Internet Horology Club 185
Some help on military case markings.

This topic can be found at:
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/990103944/m/662108882

May 21, 2010, 07:30
Michael Payant
Some help on military case markings.
Has anyone seen the military markings below. It has the Broad Arrow then:
/|\
I.T.D.
No. 500

I have included a photo. I have searched through my sources and can not find anything on this.


May 21, 2010, 10:46
Jim Hester
I don't know. Could you please post of photo of the dial, and possibly also the movement? The broad arrow symbol says it is definitely British, though this includes not only the UK but also all of the empire country forces as well. If it were just the letter 'I' it would likely be for the India army use. ITD could mean many things. Hopefully someone will know. The No. 500 just means that it is serial number 500. There is no way to tell how many were made and issued other than it was at least that many but it could have been a great many more.
May 21, 2010, 12:43
Michael Payant
Dial


May 21, 2010, 12:44
Michael Payant
Movement


June 01, 2010, 11:57
Greg Crockett
Interesting markings. Being a pin-set, the watch would appear to be of pre-WWI vintage. I don't see the combination of letters in THE BROAD ARROW by Skennerton. The "I" could stand for Irish, Infantry, India, etc. To make things even more interesting, military schools and training centers also had markings, some of which are not well known.
June 01, 2010, 16:24
Jim Hester
The possibilities are endless:

the I might be a 1 and it could be the 1st Tank Division or the 1st Training Division, or it could be the letter I and be the India Telegraph Division, or the Infantry Training Department, or so many other things. I have never seen a listing of all of the markings on the back of British Army watches - it seems to be a very large variety though. If anyone ever comes across a Rosetta Stone for these markings I would love to see it posted here.
June 03, 2010, 06:14
Michael Payant
Thank you very much for the assistance. I saw this item in a listing that sold a little while ago. The watch came in a wooden stand up box with a viewing portal to the watch face. It also had the marking "No. 500" branded on the rear of the box. Thank you so very much for your input. I am always curious to learn new markings. Thanks again.
June 03, 2010, 11:36
Jim Hester
Since you mention it was in a wooden box with the dial visible, it may have been a message center timepiece of some kind. Many armies used timepieces mounted in wooden boxes or frames of various designs in message centers so incoming and outgoing telegraph and telephone messages could have exact times noted. If that is the case the T might stand for telegraph or telephone?
June 04, 2010, 19:17
Michael Payant
That would make it a very interesting timepiece to own. To bad it was not me! Thanks again for your further input. Mike