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The WWI US Army Watch Purchase Contract Numbers have been FOUND!

730 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  mikeyt_53 
#1 ·
I have some pretty exciting news to share! After 13 YEARS of research I have finally found the US Army contract numbers for purchases made from the major watch movement manufacturers during the WWI years, 1917 - 1919! I know of MANY collectors and researchers that have been searching for this data for decades! My discovery WOULD NOT have been possible without the assistance from my great friend Fred Friedberg. For MANY years Fred and I have shared critical research information with each other while writing our books. This cooperation assisted in finally solving so many mysteries when it comes to antique American made watches from the WWI years into the 1930's. Due to that cooperation the antique watch collecting community will soon know EXACTLY what the US Army purchased from Elgin, Illinois & Waltham! Now that we have the contract numbers the floodgates will soon be opened when it comes to watch movement serial number lists. And I'm quite certain that these lists will also contain dial purchase information. Things like how many Elgin "Black Star Dial" watches were purchased by the US Army. What dials/movements were favored by the Army for purchases made from Illinois & Waltham. I'm also quite certain that other incredibly important discoveries will be made from what we find in these documents. This all happened a few weeks ago when Fred kindly shared his Depollier Waterproof Wrist Watch Case research information with me from a lawsuit that was filed 100 years ago. We now know for CERTAIN why there are no Gen #1 Depollier Water Watch Cases out there. The US Army did not like the original Gen #1 design so they insisted on changes. Depollier then went back and made several upgrades to the design and the Gen #3 that we all know was born. The Gen #2 was the 14k solid gold "Thermo Watch design, the Army didn't buy any of those. The sworn testimony given in the transcripts cracked open some new keyword searches for me and in only a few days I was FINALLY able to obtain the US Army contract numbers. I was even able to find a 1919 dated "Report of the Chief Signal Officer to the Secretary of War" that CONFIRMED that the sworn testimony given was absolutely truthful! There is NO DOUBT now, the Depollier Waterproof Watch Case saga can now be told in full. Who, what, why, when & where are all known. It's rather ironic that all of this information is coming to light right now because Waltham Watches is going to re-issue the iconic Waltham Depollier "Field & Marine" Waterproof Watch design the first week of February 2021! I have chosen to share the US Army contract numbers for Illinois, Waltham & Elgin with the watch collecting community. MANY of our friends are GREAT when it comes to research so it should not be that long before we find the contract files in the US government archives. Now, I have found out that the US Army Signal Corps division was responsible for ALL watch purchases for all branches of the US military. The US Army Signal Corps division would then disperse these watch purchases to the other branches of the US military quartermasters. So, if you choose to search keep that in mind! The contracts were authorized and signed by US Army Signal Corps officers. The pictures below showing the contract numbers give the watch company names, city, amount of the contract, nature of the contract and the US Army Signal Corps officer's name that signed off on the contracts. I only have ONE request! If you should find the contract files PLEASE share them with the watch collecting community, this information belongs to ALL of us. Happy hunting!!!

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