I have in my collection a 16 size open face pin set pocket watch. It is in a blackened steel case with a gold colour bow and stem. The face is unmarked. The movement is unmarked save for the serial number 2124358 and a number 19.75 under the escape wheel. Under the dial however it is marked Longines. The story that came with this watch was that there were a number of different companies who supplied watches to the services. Since those in charge did not want one soldier to think he got a better watch than another the supply companies were asked not to mark them in the usual way. Thus they all looked similar to a casual observer. Could this be correct or is it just wishfull thinking on the part of the previous owner? I would have expected any service watch to cary some sort of military marking on it somewhere but since I know very little about such things I thought I would ask and learn.
TIA
Steve

Is there a reason why you believe this is a military issue pocket watch? From your description it does not sound like one - though of course it is so hard to tell much about it without seeing some clear photos.

I have found in my personal experiences in stories that come with watches, that they are either partially or completely incorrect at least 9 times out of 10, and they need to be taken with a whole salt shaker worth of salt. The lack of any kind of military markings would normally indicate that the watch was not issued by a military since all countries' armies and navies were keenly aware that such things could and would quickly 'go missing' if there were no markings to prove it was government property. It would also make inventory control pretty difficult and watches were not considered to be expendable property.

It is always possible that the watch could have belonged to and been used by a soldier or sailor since many were not in positions that were eligible to be issued a timepiece and so they simply used personal civilian watches. Such personal watches are not considered military timepieces by many people, but they are an interesting sideline of collecting especially if they are engraved to a particular soldier or sailor or have military scenes embossed on their cases or painted on their dials.

It sounds like a watch made for the trade, so the seller could mark it with their company name. Not a military watch.

Longines watches purchased by Germany and other nations had the company name on them. The United Kingdom and the U.S. did not seem to care if the company name was on the dial.

Best regards,

Greg

The story came from the elderly gent I got the watch from. Just thought I better ask and see if there might be any truth to it. One never knows.
The face is blank with no name on it. The movement is the same with nothing save a serial no and caliber mark under balance wheel. The name Longines is marked under the dial.

The British Army procured watches of this style around the turn of the century but they marked the backs of the cases with a broadarrow. If yours does not have a broadarrow on the back of the case it may either be a British Army dial and movement that has been recased in a non-military replacement case at some point in the past 100+ years of its life, or it could simply be a civilian watch of the same type. To see a similar but slightly later circa 1910 'non pin set' model in a chrome plated case with broadarrow markings, see Wesolowski's book 'Military Timepieces 1880 - 1990' on page 22.

The back of the case does have some damage that is at odds to the condition of the rest of the case. I had put this down to water damage with the watch resting somewhere for a long time. I doubt this indicates that something has been removed but here is a picture anyway. Could this once have been a mark of some kind that has been taken off? All the inside surfaces of the case appear like new.

Anything is possible, but the broadarrow markings were normally heavily engraved to prevent someone from easily buffing it out and making off with the watch. Though I suppose that is what could have happened to this one given the case back is so unlike the rest of the watch.

The case looks like it was made for the English market.

For a Longines watch, the case No. should be the same as the movement No. If not, then it has been recased.

The watch pictured would not be out of place in the personal kit of a WWI English military man. But no W/|\D on the back = not from military stores.

Thanks for the pictures,

Greg

I did not know about the case number. I checked and it matches so whatever this is the movement is origional to the case.