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amanico
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A quick view on another Vintage JLC Military watch: The WWW.

After having reviewed the Mark XI and the Mark VII Weems, let's have a look on the third JLC Military Watch, the WWW.



For those who want to know more about these watches, here are the links on the Mark XI:

jlc.watchprosite.com

And on the Mark VII Weems:

jlc.watchprosite.com

The WWW ( Wrist Watch Waterproof ), so often wrongly called Mark 10, was the only one among these 3 to not be a pilot watch, but to be used by the British Infantry, as well as by some other Armies, such as Australia, or Holland.

Chronologically speaking, the WWW was the 2d to be released, in 1944, just after the Mark VII Weems, and way before the Mark XI, which appeared in 1948.

The funny thing is that it was the WWW which first caught my eyes, and the last I got, to complete my Military JLCs...

1/ The case:

The structure of the case is chromium plated, which looks like sandblasted, but with a very bright finish.

On some used case, you can see the golden brass under the chromium plated finish.

This is a small and thick watch, whose bestial look is enhanced by a large bezel.





On my watch, the crown is a small one, but I've seen several sizes for the crown.





The screw-in case back is in Stainless Steel, and bears all the informations of the watch:



The Model: WWW,

The famous Broad Arrow,

Above the broad arrow, the case number.

Under the WWW, a letter, which corresponds to the Brand of the watch, in this case " F ", ( a letter shared by Longines, too ), and a five digits number, which corresponds to the Army number.

Please note that, on the inside part of the case back, all these informations are also engraved, except the military number, after the code letter " F "as shown below:



On the case back picture, the shape of the lugs, long, curved and quite thin, are contrasting with the brutal volume of the case.

You will also notice the circular finish of the SS case back, and the fixed lugs, which is not always the case for the other Armies WWW.

2/ The Dial:

A Typical military design, shared by some other watches like the Longines, Omega, and so on...

- Painted non luminous numbers all around the dial, except the 5, 6, and 7, because of the small seconds subdial.

- The Broad Arrow, just below the name of the brand.

- The radium round and rectangular small indexes.

- The main part of the dial is smooth, while the small second subdial receives a circular finish.

- And...The magnificient cathedral hands, fitted with radium, too.





Personally, the WWW is my favourite JLC Military watch, because of this lovely dial.

The radium turned in a dark brown color on the indexes and hands, the Cathedral hands, and this small seconds subdial bring a lot of charm to this watch, even if I'd prefer having a SS case instead of this chromium plated finish.

The slighly domed, then flat plexy doesn't ruin the excellent legibility, and adds warmth and sweetness to the dial.

3/ The movement:

Removing the case back is another pleasant experience, as you will be able to have a look on the Cal 479, a nice brass movement whose finish is an eye catcher, with the anglages and Cotes de Genève.

The architecture - not to speak about the sculpture - of the 2 biggest bridges is characteristic to the JLC movements of this era, as on the 45O, or the 478.





Isn't it nice?



It is 28,25 mm big, and 4, 05 mm high manual winding movement, without shock protection, bearing 17 jewels.

No hacking seconds, but a well built and accurate movement.

I monitered mine, and I observed that it runs 5 seconds fast, per day.

Another nice detail is that the Cal 479 was only housed in the WWW, and as said in Zaf Basha's book, it " has not been observed in civilian applications ".

4/ On the wrist:

One last question remains:

Isn't this 35 mm watch a bit too small, if we compare nowadays habits in terms of size?

Maybe I'm used to wear so modestly sized watches, with the 1937 Reverso, the Weems or the Mark XI, but I have to say that it is very nice on the wrist.

The size is not shocking at all, with a nice presence, due to its thickness, and the chromium plated brass case.





It deserves to join the Vintage Military JLC Collection!



Best to All,

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-05-09 22:28:50 This message has been edited by amanico on 2011-05-12 23:33:06

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