...I know that one should get a review before buying the 'book' but I just purchased (but haven't received it yet) Z. Wesolowski's 'A Concise Guide To Military Timepieces' for the library and wondered what the 'considered opinion' was as to how well (or not) it covered the subject?...thanks...

Congratulations. You ordered the best general overview available. The chapter on military markings is invaluable to the beginning and advanced collector alike.

Best regards,

Greg

I agree that it is an excellent book and well worth the modest cost. It would make a great first book for a person interested in military timepieces. Keep in mind though that as the title says it is a concise guide rather than a comprehensive listing or catalog. It does not attempt to list or illustrate all military timepieces. Within this limitation, it is a pretty good starting point for wrist watches and pocket watches though it is quite limited on aircraft, ship and message center clocks. He also includes estimated values which I think is great, but you should take them with a grain of salt as they are a bit less than what you would expect to pay today.

The other one that is good first or second book to have (though it is more costly) is Marvin Whitney's "Military Timepieces". While the cost is more than double the price of a Wesolowski, you get triple the pages and information. The strength of the Whitney in my opinion is in the U.S. military timepieces while conversely its weakness is it is very limited on non-U.S. military timepieces. I also get frustrated with Whitney's lack of dates or timeframes for most of the timepieces. Still, it is also worth the investment if you are interested in military timepieces.

There is one other that I do not have yet, but is on my list to buy soon is Konrad Knirim's Military Timepieces. I've not bought it yet because of the relatively high price and because I understand that it is pretty much exclusively German military timepieces which I have not started collecting yet. On the other hand, I understand from others that it very well written, researched and illustrated and so I know that it is just a matter of time before I break down and buy one for myself.

So far I have not found anyone who has attempted to create a comprehensive catalog of all military timepieces - kind of along the lines of what they do for coins or stamps. I am sure that would be a huge undertaking, but it would also stimulate a great deal more interest in these things, especially if current approximate values were included.

...thanks to both you gentlemen!...have noted w/interest the other volumes on military 'pieces and as my interest grows, as I'm inclined to think it will, in collecting military timepieces I'll likely get them as well...thanks again...