Yes sorry it is my possesion, what I meant was do you have any sort of history to these time pieces. The second hand is red & so is the minute hand, the outside numbers which refer to how many seconds are also red, is this a rare version of this clock ?? I can send you pictures of it & do you think it may be worth anything ?? Many thanks for your reply look forward to the next one. Thanks Pauline

Hello Pauline, welcome to the forum. It would be nice to see the dial of your clock.

There were some attractive dial variations of the CDIA clock, the one you have is alittle nicer than the usual white on black. I'm not sure what the color variations signify.

It is possible that your clock was used in a wide range of military aircraft. It had wide distribution during WWII and in the post-war years, as original equipment and as a replacement for other types of clocks as they needed replacement.

For the current price range of these clocks, I would suggest checking eBay past auctions.

Best regards,

Greg

Yes, please post a photo.

As Scott mentioned, these were installed on a very wide range of different types of U.S. Navy aircraft during WW II and for many years afterwards. They are one of the most common types of WW II era aircraft instrument panel clocks, along with the Type A-11 clocks. They are found with different colors on their dials - mostly either all light yellow or a mix of light yellow and green. Red hands are not uncommon. The Navy had trained repairmen at repair centers for many years. Whenever one of these was broken or required regular servicing, the aircraft mechanic would remove it and send it off to the repair station while at the same time requisitioning a reconditioned one from general stock to install in its place. After the repair station guys fixed the removed clock, they would put it in general stock so that it could be requisitioned by some mechanic in the future to install in another aircraft. Part of this servicing could include repainting the hands or installing a new dial or replaceing the case or whatever. I've not seen any premium values for different color dial or hand markings in the sales on Ebay though I suppose some seller could occassionally try to make a different color a selling point. These same sellers also say things like their clock is "overwound" or "it's not running but anyone who is handy can just fix these things with little trouble" or similar silly lines. These CDIA clocks are always coming up for auction there and on any given day you can likely find between five to twenty of them in varying condition. You won't be able to retire on the proceeds of selling one, but you could take someone out for a nice dinner on what you would get. By the way if you are looking to sell it, the cost of having it cleaned, oiled and adjusted is typically more than you would get for it in the auction so that would not likely be worth your while unless you are a trained and skilled watchmaker who can do your own work on complicated movements. You would normally be better off profit-wise selling it "as is".

I talked to old WWII pilot at an airshow in Torrance.

I had some clocks with me CDIA, 37500, 3920 to show the vets.

I asked about the red minute and red second hand on the CDIA.

He told me why. He said they would have to fly recon filming in strips. He said he had to hold a straight course for 3 or 5 minutes without diviating. Or you would have to go back and fly it again. He told me that they had the minute hand and second hand painted red. He said when you were being shot at while filming you did not want to fly one second over or under. He said seconds were eternities.