At the end of the Second World War, many members of the British armed forces were issued with a basic but carefully specified watch, commissioned from one of 12 Swiss manufacturers by the British Ministry of supply. These were ultimately to replace the earlier issued "ATP' watches from the beginning of the war.

During 1944 and 1945, twelve watchmakers (Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, JLC, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, and Vertex) produced a total of approximately 150,000 of these almost identical timepieces.

As these watches became highly sought after by collectors over the ensuing decades, they became known as ‘The Dirty Dozen' - earning this nickname from the 1964 war film of the same moniker. 

Members of this exclusive club are now in constant demand as few of these in good and original condition remain, and as production volumes differed widely across the 12 wartime manufacturers. Apparently, only around 30 complete sets were known to exist, worldwide. 

This 'WWW' Longines (sometimes incorrectly, called the Greenlander) is in truly exceptional and very original condition and one of the watches known as ‘Dirty Dozen' commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) during World War II.

This watch has become known as a ‘Greenlander’ model, though the watch was never issued for the British North Greenland Expedition and the name actually comes from a mistake in a military watch book, as the writer believed that the model was worn by soldiers on this expedition.

While all of the Dirty Dozen watches were produced along with similar guidelines, the Longines models had the biggest case size at 38mm and probably in our opinion one of the nicest cases with a ‘stepped’ bezel. The dial is a classic military style in black with applied lume by each of the Arabic numbers and in the Cathedral style hands while the movement is a Longines 12.68Z manual winding caliber with 15 jewels.

What's on Offer

This example of the Longines Dirty Dozen is one of the nicest examples we have ever seen, it has been meticulously preserved and has aged beautifully. The rich black dial is in fantastic shape and boasts all of the hallmarks we would expect to see on this soldiers watch - bold Arabic numerals, an outer minute track, recessed sub seconds dial at 6 o'clock and beautiful cathedral hands ( The only other DD watch which was originally produced with Cathedral hands is the Jaeger LeCoultre). The dial also retains its original lume  on the both the hands and the hour markers which has aged to a beautiful deep pumpkin colour and gives the whole dial a beautiful warmth. There is also the notable military pheon present underneath the Longines signature, this denotes the watch as property of the MoD. 

The dial is encapsulated underneath shatterproof Plexiglas which is then encased in stainless steel. The case and lugs are in superb shape and the caseback is engraved with original military markings which read: 23088 306 WWW F 4030. The watch is running well and keeping good time which is remarkable given its age. 

These watches are dwindling in numbers and especially in such exemplary condition, any vintage or military collector would be delighted to add this to their collection - a superb piece of British military history and still going strong.