Following on from the crazy SC thread where the dad said his son a week or two back... got me thinking... I own a watch which I have no idea how to value accurately. I never saw the photos in that thread but assuming it was a single push LEMANIA military issue type of watch, which is exactly what I own.
Can anyone on here help? You don't often see them come up for sale. I once showed a registered NAG valuer but she mainly does jewellery and just shrugged her shoulders at my watch, insinuating that it is a worthless old piece of junk.
Would appreciate any advice. I saw on that thread someone posting with LEMANIA as their avatar / username hope you can help.
Thanks in advance.
As with most vintage watches, condition and originality is key, there will be quite a spread of values depending on those things, you will have to post a few pictures to give the specialists more info to go on. Very nice watches though and quite sought after.
Cheers..
Jase
Thanks Jason. I love mine to bits and don't wish to sell.Originally Posted by JasonM
Just to point out, I wasn't looking for a free valuation on here as I don't know the rules and wouldn't wish to abuse the forum but happy to post some pictures up if I can find somewhere to host them now that Photobucket is no longer an option.
Lets see if this works....
Whatever it is, it's a lovely thing.
Very nice, Any caseback markings?
Cheers..
Jase
I would suggest mwrforum.net which specialises in military watches and regularly fields questions of this type. Some members there are also members here, so may comment on this thread. You are also likely to get a very precise appraisal of it's condition (eg any service replacements etc. ).
Check the completed listings for Lemania HS9's on ebay then see if your watch appears better or worse than those that have sold and adjust the value up or down accordingly.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...p2045573.m1684
Looks very nice, although it's hard to judge on my phone (as the pictures are quite small). Bear in mind that the one on SC was the asymmetric case Lemania, so a different watch. MWR is the place to be, as has been mentioned.
EDIT: forget that, it IS the same type of watch that was on SC recently.
Last edited by JackW; 26th October 2017 at 20:09.
This is exactly the same type of watch as was on SC recently, a series 1 HS9 with original radium unsigned dial, so had a short service life with no tritium dial replacement, and likely as not, no strikethrough on the HS9 numerals, and no second number.
Yours would seem to be all orignal apart from
I cannot see the caseback - so cannot comment on it. I hope it is as I describe above.
The hands have been re-lumed. This is not really an issue, as it seems to have been sensibly done.
The lugs have been drilled to convert it to springbars, removing the original fixed bars.
So, barring the caseback, it all looks good, I even like the spotty dial.
£2.5k (what the owner, of the one on SC was asking, err, or his son?) is about right for this, I reckon. It is not perfect, but quite close to it. this will drop if the caseback is not in orignal state.
Hope this helps
Dave
Of course, my mistake - and I even commented on the thread! Nice watch OP.
Wow yes it has helped massively. Thank you for the input and taking the time to reply
I have owned the watched for approx 20 years and I took possession of it from an old boy who had NO interest whatsoever in watches. I mean literally NO interest other than "long as it tells the time". I can't imagine he ever did anything to it other than wind it up and replace straps when they no longer worked. Since I've had the watch it has only ever had minor lubrication and basic service work carried out.
Case back is also original with the hs9 and crows foot and a four digit number and some scuffs where it had been opened before I owned it by someone with very little skill levels.the four numbers under the h.s. ^ 9 are intact and not been striked out.
Anyone got any ideas about where and to whom these were issued and what period?
Last edited by third time lucky; 26th October 2017 at 20:36.
It's a navy watch that was issued from the late forties to the early sixties.
I have a series one Lemania HS9 and I like you was gifted mine by a friend with a load of other watches in a bag, several years ago.
He just said, these are for you as you like old watches. I had done a few jobs for him over the years and always said no charge mate when offered payment, so it was his way of saying thank you he said. Sadly he passed a way a few years ago.
My Lemania HS9 has a P Dial, it keeps great time although I do not wear it much, when i got it the chrono feature was functioning but now a bit hit miss, my kids like chrono watches when they were younger, so it will need some work at some stage. I was told it was from around 1946 to early 1960 and was fleet air arm issued, but may have been issued to hydrography ? before.
