Hello,I thought I would share a recent purchase with you,
Here is a small West End P/watch that was issued to Sgt A. E. Lancaster of the Royal Naval Air Service , WW1. the watch is fully marked with the vcorrect military markings on the back, I am hoping to purchase the WW1 medals that were given to this man.
I love the history of watches like tis.
Thanks Peter.

Hello Peter,
thanks for the picture. Would it be possible to post a picture of the back, where one can see the military markings?
Here is one of mine, West End Watch Co-Secundus.
first issued to the Indian army (SIS) and later reissued to the the Pakistani army (/I\ P)




The dial looking very much like the earlier West End Watch Co-Secundus trench watch

hi, here is a picture of the back,
peter

Peter, yours is also an Indian issued...(SIS /I\)
I wonder how Sgt A. E. Lancaster of the Royal Naval Air Service was issued with this watch in India?

I would be interested to in any other information you would care to share on Sgt. Lancaster. Searching records I have access to I found several A.E. Lancaster that received medals in WWI but without knowing which AE it was it is hard to say if I found the right one. For example I located the UK Naval Medal Award Rolls & an AE Lancaster received I believe what was called the 1914 Star.

Tom

Hello,
i first seen this watch, in a sealed frame with a group of medals and a photograph of Sgt AE lancaster with his brothers who were also in the forces. Out of c uriosty I asked the seller if I could just see the watch, never believing he would split it away from the medals, however he said he could see how keen I was and decided to sell me the watch, and we both opened the frame, I bought the watch for £35, since then the seller has been unable to sell the medals so I am trying to buy them at the right price, failing this he has promised to photocopy the picture for me.
Sgt lancaster in 1919 became a member of the RAF when all the air services became one, I do not know how long he served, whilst in the RNAS, he was a POM (Petty Officer Mechanic Ithink!0.
If I get any ither info I will let you Know.
The markings on the watch I never understand, but like you nI am surprised it is the Indian service, but as you know the services in the WW1 were inclined to issue anything, He could have been given the watch I am afraid this is something we will never know.
Thanks Peter.
Oh! I am about to post another picture of a purchase I made on Sunday with a great inscription.

Hi, Telephoned the owner of the medals, the details are,
F269 SGT A.E. Lancaster P.O.M. RNAS
200269 Sgt A.E. Lancaster, RAF
Peter.

If Sgt. Lancaster remained in the service post-WWI he might have been sent to India at some point. Or might have purchased the watch or won it in a card game?

Here are a couple of past posts regarding similar watches:

West End watches

I'm not sure I am buying that this watch was issued to a mechanic in the RNAS. Watches were not something that were widely issued, and when they were it was only to men who had a compelling job related need for them. That this is from India makes it all the more hard for me to believe that this was issued to this Sergeant in his RNAS capacity. I would think that Greg's thought of winning it in cardgame or something like trading war souvenirs with other soldiers that went on all the time is more likely.

Hallo friends,
here is a page of my book concerning West End / Longines watches of the Civil Service in British India.
Three Longines watches and a Zenith Sowar branded West End Watch Co.: The watches have the marking C.S. (I), from the Civil Service in India. Due to the factory ledger, the lower two watches ref. 22867 with cal. 10.68Z with a non magnetic compensation balance are manufactured in 1944 and send to India. West End had a subsidiary in Bombay.

. Gruesse/Regards/Salute Konrad Knirim
PS: Have a look at my books on Military Timepieces:
. http://www.knirim.de

I´ve just got a West End Sowar(meaning warrior in Hindi) Prima back from an overhaul, looks and runs very well now.



Here´s a bit of West End history;
1880’s
The roots of the brand
The company Alcide Droz & Sons established in St-Imier / Switzerland since 1864 develops the first attested waterproof watch called “L’Imperméable” – visible nowadays at the International Watch Museum of La Chaux-de-Fonds / Switzerland.

1886
The foundation of the brand
The first West End Watches are produced by Alcide Droz & Sons and distributed on the Indian market.

1914-1918
The 1st World War
West End Watch Co. produces its first wristwatches for the soldiers of the British Army. The brand becomes legendary in the Middle-East.

1917
Société des Montres West End SA (the Ltd. company) is registered in Geneva.
The sub-brand “Sowar” is officially registered in Switzerland.

1934
West End Watch Co. is the first brand to introduce in series the revolutionary Incabloc® anti-shock system invented by Mr Braunschweig.

1950’s-1970’s
The Oil Era
Millions of West End Watches are produced in Switzerland and distributed from the Red Sea to China.

1980’s-1990’s
The flood of cheap quartz watches produced in Far East and upheavals on the historical markets weigh heavy on the sales of West End Watches. The annual quantity produced reduces from over 1 million to around 100,000 watches.

2001
Société des Montres West End SA is taken over by new shareholders and the management is changed. The brand repositioning starts.

2005
West End Watch Co. celebrates 120 years of uninterrupted presence in Asia with the introduction of the “Silk Road” concept.

2009
West End Watch Co. launches an 18ct solid gold collection, the “Queen Anne”.



A cetain Monsieur Charpie created the company in the second half of the 19th century to import pocket watches to India. Initially there was no name on the face but after the creation of the International Bureau for the protection of Intellectual property he decided to add a Helvetia figure (as she appeared on Swiss coins); this proved a disaster as Muslims cannot accept reproductions of the human form so, in a panic, he ordered replacement dials bearing the word West End Watch Company (because he always stayed in, and appreciated, the West End on his visits to London.)

There were two sales centres - Bombay and Calcutta.

1886 - Company bought by Messrs Droz and Arnstutz.

1917 - Creation of a Swiss holding comapny

During WW1 British troops were deployed to the Persian Gulf via Bombay - they bought thousands of West End watches (the Queen Ann model) and the fame spread throughout the Far East: even Lawrence of Arabia bought one.

From 1925 to 1935, again due to the British Army, the name spread through China and the Middle East.

1934 the Sowar (warrior in Hindi) was fitted with a new invention - Incabloc - and became the most popular model.

1946 West End won an import licence from the Indian Government.

1955 57 - Exclusive distributors of Longines in India.

1975 - Indian market closed to foreign companies.

77 - 83 1.2 million watches per year sold - in 1977 1000 watches per day sold in Iran!


In 1973 the company had been bought by Aubry Freres - a Swiss Horological company. It was sold to a Chinese company in 1990 but bought back in 1993.

Today West End belongs to a Swiss movement company - Monnat & Charmillot -and they are trying to rebuild the brand, with a collection of well priced Swiss mechanical watches with the distinctive West End look.

It seems that although the brand has changed hands a couple of times ownership has been pretty seamless and generally by a Swiss family firm, apart from the 3 years in the possession of a Chinese calculator manufacturer.