IWC Cal 52T S.C. British Royal Navy Deck Watch

The word rare in horology is used all too often, but this time it is more than true. I recently bought this deck watch at an auction in London, thinking it may have gone unnoticed to most of the military collector world...far from it, what I also didn’t take into consideration was, not only was I bidding against military watch collectors, I was also bidding against the world’s IWC collectors. The last time I saw and bid on one of these deck watches, I thought I could buy it at a relatively civil price, wrong again, but this time I was determined to make the kill...

Here is the correctly cased IWC Cal 52T H6 S.C. of which the Admiralty/MoD had 200 in their possession. The Mahogany transport box has a card from the Chronometer Section of the Hydrographic Department, Ministry of Defence, Herstmonceux Castle and dated 18 Dec 1975. If the box and card was indigenous to the watch, it would mean that the watch was used well after the Second World War, although the caseback has H.S.3 markings and not the NATO code.










IWC manufactured 1200 of these calibres, of which 1000 went to Germany and were implanted in the notorious IWC FL 23883 B-Uhr, the rest (200) were used for the British Royal Navy’s Deckwatches.

Finding any information about these IWC deck watches has been a bit of a pain in the .... , lots of information to be found for the B-Uhr, but nothing on the deck watches, when Mr. Google. is used.

IWC produced the movements in 1940 and they were numbered from;
1,013,801 - 1,015,000

The couple I have noted have the following Movement Nos.
1,014,374
1,014,869
1,014,949

This would mean the movements weren’t numbered consecutively, so probably made and delivered in smaller batches. Maybe someone can add a few movement numbers to the ones posted above, to get an idea of the number sequencing.

Now taking it place amongst others from the Admiralty


Best Regards

Hello Werner!
Wonderful piece you have there! I don't think I have yet seen one on IHC. One question for you:
What would make some era British Deck watches being used by the H.S. have broad arrow marks on movement, dials and case backs while others do not? There is a variety on the level and number of markings on theses watches as I have owned several myself and none being the same. Given its military relation and involvement one would think the markings would be quite standardized and the same for all pieces. I also see a lovely Longines in that cabinet.

A great looking watch and a nice addition to your collection.

Many thanks for your high grade images.