Values are on the defiantly on the rise, when I first had mine I was made a few good offers and Trades, but I wanted to keep it, as it is a classic watch.
I have once considered trading it for another vintage watch but not really wanted to sell it.
I have kept a eye on advertised prices and values.
When I got mine I was told in the condition it was in it was worth £1000 to £1400. At that time, I was a few for sale for around £900 to £1200. This was around 2011.
This has risen as the watch has been featured in articles in watch magazines like Revolution and QP, also seen at least one on Hoodinkee for sale.
Ebay prices vary but Watches.co.uk have sold a few which were advertised at £4000 to 4500. There was one on Chrono 24 last week in the UK for a similar price and seen one advert for £5000. It is only worth what people are prepared to pay, driven by demand.
I think there is continued and growing interest in vintage military watches for a ever growing band of new collectors and enthusiasts, so the values may go higher.
I certainly remember certain vintage watches being cheap and affordable even to me and those exact watches are fetching more than ten times the price they were.
Luckily I have bought a few watches that I liked before their values put them out of a price range I would now be prepared to pay.
Enjoy yours, it is a beauty.
I might trade mine one day for something but for now it is staying.
So, quick lowdown on the HS9
HS = Hydrographic Services
These were the department that were in charge of all maritime measurement, and they wrote the specifications for all of the timekeeping devices issued to the Navy, Fleet Air Arm and Merchant Navy.
Specifications were numbered, and included deck watches, ships chronometers, stopwatches and in this case, Specification 9 (hence HS9), wrist chronographs.
Lemania were the sole supplier to this specification.
These were issued from the late 1940s (after WWII) and in use into the very early 1970s, issued, returned to stores, reissued to new personnel etc. If you lost it, you paid for its replacement. they were improved and altered within thir service life, if it was long enough. OP, yours and mine never got "improved" by removing the radium dial and replacing it with a Tritium one. Some also got a non-lume dial for use in nuclear submarines (lume was banned on these boats as the only way to monitor radioactivity properly involved having only one radio-source on board, the reactor).
They were not just for use by pilots, but also navigators, gunnery commanders and anyone with a relatively infrequent but important need to time events. If you were timing all the time, generally you used a stopwatch (which would also be likely to be made by Lemania). If you could make a case for being issued one, you got one. Several thousand were made.
The round (known as symmetric) cased Lemanias were the first, and are split into 2 series of issues, characterised by different casebacks.
Others came later, asymmetric single pushers and asymmetric 2 pushers.
The OPs watch is nearly how all of the series one versions entered service. here is mine for comparison
As regards prices, please do not be misled by what is asked for on Chrono24, as a guide to value. Those are retail prices (generally) offered by dealers who need to factor in profit and a guarantee.
I have just checked the listings on MWR, and abou £2.5k is the most recent trend, (£2.25k, £2.55k, £2.7k) apart from one dealer wanting nearly £4k.
Until Hodinkee features them and the price doubles again..........
Dave
Great information Dave,
Thank you for posting.
I think you are correct about the fact soon as Hodinkee feature them and other gems the profile rises and the demand.
I have a real interest in Lemania as a brand and recently tracked down a nice split second stopwatch, just because I think they are cool.
Anyone else amused that it's "Third Time Lucky" who started this thread after the father/son debacle?
M.
As the OP... and seeing as you mention me in inverted commas.... Care to elaborate what you mean by that?Anyone else amused that it's "Third Time Lucky" who started this thread after the father/son debacle?
M.
Dave's dead on the money, and the dial is a little spotted but that doesn't detract (for me at least). Very nice watch and worth hanging on to.
Pastran72 - beautiful also!
No slight intended, if that's your concern.
In the for sale thread someone offered the watch for sale, then the same username appeared saying it wasn't him, but his son masquerading as him.
Some were sceptical (I have no opinion on the matter) that it was two people, but assuming it was it was two times.
Your username (coincidentally) is "third time lucky" referring to a very similar (but different, I know) watch.
It just, as I said, amused me
M.
OP, there's nothing wrong with this old clunker that a re-dial, re-lume and a polish won't cure.
Mind you, those numbers will take some getting off.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
