Thanks for showing that, Jimmy. A great piece of no nonsense functional hardware.
A very nice piece I picked up recently and I thought you might be interested in it. A Lange & Söhne Glashütte, "beobachtungsuhr" Cal 48.
Ordered by the German Navy in 1937, their requirements couldn´t be met though, untill autumn 1940, which was the start of production.
As Lange was not able to supply the ordered amount of watches in time, they were forced to outsource the finishing to their watches to these four Watchmakers/Companies;
• Andreas Huber, München-Berlin
• Alpina-Dugena, Berlin;
• Conrad Felsing, Berlin;
• Wempe, Hamburg.
I have seen all of these watches except the one from Felsing. Now I´m the proud owner of one of them!
The company that had assembled and finished these watches were endorsed on the front of the dustcover. Mine clearly marked Conrad Felsing, Berlin.
There has been so much written on these watches, that I will spare you my version and give you a link with a translator, where all can be read: Link
Here the engravings;
on the dustcover there is a light engravement in a rectangle.
Top line says Werk.(movement) A.Lange & Söhne
2. line, Nr 204346
Then there is a dividing line and underneath it says;
Fertiggestellt ( Completed, finished)
Conrad Felsing
Berlin
On the Caseback there is the swastica and eagle, in the middle is the Watch Nr. 204346, on the bottom is a Marine Nr. M 17??7.
The caseback has been heavily polished to remove the military markings, but under a certain angle most can still be read.
It is a great pity that it underwent this treatment and I don´t even think it was removed by requirement, but simply to use an otherwise perfectly good, militarily marked watch, which no one was proud of in the early post-war years.
Enjoy the pictures,
Regards
Jimmy
Dial
Dustcover
Movement
Caseback
Inside caseback
Thanks for showing that, Jimmy. A great piece of no nonsense functional hardware.
Very interesting post and excellent photos, exactly the sort of thing I joined this forum to see - thanks very much for sharing.
Cheers
Ian
Wow thanks for sharing these aren't usually my cup of tea but the quality is exceptional.
I always worry when looking at older watches as to what work has been carried out. This though looks pure quality.
Note to self: visit BMW more often, there're some stunning watches there.
Note to self: stay away from BMW, I can't afford to get interested in the watches on show there.
Jimmy, that is the dog's doodahs.
Very nice and some fantastic pictures.
Really nice piece. You can easily see the resemblance with the contemporary collection :-)
Question: How many exist from the different producers?
Hi HansJorgen,
5975 watches with Cal. 48 were completed and delivered, from the 25th Oct. 1940 till 8th May 1945 , including the 246 observation chronometers and five torpedo-boat observation chronometers. The last to be completed was by Huber, Munich. Watch had the Nr. 205820... Most of them nowerdays, are to be found on the bottom of the Atlantic!
Regards
That's a lovely looking watch, and some nice pictures too. Thanks.
Best wishes,
Bob
Today I recieved my Certificate of authenticity and a copy of the original dispatch papers from the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum Glashütte.
My watch was one of 200 orderd by the Deutsche Seewarte Kriegsmarine (German Hydrographic Office) in Gesundbrunnen.
Ordered 11.Feb.!943 and delivered 17.Feb.1944.
It´s nice to have these papers, as it gives the watch a ...lets say a birth certificate :wink:
Regards
Jimmy
Very nice pictures, and a piece of history. Great that you got the certs!
Very nice watch and great to have all that history.
Looking at ze :wink: original shipment list,
one watch did cost 147 Reichsmark (RM) and only the smallest batch of 20 went to Berlin for assembly.
So probably that explains why you have not seen one before?
190 were billed, 10 were send foc for replacement of a previous order of B chronometer
Very nice to have these documents, does Lange & Söhne charge a lot for this service?
Amazing quality. Congratulations.
No moe than IWC does, I paid 77€ for all the documents and folder. So I don´t consider it too bad! I believe Omega also takes a charge nowerdays, it used to be cost free a few years ago.
Regards
That is an absolute historical beauty. Thanks for sharing.
That is such a beauty - a great looking dial.
Is anyone making a watch that looks like this, apart from Dornblueth and IWC?
Amazing piece! If they sized that dial down and put it in a wrist watch i'd buy it (assuming it wasn't £100k).
Here you go Jimmy....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140638090391? ... 1423.l2649
... and no mention in the listing of 'Deck Watch, Kreigsmarine etc :roll:
To put it mildly, a wreck. No back lid/cover, watch not working, rust inside the movement, inside dustcover green, where water was obviously standing, dial also looks drowned...Send that to Lange & Söhne, see how much it sets you back! :mrgreen:
It´s earlier than mine, with the movement No 202956, 204346 is my movement No. It´s a crying shame to see it in that state!
Here´s another one; http://www.ebay.de/itm/A-LANGE-SOHNE...item2569740db0
Very nice Jimmy, congrats
SImply Outstanding!
Now I want one too...