It has taken me 20 years to find this watch! - Lemania British military - UPDATED

[clockwatcher]

Warning - picture heavy........Yes that's right 20 years. I have been collecting watches for most of my life, but Lemania collection started around 20 years ago. This model has eluded me up until now. It is the white dial asymmetrical case variant meaning it was issued to the HS9A designation of the Royal Navy navigators and pilots. There are plenty of the black dial versions, and there are plenty of white and black dial round case versions. I have seen this watch advertised at various places before but never got my hands on one. It is stunningly accurate, operating to around 4 seconds per day. It needs a crystal polish as the marks are obscuring the logo. I am half tempted to fix the lume, but I think it is best left as it is. This will fit in nicely with the rest of my Lemania military collection.

Here she is.....



Matches the black dial - I have a couple of examples of the black dial version



Like peas in a pod - nearly



Just for fun, here are some of the others that I have collected over the last 20 years.

Quite a rare aysymmetric case with 2 chronograph buttons instead of the usual 1 button



The white dial round case



And the round case black Lemania



More peas in a pod!



Over the years I have also collected non British military Lemania watches including these

The Swedes




The South Africans



And no Lemania collection can be complete without the Czech



I have also collected more Lemania watches. These were not intentionally collected. I just came across them over the years in my search for military watches, and picked them up simply because I liked them. I thought they were quirky and just scratched an itch whilst finding good military examples

I got this as it was very reminiscent of an Omega Speedmaster



I got his one as it is identical to the Heuer Audi Sport which I owned at the time (the Heuer, not the Audi)



This one reminded me of an Omega Flightmaster or more closely to a Sinn 142



This one looked to me almost the same as the Omega Seamaster, which I also own (I think the Omega model nickname is the Skywalker)



I got this one as I had never seen a Lemania world time before



The exact same reason for buying this one, its the first and only Lemania calendar that I have seen



This one was an eBay special in the early days of ebay back in 1998 when most people had never heard of it. I think its the first Lemania I had got. The main reason for choosing this one is that the date is in an unusual position. However I did like the dark grey dial and bezel as well.



Last is the Lemania Benthos 1000 meter diver with solid monoblock case and 60 minute chronograph. These are more commonly seen as Aquastar Benthos



And another view to show the thickness of the case



And just for a bit more fun - they are not Lemania watches, they are Sinn, but have the Lemania 5100 movement. Its an old picture that I did actually post on the forum some time ago



One more that I am looking for is the Lemania 2 button white dial. Its taken 20 years to find the 1 button model. It could take 20 more to find the 2 button. But that is not going to stop me looking. I may also come up with some more to add to the collection in the meantime


Since there was a bit more interest here than I realised, I thought I would share these as well. I know this is a watch forum, but I am sure clocks get appreciated here as well. They came about at military fairs whilst looking for watches.

These two are military issued, and have the military stamps and broad arrow on the case backs, though I don't know what aircraft they were in originally, one being an 8 day clock and the other being a 12 hour chronograph. I thought them interesting enough at the time to buy them. The chronograph was supplied by Camera Cuss.



This is a non issued 8 day aircraft clock. The red hands are not connected to the mechanism. They are set by the button in the middle of the crystal and are set to indicate a time. To remind the pilot of the time that they took off. It is also very accurate and works to around 5 seconds per day, its at least 50 years old. I have this on my desk propped up against an external hard drive :) I really need to make a mounting of some sort for it.




This one is a yacht's cabin clock with time and chronograph. Its pretty huge so have included a watch that is familiar to most people here to give an indication of the size. Usully with instruments like these its unusual to find the time and chronograph function on the same clock, which is why I bought it. The holes in the case are so it can be mounted to a cabin wall.



Lastly not a very exciting one, a very large stopwatch with time and chronograph. I have shown the wristwatch again for size comparison. I just liked the look of this, crisp white dial and contrasting blued steel hands shown in second picture. But the thing that really drew me to it, being very nerdy about it all, is the stunning looking movement seen in the third picture