Watches to wear with your flight jackets...

[Spitfireace]

I'm three and a bit years ahead of you and both my parents have been gone for some years, squeeze as much info out of your dad while you can, I mean generally and not just in respect to this. I had family who worked for De Havilland and others Handley Page, both factories were local where I grew up.

Hello Hugh,

Yes, it was Hatfield. One of the first supersonic jet planes was being tried out there. A single seater. Also the first model of the Vampire fighter jet. They were also working on the design of a passenger plane, which later was built, but had a sad ending, when it crashed, in Italy I think, and killed everyone. I believe that the crash was due to a window failing.

 

[Spitfireace]

That's what dad says for now. If you can think of something else.. I'll ask him

 

[Micawber]

Right so Hatfield it was which is the neighbouring place to my old hometown. The airfield and factory is no more, but an interesting aside is that a number of sets were built and used on the land for filming Saving Private Ryan.
I have a few old photos of the factory from back in the day on disc. Will try and look them out.

 

[Carl]

Regarding @Pilot @EmergencyIan posts .
Both have been very helpful to me in information about A11's . Cant thank them highly enough .
Im on my second A11 from Bryce now ! So that's 2 A11's i shall have , a Waltham and Bulova . The Elgin is a work in progress with Bryce

Thanks guys

 

[Micawber]

Hello Hugh,

Yes, it was Hatfield. One of the first supersonic jet planes was being tried out there. A single seater. Also the first model of the Vampire fighter jet. They were also working on the design of a passenger plane, which later was built, but had a sad ending, when it crashed, in Italy I think, and killed everyone. I believe that the crash was due to a window failing.

Huge thread drift here for which I apologise!

But continuing on from what your dad says about Hatfield. The passenger aircraft would be the DH Comet, the first commercially available jet airliner. Unfortunately back in the day the understanding of stress fatigue in multi windowed a/c due to pressurised cabins was such that they did not realise the potential danger of squarish apertures cracking at the corners which is what caused the loss of the aircraft and set the company back long enough to loose the lead they had over foreign competition. After strenuous testing they revised production to include round passenger windows which were much less liable to fatigue issues.

Here is a photo of the DH factory entrance taken back in the day. Also an amazing photo taken milliseconds before the crash of an E E Lightning just off the runway there..

 

[Carl]

Huge thread drift here for which I apologise!

But continuing on from what your dad says about Hatfield. The passenger aircraft would be the DH Comet, the first commercially available jet airliner. Unfortunately back in the day the understanding of stress fatigue in multi windowed a/c due to pressurised cabins was such that they did not realise the potential danger of squarish apertures cracking at the corners which is what caused the loss of the aircraft and set the company back long enough to loose the lead they had over foreign competition. After strenuous testing they revised production to include round passenger windows which were much less liable to fatigue issues.

Here is a photo of the DH factory entrance taken back in the day. Also an amazing photo taken milliseconds before the crash of an E E Lightning just off the runway there..




View attachment 12436 View attachment 12437
View attachment 12438

A very famous pic of that EE Lightning !

 

[Micawber]

A very famous pic of that EE Lightning !

I was born over that way and lived there for 30+ years so know exactly where that happened

 

[Carl]

I was born over that way and lived there for 30+ years so know exactly where that happened

Right in the hotspot then Steve !! ???

 

[Micawber]

Right in the hotspot then Steve !! ???

Yep. These provided some of the background sounds to my formative years!

 

[Carl]

Oooohhhh Valiants and Victors !! just the Vulcan missing Steve As im from "Bomber county" originally , many a time sat in a car next to the runway at RAF Manby watching these doing " touch and go " !!

 

[Micawber]

What with Handley Page just down the road, De Havilland the other side of town and Rolls Royce aero engines a few miles away as well it was an interesting area in which to grow up.

 

[Carl]

What with Handley Page just down the road, De Havilland the other side of town and Rolls Royce aero engines a few miles away to it was an interesting area to grow up in.

I bet it was !!

 

[dinomartino1]

IWCs first Special Watch for Pilots’ from 1936.






My poor mans IWC
I was after a 1930s style pilot watch but everything I liked was way too expensive, so as I was on tight budget I ended up assembling this from parts.
I had to got to a watch maker to get the hands put on the movement, I don't have a hand setting tool and the sub dial second hand is tiny.
The case is 42mm, as big as I will wear on my girly wrists , I don't like big watches as I'm used to wearing vintage wristwatches.
The coin edge case [these are nearly impossible to find smaller the 44mm] is 42mm with 20mm lug width. It was NOS from a German company and came the the onion crown, exhibition caseback and flat mineral crystal.
Movement is a NOS swiss ETA 6498.1
I already had the strap, it's from Timefactors in the UK.
Dial and hands are cheap Chinese Parnis, the only 30s style dial I could find to fit the case that I liked.

I would have preferred a brushed case but I had to take what I could get and when the crystal gets too scratched I will fit a domed acrylic.

 

[Steve27752]

My SKX007 on a Bond strap.

 

[Marv]

CWC G10 (military issued)

Timex Navi Harbor & Navi Ocean

 

[Bombing IP]

Interestingly The IWC was started by an American man ,I also like their big pilot watch and their Aquatimer Cousteu divers watch . But cannot justify dumping that much money into a time piece . A better option is the English guy who makes watches Christopher Ward great quality watches with out the massive overhead .

BIP

 

[Pilot]

Invest in a steel/steel Rolex Daytona...
did it in 1992... 2400 US$ sold it a few months ago...
Please dont ask for return...
Try any other investment for the same..

 

[jeremiah]

I know nothing about watches but this one belonged to my father.
Made a band for it.
https://imgur.com/a/zqnK5tO

 

[B-Man2]

J
can’t read the name but who’s the Maker ?

 

[jeremiah]

It’s a Lafayette A Rubis.
SS back and front.

I have no doubt it’s got only sentimental value.