Is there any books out there that have good info on the waltham A-17.At another forum they said that the first walthams A-17 had 16 jewel movements the early 1950's one's 1950-1951 but every one that I have seen were 17 jewel movements I don't think they would use left over A-11 16 jewel movements but I would like to find some good books with more info on this watch or if any one here know's more about this.I have two A-17 both with a 17 jewel movement.I think that's what they started out with but I could be wrong.

I ahve only seen written references to the A-17 having 17 jewel movements. If someone has one with a 16 jewel movement I would expect it to be a replacement movement - most likely one scrounged from an A-11 - that was installed by some watchmaker at some point in its life.

I have been researching these Type A-17s for almost a year now collecting data based on those that I've actually handled and those found on the web. I know of no written reference for these watches and if you have it, please post it. What I have found is that Waltham A-17s can be found with both 16 jewel (10616) and 17 jewel (10617) movements. Spread over three different contracts, the 16 jewel movements will be found more often in the first (1950) with some as well in the second (1952) and none at all in the third (1956). The Bulova Type A-17As can be found with both 15 jewel and 17 jewel movements and these will vary based on stock and contract numbers. I think there is a misconception that a Type A-17 should have 17 jewels. I don't know when that started or what exactly it is based on (more than likely the number 17) but it is very prevalant in most collecting circles. I would say to that argument; then why don't the Type A-11s have 11 jewel movements? Makes about as much sense if you ask me.

Best,

James

James good info about what I saw on another forum.If some one would do a book on US Military watches and do a real good one from the first watches used to now with lot's of info they would do good on it.There are a lot of collectors getting into military watches.I wish these company's left better record's.

Hi James. The only references to A-17s I have seen so far are very brief ones in Wesolowski and Whitney which give very little information. I have also seen many statements on different parts of the web, but of course one always takes such things with a grain of salt. I did a quick look to see if I could find an actual copy of the actual milspec for A-17s. I did find a references to such on the Assist site, but I do not have access to the details there. If you do, here is a link to the search page: ASSIST Milspecs If you type in W-6433 into the document ID you will see the main page for the A-17 watches which has little detail. Is your information based on personal observation of watches or do you also have a reference source?

Hi Jim,

Sorry to just now be getting back to you. I work overseas and travel quite a bit to places with little or no internet access. All of my info on the MIL-W-6433(A)(Type A-17/A-17A) and MIL-W-3818A (Type DTU-2/P) are based on data that I have collected and categorized personally. I have friends and colleagues that send me information as well. I am working on a book currently but every time I think that I am about to wrap it up, I stumble upon something new that I just have to add to the book and then that in itself becomes a big puzzle that needs to be put together in a way that makes sense using only the data collected. I have very few official records so a lot of the data that I have, I've had to collect mostly on my own.

I also want to give a good account of all that went with the watch from the original straps to the original packaging. So far, none of the books out there have even touched on this. I've managed to amass quite a collection of just this type of material and so it too takes time to add this to the book. Originally, I envisioned taking a year or two to write my book but I am now going on year 5! My book was originally going to chronicle the US issued wrist watches beginning just prior to WWII to the 1990s but has grown to include those watches in that time frame that were produced by US manufacturer's and sold/given to other countries, e.g. RCAF Waltham, RAF Waltham, etc. Then I decided to cover the late 1960-1970 Swiss made Hamiltons, e.g. RAF 6B and GS, RAAF, also RAN Hamilton chronographs, etc. Along with collecting US issued watches, I have a bad habit of collecting any Hamilton made military watch! Lately, I've been toying with the idea of including US issued watched from WWI to the pre-WWII era. No telling what kind of time that will add to my book?

In addition, my pocket watch collection has grown considerably since this all began but I have made a decision to not go down that path! I will throw in some pictures of the pocket watches from my collection along the way but it will not be an in-depth study that is for sure. I'll let someone else take on that challenge.


Best regards,

James D.

Can't wait until your book becomes available, James....I put my name in for a "Signed Copy"....

Regards,
Jerry