Elgin WWll A-11 Navigator Watch

[Zwatch]

I ran into a friend of mine that just purchased a large collection from a WW 2 veteran. He offered me a few watches as he knows I like vintage time pieces. I have been able to identify all but this last one. So, I am reaching out for some help.

The watch is an Elgin A-11 Navigator cream dial with a hack feature. This is what I know from some research I've done. I believe it was made in 1942 and that the cream dial was changed in production after that to a black dial. It appears the (red) second hand is missing. It looks like the back of the case can be opened from the bottom sides but not sure and I do not have a tool to even try.

The watch is running and keeping time. I wanted to see if anyone out there might know the type of movement and jewels the watch has. Would it be hard finding the correct minute hand for the watch.

Any information on the watch would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jack_W]

HI,

The Military Watch Forum has some good information on these, including examples.

The Military Watch Resource - Community Fora

This is the site for enthusiasts of military timepieces. All discussions related to military timepieces, and watches in general are welcome.

www.mwrforum.net

You will need to sign up for that one to see any of the threads. Well worth it though.

Here is mine, which has an incorrect seconds hand.




However, it has an operational hack function and seems legit as far as I can tell. Mine didn't come from a WWII vet. Hopefully your friend got a some history, such as units and areas of service. Those things add to the watch, imho.

The crystal bezel and the back are threaded. A rubber ball should be used to get the back off.

 

[John Cote]

These are desirable watches but many, like yours, have a lot of weather/humidity etc damage. Still, it is a little treasure of American military production history.

 

[Zwatch]

HI,

The Military Watch Forum has some good information on these, including examples.

The Military Watch Resource - Community Fora

This is the site for enthusiasts of military timepieces. All discussions related to military timepieces, and watches in general are welcome.

www.mwrforum.net

You will need to sign up for that one to see any of the threads. Well worth it though.

Here is mine, which has an incorrect seconds hand.


View attachment 732567 View attachment 732568 View attachment 732569 View attachment 732570

However, it has an operational hack function and seems legit as far as I can tell. Mine didn't come from a WWII vet. Hopefully your friend got a some history, such as units and areas of service. Those things add to the watch, imho.

The crystal bezel and the back are threaded. A rubber ball should be used to get the back off.


I appreciate the information on my watch. I will bring it to my watch maker this morning to have him remove the back. Will see if my friend can give me any info.
Thanks.

 

[Zwatch]

These are desirable watches but many, like yours, have a lot of weather/humidity etc damage. Still, it is a little treasure of American military production history.

From what I was told this watch was used during his deployment and years after coming home.
Thanks.

 

[Wimberleytech]

HI,

The Military Watch Forum has some good information on these, including examples.

The Military Watch Resource - Community Fora

This is the site for enthusiasts of military timepieces. All discussions related to military timepieces, and watches in general are welcome.

www.mwrforum.net

You will need to sign up for that one to see any of the threads. Well worth it though.

Here is mine, which has an incorrect seconds hand.


View attachment 732567 View attachment 732568 View attachment 732569 View attachment 732570

However, it has an operational hack function and seems legit as far as I can tell. Mine didn't come from a WWII vet. Hopefully your friend got a some history, such as units and areas of service. Those things add to the watch, imho.

The crystal bezel and the back are threaded. A rubber ball should be used to get the back off.

That movement looks like the Elgin 539, but, oddly it is not stamped as such. I have a couple of the A-11s with the 539 movement. I wonder what makes this one special "Navigation." I recently acquired a NOS Elgin A-11 case, so one of my movements is housed in it.

 

[Dave Haynes]

The 539 was in most of these Elgins. They were done in a lot of different looks, some with anodized finish, some balance completes permanently attached to a new balance bridge. The early ones used a special long reach stem that operated the hack. Many of these were redialed and recased after the war and worn as gentleman's dress watches and Elgin along with Waltham made commercial watches with surplus factory new movements. Some of these have the hack but it doesn't work because the wrong stem replaced the correct hack stem. It should be remembered that these war watches were not made to be a long lasting heirloom. The cases are almost all brass with a chrome finish and almost all are very worn. Hamilton seemed to have the best cases, ww2 Bulovas had not great cases while their Later cases were some of the best.