RUN SILENT RUN DEEP....with a Waltham pocket watch!

England was a good market for Waltham watches. Old key wind Waltham’s in English made silver cases are not uncommon. In WWII, the British Govt. purchased a large number of Waltham watches for military use. At the end of the war, a lot of watches of various brands were sold off as surplus, others were held in storage for future use. Here we have two 9 jewel 16 size Waltham watches. One with original luminous porcaline dial , the other a post-war non-luminous painted re-dial, rebuilt for use on a Royal Navy nuclear powered sub.

As I have been informed, radium dials were not welcome onboard nuclear powered subs because inspection devises would be set-off. However, the large dial of a pocket watch was welcome for viewing in low light levels. Accordingly, pocket watches of various brands were taken from storage and given new non-luminous dials for issue in the nuclear submarine service. I’m not sure which members of the crew were issued these watches. Clearly, they are not up to specifications for navigation, but would be of use for other timekeeping functions.

dial close up, the radium dial is on the right.

Case backs: The "NON-LUM" and NATO number code were clearly added post-war. The broad arrow markings are the same on both watches.

A close up of the Waltham movt. found in the non-lum Waltham. By number, it was made in 1943, the watch with original luminous dial was made in 1942.

I should note that the “A. Ames Ltd, Norwich,” found on the back of the luminous Waltham case is most likely the name of the retailer who sold the watch as surplus after WWII.