• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Another Show of Shows find . A mint Waltham A-11 USAAF pilots watch with hacking capabilities.

B-Man2

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
So in the Show of Shows thread I had mentioned meeting Tom Brennan a kindly man with a drop dead A-11 watch collection . If you missed the photos of his collection here they are again .
IMG_2624.jpeg
IMG_2625.jpeg
IMG_2626.jpeg

As I had mentioned earlier I had no intentions of owning an A-11 watch until I met Tom. After about 5 minutes of conversation I was sold on a mint Waltham pilots A-11 watch with hacking capabilities. The Waltham is pictured below and if anyone would like his contact information you can PM me and I’ll pass it on to you. I should mention that the watch is all original including the band .
Cheers
IMG_2705.jpeg
IMG_2706.jpeg
IMG_2707.jpeg
 
Spitfireace

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
B-Man2 said:
So in the Show of Shows thread I had mentioned meeting Tom Brennan a kindly man with a drop dead A-11 watch collection . If you missed the photos of his collection here they are again . View attachment 139507View attachment 139509View attachment 139511
As I had mentioned earlier I had no intentions of owning an A-11 watch until I met Tom. After about 5 minutes of conversation I was sold on a mint Waltham pilots A-11 watch with hacking capabilities. The Waltham is pictured below and if anyone would like his contact information you can PM me and I’ll pass it on to you. I should mention that the watch is all original including the band .
Cheers View attachment 139513View attachment 139515View attachment 139517
Click to expand...
Something is odd with this watch. It's never stated on the watch that it has hacking capabilities. The whole point of an A-11 is that it has that capability. They all have that function so that all members of the aircrew can synchronize (hack) their watches to the exact same time. Maybe @Pilot has come across this, but so far I have not.
 
Spitfireace

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
coolhandluke said:
I've seen other examples of Waltham A-11's with (HACK) marked casebacks. They've always been advertised as unissued examples and I can't speak to their legitimacy. Hopefully Bryce will share his knowledge regarding Burt’s watch. A-11's are a bit of a minefield, which is why I haven't purchased one to date. I'm just not well studied enough to spot all the potential red flags.

In the meantime, here are a photos of a couple other examples. Both the craft boxes and cases just look too new (cases are bright with no signs of oxidation, labels are not yellowed, etc) for a nearly 80 year NOS old piece, but I could definitely be wrong.

View attachment 139573

View attachment 139575

View attachment 139577

View attachment 139579
Click to expand...
You are right, they are a minefield. The problem is that there are next to no reference resources available. I've done many searches on the web and there is scant information. There is nothing that is definitive, so you just have to pick up knowledge along the way, by trial and error. The trial and error method gets quite expensive if you don't have deep pockets. I guess you could say the same for original WW2 jackets though.
 
B-Man2

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Spitfireace said:
Something is odd with this watch. It's never stated on the watch that it has hacking capabilities. The whole point of an A-11 is that it has that capability. They all have that function so that all members of the aircrew can synchronize (hack) their watches to the exact same time. Maybe @Pilot has come across this, but so far I have not.
Click to expand...
While I’m not an authority on A-11 watches, I do know that original Waltham A-11’s can be found with “Hack” on the back . The watch is not referred to as a pilots watch, although I did refer to it as such .The back of this watch is referred to as a navigational watch . Also if you look closely you can see that this watch has been cleaned and has small surface marks in its bezel. Signs that it’s been worn before.
IMG_2709.jpeg
IMG_2710.jpeg
IMG_2711.jpeg
 
Spitfireace

Spitfireace

Well-Known Member
It's a nice looking watch. I have a 1942 Waltham, but that's a different watch. In 1944-45 all the A-11's went to a "coin edge bezel", called that because they were serrated like the edge of a coin. Most A-11's were nickel plated brass, which wore off pretty easily if the watch was worn much. Getting one that looks good, is all original, and runs well is the difficulty. My 42 Waltham ran well after I took it to my watchmaker and then one day the mainspring snapped. These are old watches and keeping them going is really a labour of love. It is pretty costly too. I can see that the spring bar on one side is protruding, so it looks like it might be for a different watch. You should be able to find the correct ones somewhere though. Not a big deal.
 
B-Man2

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Spitfireace said:
It's a nice looking watch. I have a 1942 Waltham, but that's a different watch. In 1944-45 all the A-11's went to a "coin edge bezel", called that because they were serrated like the edge of a coin. Most A-11's were nickel plated brass, which wore off pretty easily if the watch was worn much. Getting one that looks good, is all original, and runs well is the difficulty. My 42 Waltham ran well after I took it to my watchmaker and then one day the mainspring snapped. These are old watches and keeping them going is really a labour of love. It is pretty costly too. I can see that the spring bar on one side is protruding, so it looks like it might be for a different watch. You should be able to find the correct ones somewhere though. Not a big deal.
Click to expand...
Im pretty happy with the watch, so we’ll just have to wait to see how your thoughts play out .
 
Pa12

Pa12

Well-Known Member
B-Man2 said:
Im pretty happy with the watch, so we’ll just have to wait to see how your thoughts play out .
Click to expand...
I’m going to have to check that out one year. Drove to Pensacola about 5 years ago and spent the first night in Louisville. So I think it’s around 7 or 8 hours drive.
 
B-Man2

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Pa12 said:
I’m going to have to check that out one year. Drove to Pensacola about 5 years ago and spent the first night in Louisville. So I think it’s around 7 or 8 hours drive.
Click to expand...
If there’s anyone who’s never been to the SOS’s it’s truly an experience you’ll never forget .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Staff online

Members online

Total: 397 (members: 10, guests: 387)

Latest posts

Share this page

Top