it did not formally establish the United States as a combatant in the war, this act ended the pretense of its neutrality. Hitler recognized this and in response ordered German submarines to attack US vessels such as the SS Robin Moor, an unarmed merchant steamship sunk on 21 May 1941 outside of the war zone.

Engraved on the back it has;
"Геройскому народу СССР Рошен Уор Релиф США" -literally translating to- "To the heroic people of the USSR Russian War Relief USA".

The watch has
17 Jewels
pressed chatons
sub seconds at 6
Arabic numerals radium lathed
case 31mm diameter (without crown)
screwed caseback

Hamilton WWII wartime production figures
Part No. Grade Jewels Manufactured
From - To Quantity Service
27014 987A 17 1942-1945 110,336 Army
27016 987A 17 1942-1945 3,000 Russian Gov't
39038 987S 17 1940-1945 2,000 RCAF
39054 987S 17 1940-1945 22,410 Navy
39054 987S 17 1940-1945 15,888 Marine Corps
39102 2987 18 1943-1945 12,000 Navy
39102 2987 18 1943-1945 2,926 Marine Corps
Total 168,560
987A 17 1942? BuAero US Navy
R88-W-800 987A 17 194? Navy

3000 of these watches were sent to Russia, but nothing is known whether spare parts were provided. One or two have surfaced with strange movements fitted, probably done during or shortly after the war, through lack of parts.






RAF Spitfires being prepared for the Russians, also under the lend lease prog.

Thanks Werner. I particulary like the photo of the RAF Spitfires.

Best regards, Ken

That's a real hard one to find. Thanks for the images.

...one never comes alone!
I found another that was sent east during the war.
The Waltam 6/0 ‘42
A-11 spec
16 jewel movements
center second complication and hacking function.
It was hard finding all of the needed parts for the Waltham, but call it stubbornness or call it obstinacy, I´d rather call it persistence. I got all the parts together and here it is!
I haven´t found any information as to how many Walthams were delivered to the Russians, maybe someone here knows more?









Best Regards

That set of 987A's would be a nice one for a Hamilton collector. How do you tell them apart? Is the part number marked somewhere?

Hi Ed,
I´m afraid I don´t quite comprehend, which set of 987A´s are you talking about? I only have 1 Hamilton and 1 Waltham with these engravings!

Regards

Werner,

I was referring to the list in your first post of this topic.

quote:

Hamilton WWII wartime production figures
Part No. Grade Jewels Manufactured
From - To Quantity Service
27014 987A 17 1942-1945 110,336 Army
27016 987A 17 1942-1945 3,000 Russian Gov't
39038 987S 17 1940-1945 2,000 RCAF
39054 987S 17 1940-1945 22,410 Navy
39054 987S 17 1940-1945 15,888 Marine Corps
39102 2987 18 1943-1945 12,000 Navy
39102 2987 18 1943-1945 2,926 Marine Corps
Total 168,560
987A 17 1942? BuAero US Navy
R88-W-800 987A 17 194? Navy

My thought was that a set consisting of one each of the Hamilton's would be nice for a Hamilton collector like myself.

quote:

My thought was that a set consisting of one each of the Hamilton's would be nice for a Hamilton collector like myself.

Ed, now that´s just being greedy