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J.U. Munns - Canadian/US WW1 Officers Trench Watch - Cushion Case - Circa.1914***NOW SOLD***

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£0.00GBP
vws0613

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c.1914 J.U. Munns Canadian/US WW1 Officers trench watch - Cushion case.

A WW1 Canadian/US officer's trench watch housed in a Nickel cushion case, featuring blue tempered steel leaf hand, a sub-seconds dial at 6:00, and the dial marking: 'J.U. Munns - Moose Jaw, Sask', denoting its production in the Canadian town Moose Jaw.

The case is engraved 'Star W.C. Co', short for the Star Watch Case Company, a US case manufacturer founded in Illinois and eventually based in Ludington, Michigan. The company was key in US war efforts, producing cases such as that seen here to house officer's trench watches, as well as WWII with expert production of the 'Norden Bombsight'; a tachometric device used to accurately target bombing during the war. Not only this - the case company most famously produced the cases used to house the early Omega Speedmaster 'Moon Watches'. For more on Star Watch Case Company, find their wikipedia here.

The company received several large military contracts, producing the cases for the Bulova A-17A and 3818B hacking aviation watches, as well as the rare Hamilton "Grade II" watch. These watches are among the finest quality US military watches ever made. It is also likely that the extremely rare, never adopted Bulova prototype dive watch (spec Mil-W-22176) from 1958 had its case made by Star. During the post-war years, Star also made watch cases for Elgin, Hamilton, Longines-Wittenauer, Gruen and Waltham. In the 1960's, the fortunes of the Star Watch Case Company followed those of the rest of America's watch industry. Competition from the Swiss and Japanese, with newer and more efficient manufacuring factories, led to decreased sales and a bleak future. Still, through the 1970's, Star continued to produce very high quality watch cases, including the cases for the first Pulsar digital watch and the innovative HP calculator watch. In 1978, Omega contracted with Star to make the cases for the legendary Speedmaster Professional. This was done, in part, to comply with a NASA procurement rule that 50% of the parts used in any watch for the space program be US-made. Omega must have been pleased with the quality, because they also contracted with Star to produce gold-filled cases for dress watches. Blueprints for these watches can be seen in the archives.

This particular piece is in great condition, with the Enamel dial in particular apparently unchanged since production in the slightest. The blue tempered steel hands are very reflective still. The case has faded slightly on the back, but shows little signs of wear or rub in spite of its age.

A stunning watch made by a manufacturer with some significant watchmaking history. 

Additional information:

Made from

Case: Nickel.

Dial: White, arabic numerals.

Crystal: Plastic 

Bracelet: Brown adjustable leather strap with metal buckle. 

Technical specifications 

Winding: Manual. 

Movement type: Manual winding, Swiss movement.

Calibre: 13.56

Jewels: 16j

Waterproof: No. 

Purchase details

Condition: Good, with signs of light wear. 

Model reference: Trench Watch

Year of issue: 1914. 

Guarantee

Sold with a VWS 6-month guarantee. 

Dimensions

Width (without crown) 32mm

Height (lug to lug) 38.6mm

Wrist size: Adjustable.