german wristwatch

[Oxlenstein]

DayBoy - I'm glad I was able to help! I got a beige colored band from Fossil for free, and it looks great! I tried to post some pictures, but they didn't show up too well. Fossil watches have proven themselves time and time again. They are great timepiece and I absolutely love mine. Take care and enjoy your Fossil watch.

[Van der Waal]

I wear a vintage 'Ogival' brand watch at events. Its quite classy.

[stroodle]

Yes van der waal, you are the poster boy for GQ in the 3rd Reich!

[Dienstuhr]

I know this thread has been cold for a year; but, I can give some depth to the pocket watch issue. Absolutely, yes, they carried pocket watches. Wristwatches were also worn in high numbers. Both were issued and also privately purchased. If you want to try to imitate "issue" pocket watches, the US equivalent is a 16 size or Swiss 19.5 ligne. The standard time only was with radium hands dial markers and a sub-second position seconds. My mint example has a gun-metal case which is factory blacked. If I get time I'll post a couple of pictures if I make it to the bank.

Also, many of the pocket watches were family pieces dating into the late 1800's. Same as Americans, you carried what was available to you. I have never bought an allied issue watch from a German veteran and never asked why it is not so. I'm not convinced that watches cross as easily to Germany as they do to the US. One must remember that American troops were known as the second worst magpies next to the British.

[eldar1]

Check out zib-militaria.de .in the gear section they have a couple of nice repro's of wristwatches.

[metzger76]

"Liberated" is lame. Yes, we've all heard, read and know of stories of captured time pieces, but this is about portraying a German soldier, and it is a slippery slope to rationalize wearing 'captured' goods

What's next? captured side-arms? shaving kits? Slippery slope

Did all American's have wrist watches? No.
Did the average German even interact with an American prisoner or dead American? No
Therefore, the odds of running across an American that wasn't shooting at you and who owns a watch was slim.

If you were lucky enough to have a watch, it would likely be a German watch.

also, steer clear of anything that indicates/displays the day or date. This will be tricky because most modern watches have a day/date display.

You can find old ex-DDR watches that look the part and won't cost an arm and a leg.

[Ebusitanus]

Hello,
I just bought a nice German/Swiss ARSA timepiece from the Ukraine. Aside not having the much sought after DH on the backside everything else is there.
When it finally arrived I set about changing the modern wristband it came with. I noticed that the size of the band could be no bigger than 15mm. The odd thing is that another German Junghans watch I have from the war has a 18mm wristband size. I asked around and a friend of mine and fellow reenactor stated that the 15mm ones were specially for young cadets. I found this very odd since in about everything else the look of the watch is completely in line with the typical german war watch specs.

Did such a differentiation exist? Or its simple wristband differences for a completly normal Dienstuhr?

[Rogla]

Does anyone have information on M10298 a number on the back of a German pocket B-deck watch from ww2

[Nick12]

Some old watches are similar with "innovative" watches you can find today at some suppliers, I don't know what you think about it. I have a model in mind but I can't remember the name ^^

[Nick12]

German watches are my favourite...Swiss watches are the most famous but it must be said that the German quality and especially the German style really competes with the most beautiful Swiss watches... As a fan of vintage watches, I find it difficult to find what I am looking for on the market today... I find that back then people had a lot more style ^^

[Nick12]

I do believe that nowadays the most successful watches are those that are out of the ordinary (I mean original). In the past, simplicity was the most important criteria to define the value of a watch. In fact, you can see it very clearly on the photo posted by Ebusitanus: it is a watch with a simplistic style. For my part this is what I prefer: simple and classy watches and I like to wear it when I am invited to important events. Today the style has changed a lot. To tell you the truth, my son wants to buy a new watch (the style really surprised me ^^). It's this one : https://www.urwerk.com/collections/historical-pieces. You can see that it really has nothing to do with the watches that were fashionable in the 1970s. However to be honest, although they are anything but simple these new trendy watches have the advantage of being original. After that it depends on your taste...

[[email protected]]

Hi everyone, I really agree with that point of view. German wristwatch are so original and interesting. To me, it is incredible to see the evolution of fashions over the years. From 1950s to 2021s, fashion has evolved so much. However, some vintage watches are timeless. Also the other interesting point to me is to know more about the history of this accessory :
What type of person wore it at the time?
Was this watch reserved for a social minority of the population because of its price?
What did it mean socially to wear such an accessory?