Serial, case and movement numbers, if available, can assist in dating your timepiece and the authentication process when purchasing. Selected number charts and serial number projects (where a site tries to aggregate serial numbers from visitors who submit watch information) are shown below. Please if there are others we should include or there are resources with more accurate information. Breitling [The Unofficial Breitling Source] [Brittons Watches] Bulova [watchophilia] Hamilton [Pocket Watch Site] Heuer [OnTheDash] IWC (International Watch Company) [Brittons Watches] [Elite Timepieces] There are also IWC web apps that can help date a particular watch, see and Jaeger-LeCoultre No public production date table known. Worth a try is sending a request (with the engraved number at the back of the timepiece, a picture of the front and back as well as the reference of the movement) to client.relations.europe@jaeger-lecoultre.com (For Europe) and client.relations.us@jaeger-lecoultre.com (For the US).

Driver usbprint epsontm-p2.01d897. XXXX/4X (with the first part the RAF serial number and the last the year off. Original MILITARY JAEGER LECOULTRE Pocket Watch 1940.

You can receive production information. Longines [WatchesToBuy] Omega [Chronomaddox] [Chronomaddox] Patek Philippe [Brittons Watches] Rolex [Oysterworld via Vintage Rolex Forum] (button at top, via Vintage Rolex Forum). Case numbers by production date are shown at the bottom of the ‘Rolex Serial Number Project’ button.

[Vintage Rolex Forum] [QualityTyme] And some bonus reading on bracelets: [Hodinkee] [Rolex Vintage Forum] Tissot Tudor (button at top, via Vintage Rolex Forum). This only includes the project information, held in Google docs format. [Vintage Rolex Forum] [QualityTyme] Universal Geneve [Wrist Chronology] Vacheron Constantin [WatchesToBuy] Zenith No public production date table known.

Please if there is one we should include. You can receive production information. Post navigation.

Military watches are one of the fastest growing areas of horological collecting at present, with even relatively unknown brands being sold for much higher prices at the time of writing than they were even twelve months ago. It seems likely then that there will be quite a bit of interest in this 1943 vintage Jaeger LeCoultre RAF issue navigator’s pocket watch. It is offered for much less than a military wristwatch from the same era by even a mid-range maker, making it something of a bargain for the collector who wants to acquire exceptional quality without spending a fortune. The sheer value for money that can be obtained in pocket watches at present is quite incredible and it seems inevitable that at some point, the market price of good examples by the major Swiss houses will rise to become, if not level, then at least somewhat more in line with their wristwatch equivalents. As background to this item, it should be noted that a large number of both wrist and pocket watches were ordered by the British Government for use by the various branches of the Allied armed forces. These were supplied to a specification defined by the War Department, but it is a mistake to believe that all the watches of ostensibly the same type by different makers are of the same build and finish standard. While criteria relating to the basic construction and performance of the watches was rigidly defined, there was scope for quite a wide variety of other variables.

Depending on which manufacturer supplied the watches, the quality, and indeed the cost price to the Government, varied enormously. The majority of military watches manufactured during the war years were good, solid models that are reliable and well built, though somewhat utilitarian in terms of their casing and overall finishing.