• Media / PR
    • Film and TV Industries
    • Newspapers and Magazines
  • Sell Your Vintage Watch
  • Travel Clocks/Pocket Watches
  • Bracelets
  • Shipwreck Straps
  • Servicing Advice
  • Reference
  • How to Buy
  • Contact Us
Vintage-Watches-Collection
  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Our Philosophy
    • Pricing
    • Privacy
  • Tax Advantages
  • Decades
    • 1910s
    • 1920s
    • 1930s
    • 1940s
    • 1950s
    • 1960s
    • 1970s
    • 1980s
    • 1990s
    • 2000s
  • Brands
    • Asprey
    • Breitling
    • Cartier
    • Dunhill
    • Eterna
    • Girard-Perregaux
    • H. Moser
    • Harrods
    • Harwood
    • Hermes
    • Heuer
    • IWC
    • Jaeger LeCoultre
    • JW Benson
    • Longines
    • Mappin & Webb
    • Movado
    • Omega
    • Others
    • Rolex
    • Tiffany & Co
    • Ulysse Nardin
    • Universal
    • Van Cleef & Arpels
    • Zenith
  • Birth Year
  • Ladies Watches
  • Pros and Cons

Vintage Wristwatches For Sale From The 1940s.

It is inevitable that an event of such all encompassing magnitude as World War II would have shaped wristwatch production at the time and a very significant percentage of the watches produced by the major Swiss houses in the 1940s was intended for use by the armed forces on both the Allied and German sides. Being officially neutral, Switzerland was able to pursue lucrative trade in this way, though Germany also developed a strong domestic watch manufacturing industry that turned out some very high quality models for the Luftwaffe, army and navy, a selection of which are always offered for sale on this site.

There had been military wristwatches before the War, but today, those produced during and after World War II are the most avidly collected. In comparison to their civilian equivalents, they tend to be minimalist in their styling, combining very high quality movements with rugged steel cases and black dials with highly visible luminous markings. Particularly appealing and very illustrative of this dark time in Britain’s history are the Mark VII pilots’ watches ( designation 6B/159) produced by Omega and Longines for the RAF in the early 1940s. Shortages of steel meant that these were supplied with aluminium cases. Most that survived in service were re-housed in steel after the War, but now and again, untouched examples surface. There is something rather humbling about wearing a vintage watch that quite realistically might well have seen active service in the cockpit of a Spitfire or on the wrist of a rear gunner in a Lancaster bomber on a night time raid over wartime Berlin.

While military models clearly made up a large chunk of production for the great Swiss houses in the early 1940s, it would be quite wrong to think that manufacture and development of civilian models stopped during this time. While Europe was deep in conflict, there was still an awful lot of the world that remained largely unaffected by the War, including India, which was still under British colonial rule. All the major brands, Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre, IWC, Longines, Breitling etc continued to produce a wide range of civilian models and Rolex in particular was responsible for some of the most attractive and flamboyant dial formats ever created during the early 1940s.

While transitions in public taste were fairly gradual and typically took place over three or four years, it is true to say that by even 1942 or 1943, the fashion had swung back towards circular dials and cases. The rectangular art deco cases of the 1930s were seen less and less, and the cubist numerals and lapidated bezels of the same era had all but gone. Instead, cases had a far more smoothed, less angular and more curved appearance. Many collectors would argue that the models in this typically 1940s style are among the most attractive and elegant ever made.

By this stage, lugs were now completely integrated into the overall design concept. The 1940s was the age of extreme lugs, with oversize turtle, horned, teardrop, oriental and hooded lugs all being associated with this period, so much so that if we find a watch with one of these case styles, we automatically tend to assume that it is of 1940s origin. Hands were fairly straightforward, baton or alpha shaped, often with a pitched or convex top surface. Dials now routinely had a mixture of Arabic and Roman numerals, combined with batons at the hour positions, though dial surfaces tended to be of a single colour rather than the two-tone types that had been popular in the 1930s.

Movements remained unchanged in terms of quality. Even during the war years, the output of the major Swiss houses was beautifully finished and not in the slightest bit compromised. Omega dropped its trademark pink gold movement finish during the conflict due to difficulties in obtain supplies of gold for plating and instead temporarily finished in Rolex-style rhodium, but otherwise, production ran largely as normal. In the years following the war, very effective shock protection systems, these having been refined during the war years for use in military timepieces, became widespread in civilian production.

Self-winding also came of age and became commonplace. Longines, Omega, Jaeger LeCoultre and of course Rolex all offered reliable automatic watches by the second half of the 1940s and these had achieved acceptance by the public, who had initially been rather suspicious of this new technology. Perhaps even more importantly, the resistance from watchmakers to self-winding, caused by lack of familiarity and a fear of the unknown, had been overcome and most good independent repairers were now confident when servicing movements of this type.

Another significant event came with the launch of Rolex’s Tudor range in 1945. Originally intended to satisfy a demand for lower priced wristwatches still carrying the Rolex name, ironically the quality of these was so high that in fact, the disparity between Tudor models and their mainstream Rolex equivalents was often embarrassingly small. Today, there is an enormous demand for good early Rolex Tudors and these have proved themselves as one of the best horological investments of the last fifteen years.

