Photos and text below shown with the permission of the owner.
So a broad arrow re dial was used to show the watch had the Radium removed?
Unbelievably lucky to find this rare omega thin arrow 53 I bought it from an RAF chap that’s had it 50 years he found it when he first joined the raf as personnel and was a baggage handler when the planes came in, he and his friends used to rush under the rollers where they would find money valuables that fell from the bags over time, one day he found what looked like a big coin and it was in fact this beauty, it must of been sitting there for years as these were produced for raf or air crew in 1953.
There were only 5,900 produced but most were brought back to have new dial as the radium wasn’t accepted no more so these few that survived became rare because they escaped call back and they say only a couple of hundred exist today, I’m over the moon 😊😊😊 ps it’s needs a new Crystal maybe new crown and probably a service but it seems to be keeping time.
What a stunning example, I can never get enough of these old military watches.
I sold both my Fat Arrow and Thin Arrow on here (regrettably I didn't own both together).
Link to mine - to find an original dial in the condition yours is in... wow! The perfect level of patina, most of these that I've seen personally are really degraded or have the dreaded refinished dial.
https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...atch-Very-rare
Wow you had 2 and sold them.Originally Posted by kevkojak
No its not mine ( I wish) I copied the text and photos with the permission of the owner.
A thin arrow with Rhodesian Airforce Case back markings is high on my want list.
The difference between the thin and fat dials is minimal but has a real visual impact.
Nice find. I only have a fat arrow in the collection for anyone who would like to know the difference between the two here the fat arrow. The thin arrow more wanted due to it the original dial issued to the watch. The fat arrow a replacement MOD dial.
Very nice indeed.
Do you know why they changed the shape of the arrow?
One thought is to highlight the change in radioactive element in the lume before they introduced the circle T
A couple of the issued watches of this age with changed lume had the Fat Arrow printed on them by the MOD
Although it could just be that this was the type of arrow was used at that particular time.
The Broad Arrow on the later Hamilton was different from both the 53 dials and then the lost navigator had another slightly different variant with a longer tail. If could just simply be that someone prefers the look of that style of arrow. - my money would be on the latter explanation.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 18th November 2023 at 20:30.
Thank you for the information.
An article on these watches:
http://squelettewatches.com/omega-pi...estoration-en/
Thanks I will read it later.
A few that may interest you in Stratford this summer.
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