Helvetia German Army DH Watch

Hello all, just thought I would post some pics of my latest acquisition. A late war Helvetia DH watch.

The DH number is at the end of the range manufactured by Helvetia. By this time they seem to have been using their standard civilian cases, movements and dials as they are marked with Swiss Made on the dial and movement and have General Watch Co Switzerland and a standard Helvetia serial number inside the case back. All these details are lacking from the earlier DH watches which have a DH and case number '3190' but pretty much nothing else, the movement often only has 'Helvetia' on the barrel.

It also has spring bars instead of fixed lugs, 82A-28 movement instead of the more normal 82A-24 and the case and DH number have moved to the middle of the case back as by this time Helvetia had started to add the 'Waterproof, Shock Protected, Swiss Made' etc. to the outside edge of their civilian watches. The Helvetia serial number is handy as it helps to date the watches, which is normally difficult for DH watches, to 1944.

This watch is exactly the same as the one in Ulrich Vol 3. These type of watches are often see with US Army Ord markings as well as DH (there is one like this in Knirim's book) or in NOS condition where they were never issued. There is one with US Ord makings on Ebay at the moment.

Pics below, it's on the right compared with my earlier version from about 1943 on the left. Superficially the same but slightly different case, hands, dial, sub dial size and movement version.

Thanks for looking. Carl.

https://i.imgur.com/tuYE6ON.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/PGXm1p4.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/f9ORivF.jpg

Very nice Carl, rare and looks in great condition. Much better than the Type 2 on it’s way to me :).

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Originally Posted by alfat33

Very nice Carl, rare and looks in great condition. Much better than the Type 2 on it’s way to me :).

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Thanks Simon. Yours should be similar to mine on the left then, would be interested to see it when it arrives. Don't forget to check the number inside the case back with that on the back of the lugs. They don't always match as sometimes case backs are swapped about and can be difficult to read on the lugs.

https://i.imgur.com/rQ6RJ7r.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by enfield

Don't forget to check the number inside the case back with that on the back of the lugs.

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That much I did do before I bought it, having referenced helvetiahistory.com first. The last three digits of the number inside the caseback are on the underside of 1 lug.

Let’s say it was a bit of a late evening purchase, but I expect it will turn out OK when it arrives

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alfat33

That much I did do before I bought it, having referenced helvetiahistory.co.uk first. The last three digits of the number inside the caseback are on the underside of 1 lug.

Let’s say it was a bit of a late evening purchase, but I expect it will turn out OK when it arrives

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Corrected your typo for you :smug:

That's good news. First one or two digits are probably on the opposite lug like mine above but they can be difficult to see. Let us know when you have it.