Rolex Prince Elegante boxed 1940

Produced for sale in Canada, this beautiful art deco Rolex Prince Elegante combines a domestically made case with a tonneau shaped Rolex HW movement. Very unusual in this condition and much sought after as a collectible.

Price £1850 GB Pounds

Charles Nicholet Tramelan chronograph boxed 1940

Representing very good value for money, this is a lovely vintage chronograph from the War years in rare untouched condition. Despite its high quality movement it remains very affordable and will be difficult for those with a nostalgic bent to resist.

Price £775 GB Pounds

Rolex Oyster Raleigh steel 1940

With a slightly faded, totally original art deco black dial, this is the perfect specimen of vintage Rolex Oyster production from the war years. It offers a marriage of superb build quality with very evocative period aesthetics.

Price £975 GB Pounds

Jaeger LeCoultre 14k gold deco rectangular hooded lugs 1942

With an elongated heavy gold case in a style that is greatly influenced by art deco, this is a delightful period collector’s watch. Originally produced for the wealthy American market. Untouched and in superb condition throughout.

Price £1745 GB Pounds

Rolex Oyster Standard steel Mercedes hands 1942

While Europe was ravaged by World War II, Rolex continued to serve the rest of the world with some really beautiful watches. This is an example of a classic Rolex Oyster intended for sale in Canada, with a striking art deco influenced dial.

Price £1375 GB Pounds

Jaeger LeCoultre pocket watch wartime British RAF 1943

Supplied by Jaeger LeCoultre under contract to the Royal Air Force, these World War II navigators’ pocket watches are of remarkably fine quality. The value for money offered by this item cannot be beaten. Woefully underpriced at present.

Price £475 GB Pounds

Rolex steel with ribbed teardrop lugs 1943

This is a rare vintage Rolex model with highly stylised art deco lugs. It is one of the most attractive classic Rolex variants and qualifies as a piece for the advanced collector. This example is in superb condition throughout.

Price £1675 GB Pounds

Rolex Oyster steel with tropical Birch & Gaydon dial 1943

The tropical is one of the most instantly recognisable and most attractive of all the dial variants used on vintage Rolex Oysters. This example is untouched and original, with just the slightest patina to its radium batons.

Price £1345 GB Pounds

Omega 14k gold with chocolate dial 1943

With a rectangular movement fitted in a circular case by Gerlach, one of the finest case makers of the golden era, this beautiful vintage Omega is a textbook specimen of an investment grade classic wristwatch.

Price £775 GB Pounds

Longines steel pilot’s watch with Weems 1943

In lovely condition, this is a very rare example of the Longines watches that were manufactured with the patented Weems system of second hand syncronisation. We see very few of this fascinating wartime model on the market.

Price £2275 GB Pounds
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • >

Vintage Watch Brands

  • Vintage Watch Brands
  • Asprey
  • Breitling
  • Cartier
  • Dunhill
  • Eterna
  • Girard-Perregaux
  • H. Moser
  • Harrods
  • Harwood
  • Hermes
  • Heuer
  • IWC
  • Jaeger LeCoultre
  • JW Benson
  • Longines
  • Mappin & Webb
  • Movado
  • Omega
  • Others
  • Rolex
  • Tiffany & Co
  • Ulysse Nardin
  • Universal
  • Van Cleef & Arpels
  • Zenith

Vintage Watch Decades

  • Vintage Watch Decades
  • 1910s
  • 1920s
  • 1930s
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
  • 1970s
  • 1980s
  • 1990s
  • 2000s

Vintage Ladies Watches

  • Vintage Ladies Watches

Vintage Watch Bracelets

  • Vintage Watch Bracelets

Swipwreek Straps

  • Shipwreck Straps

Travel Clock/ Pocket Watches

  • Travel Clocks/Pocket Watches
Sitemap Vintage watches for sale, reference articles and buying advice

Home

Homepage

Birth Year

Sell Your Vintage Watch

Servicing Advice

How To Buy

Pros and Cons

Contact Us

Ladies Watches

Travel Clocks /

Pocket Watches

Bracelets

Shipwreck Straps

About

About

- History

- Our Philosophy

- Pricing

- Privacy

- Terms & Conditions

 

Brand Overviews

Brand Overviews

Asprey

Breitling

Cartier

Dunhill

Eterna

Girard-Perregaux

H. Moser

Harrods

Harwood

Hermes

Heuer

IWC

Jaeger LeCoultre

JW Benson

Longines

Mappin & Webb

Movado

Omega

Others

Rolex

Tiffany & Co

Ulysse Nardin

Universal

Van Cleef & Arpels

Zenith

By Decade

- By Decade

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

Reference

Reference

- Rolex Case Backs

Contact Details

Telephone from the UK:

07453 734666

or 07428 051005

Telephone from overseas:

+44 7453 734666

or +44 7428 051005

email

Copyright 2013 (c) vintage-watches-collection.com