Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

British military: An unsigned WWII ATP wristwatch, the silvered circular dial with black Arabic numerals, outer minutes track with luminous spots at 5 minutes, luminous and blued steel hands and subsidiary seconds dial, the 15 jewel Swiss movement numbered ‘57’, in soft metal inner case within the nickel chromium plated brass case, with stainless steel screw down back numbered ‘238748’ and bearing British military issue stamp ‘ATP Q4740’ with broad arrow pheon, to brown leather strap, dial diameter 26mm. £80-£120

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Culling Collection of Military Watches.

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Although the ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches are thought of as the iconic British military wristwatch of the first half of the 20th century, these were not issued until 1945; meaning the majority of the WWII was actually fought by soldiers wearing the humble ATP watch. The initials ‘ATP’ are thought to stand for either Army Time Piece or Army Trade Pattern, and whilst these watches did have to meet some military specifications, e.g. night time visibility and sturdy cases, they are the mostly identical to civilian models.