Some show and describe from the flea today. I haven't seen one like it before. I doubt it is military but, its involved. Three pics total; the first is the front:

The watch is signed "Nation" on the dial, and again inside the caseback along with "SKS". I hear that means Seiko or, Seikosha. The reason I doubt it is military issue is that the watch has no markings on it whatsoever (except for "Nation" on the dial.

Here's one last pic of the markings on the case back. It's a peculiar arrangement and looks original and old. So far I've replaced the min. hand and replaced the shrunken plastic watch crystal with glass.The band is something I had on hand which fit. The numbers 12-24 are printed on the underside of the crystal of the outer case.
It seems older than WWII. Any thoughts?
-Cort

Hi,

it is a typical Seikosha watch used by the average Japanese soldiers during and prior WW2.
Nation was one of the many names that can be found on the dial for such a watch.
An original band , not really expenxive, which can be found on internet would make this watch looking perfect for a collector look.
You have been lucky to find this watch at a flea market, on the internet they sell quite high..congrats!
If you need to know more about the inscription you may visit the Military Japanese watch section at :
www.germanmilitarywatch.com

rgds

Enzo

Thank you for the link Enzo. I found a link ther to a recently ended ebay auction #110171041716. The pictures of a very similar watch, including the original band, are still up.
-Cort
p.s. By the way, the link Enzo posted worked better with spaces between the words so
www.german military watch.com.

Last year, I posted a presentation here and on the German watch site about these interesting outer-cases, including vintage photographs of these watches/watch-protectors in use:

JAPANESE WATCH PROTECTORS

The outer cases were not made by Seiko/Seikosha. These were available in various forms as an aftermarket item. Sometimes, these outer-cases are found with small Swiss watches inside.

Though rather small, these early Seikosha wristwatches were mens watches. Period images show them in use with and without the outer cases.

Best regards,
Greg

Very cool pics Greg. I passed them on to the new owner of the the watch I had. If you reread my first post it will be obvious I've learned something . Thank you for the the info!
-Cort