I bought this 3992b at the estate auction of Charles Adele and the watch was giving to him as a Retirement Gift. Was this watch ever in circalation as a military watch. and some jeweler polished off the original inscription????? Or was it never marked originaly

The dial

Movement

Eugene

Nice watch, I have always wanted a 3992B, you sure don't see them often. With this presented to him just after the war I wonder if it never made it over to the UK? I will be interested to hear what the experts say.

Is it a sterling case, looks like it from the photos as opposed to the base metal ones.

I think your Charles Adele was born March 3, 1881 in Illinois & died Feb 1968 in East St. Louis Il.

Tom

Yes the case is sterling. It is correct he was from E.Saint Louis or there abouts. After posting the photos I can see I need to clean the epoxy glue off the nos glass crystal that I installed. and take the movement out of the case. And reclean it.

It is odd and anything is possible. Two thoughts come to my mind - it is possible that the case and the movement/dial are a marriage. Or, it could be post-war surplus that was never issued and the case never marked.

According to my records, there were 2494 3992B's made for the English and Canadian governments. Your serial number is 2411 and most likely went to Canada. The Canadian watches also had silver cases and the movement was marked, U.S. Gov.
The dial on your watch is not Canadian, it appears to be English.
If you take the back off and you see where the Canadian stamp shows through, then you would know it is a Canadian watch. On the watch I have the Canadian stamp shows through to the inside of the back. Also you could mic the back to see if the back had been ground down then engraved for the presentation. Since the dial is not Canadian, it could be a marriage, but the serial number matches for the watch to be Canadian.
Sterling is .925/F, a Keystone case should be marked .800/F.
Hope this helps,
Hub

The Inside off the case back is marked Keystone,silver,.800, K016618. The Middle part of case is marked same serial#. There are no #'s on the bezel. I see no canadian Mark on the inside of the case back. But I have know idea what it looks like. There is also scratched by a jeweler
OP 10-4-56 LO
OP 22150B8LO
Plus one mark in a different spot B454M

I took some more photos

case back

Hello again,
It seems like the case back is the right thickness and hasn't been turned to remove any engraving or stamping. Apparently the back was plain.
In my opinion, I think the watch is origional and was made for the British government because of the British broad arrow dial.
This is a very desirable watch to own because it had a very nice dial, movement is a 3992B and it's in a 800/f silver case. Another plus is the presentation engraving on the back.
I have sent you a document to your email address that you might find interesting.

Again, hope this helps,
Hub

British WW II era military watches are well marked on the back, as are American watches of that time. Such watches would have had a minimum of the serial number (not the manufacturer's serial number, but the Army's serial number) and typically additional markings noting the particular Army standards it meets such as G.S.T.P. or 6A/xxx or whatever. Such markings on the outside of the case were essential to easy inventory control. If there is no evidence of such markings having been ground off then I would think that the back, at a minimum, is not likely to be original.

Eugene,
I´ve only just seen this post, pity, because I posted a separate thread of my 3992B. Compare yours with my issued deck watch.
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...0103944/m/8773994557

Werner,
I still have my 3992b it's tucked in the safe Deposit box. I'm still lost as if the watch is all original. I am sure of one thing, The watch will stay just the way I bought it.

Since your case does not appear to have been ground down and re-engraved, I think it is safe to say you have a marriage rather than an all original timepiece. The original cases were well and deeply marked as you see on Werner's beautiful example so I would conclude that the case or at least the case back is a replacement. On the other hand from what I can see your movement as a 3992B movement looks correct. The only question I am seeing at this point is whether the dial is original to your movement. From what Hub is saying and from what you discovered about your dial it sounds as if the dial may not be original to the movement, but I am not clear on this point.

If it was a marriage. Then it must of been done before April 1 1946.

As the jeweler or watchmaker that sold to the employes of Mr Adele would of had to do it.

Hamilton never threw any thing away.

It is possible it was unused stock. And was sold to jewelers stores with an unmarked case.

I do not believe it ever seen military service.

If it was engraved in the 50's then maybe. Tom did you every turn up any info a on Charles Adele.

Eugene,

This is the 24 hour dial that usually goes with the Canadian version of the 3992B.

Let me know if you are interested in obtaining one. I have been collecting 24 hour Hamilton dials for the past few years and have a few of these types available.

John III

It is an oddity and 'not right' in terms of being a military issued watch.

I can now see that the case is marked Silver .800 Fine which of course makes it 800 silver and not sterling which makes it 80% pure silver rather than the 92.5% pure silver that is sterling. That would make sense also in terms of this watch being something that the where employees of the company may have been trying to save on cost in many ways, though back then silver was not much more costly than steel.

It is being Auctioned in the Members only section of this site.

I don't collect military watches so this one and my Model 23 Hamilton are going to the highest bidder.

Jim,

All of the silver cases on 4992B and 3992B watches are 0.800 fine silver cases. I have found both marked and unmarked cases. I agree that this one is not a military issue. Since it has a 12 hour movement, this one would have more usefulness post-war than the 24 hr 4992B. I imagine it was purchased as an unmarked watch from a jeweler and engraved with the dedication.

Eugene,

I will be bidding.

John III

Thanks, John. I did not know that.

JOHN ,I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN ONE OF THE 3992B DIALS.I HAVE A CONVERTED 4992B THAT HAS A DIRTY,CARDBOARD LOOKING DIAL THAT NEEDS TO GO!