Beobachtungsuhr（B-Urh）
The use of wristwatches by Luftwaffe pilotsbecame very widespread as accurate timings were required to assist them intheir mission. The quality that went into the production of these manufacturedtimepieces, A. Lange & Söhne, Wempe, Stowa, IWC, Hanhart, Tutima andLaco.[8]
Hanhart Chronograph which was a One-Buttonwatch made by Swiss-German manufacturer, Hanhart. The one-button version was asimplified design that first appeared in 1942 and was the version worn by theLuftwaffe's aces like Major Erich Hartmann. The watch is a 17-jewel mechanicalmovement and only 2500 units were produced. A Tutima Flieger Chronograph watch,which was a high quality chronograph wrist watch that was developed in 1939.However it was not until 1941 that the watch was available for sale eitherindividually to pilots or to the German Air Ministry, and then supplied to theGerman Luftwaffe. Lange and Sohne Luftwaffe Observers Watch was used in theaircraft which required a highly reliable and easily readable timepiece, fromapproximately 1941 a standardised design was manufactured. These watches werevery large even by the standard of today. A large Navigation mechanical watchLaco Aviator for German Pilots was used in military Luftwaffe Pilots. The hoursmarkers and watch hands are fluorescent (luminous in dark). The Reichs AirMinistry recognized the need for an efficient observer watch"Beobachtungsuhr" to be used by the aircraft navigator, assistingcrews of long range bombing missions. Observer Watches were also worn by thePilots who needed wrist watches that could be accurately and instantly readwhen both hands were used to pilot the aircraft. This design was given theReichsluftfahrtministerium ( Reichs Air Ministry) classification number FL 23883. This number appeared on all Luftwaffe Watchesof this design. Laco also produced a compass which would have been worn by thepilot on his other arm.
CWC
CWC watches are made to the highest Swissstandards, using Swiss parts and come with a 3 year warranty.
We have manufactured pilots' chronographs,Royal Navy and special forces divers' watches and NATO general servicetimepieces to all branches of the armed forces.
Founded in 1972, CWC watches have been suppliedto RAF, Royal Navy, SBS, Army and many foreign governments.
http://www.cwcwatch.com/DUROWE
In the early 20th century, the Germanwatch-making industry primarily used movements manufactured in Switzerland. Tohelp the German watch-making industry become independent of these Swissmovement manufacturers, DUROWE was founded in 1933 by Erich Lacher. Erich wasthe son of Frieda Lacher, the co-founder of the German watch maker Lacher &Co ("LACO").
Erich Lacher intended DUROWE to supply not onlyLACO but other German watchmakers as well. DUROWE grew strongly in the 1930s,with the number of movements produced peaking at 30,000 per month until theoutbreak of the Second World War. During the war, DUROWE continued tomanufacture movements, in particular the large chronometer-grade movements usedin the Beobachtungsuhren (B-Uhr) commissioned by the German government for useby the Luftwaffe, of which Laco was one of five manufacturers.[2]
At the end of the war, the DUROWE factory inPforzheim was destroyed by an Allied bombing raid. However, DUROWE and Laco hadrecommenced production by 1949. With the assistance of the Marshall Plan, afive-storey building to house the Laco and DUROWE operations was built whichhoused more than 1,400 workers by the middle of the 1950s. Production ofmovements rose to 80,000 per month.
During the 1950s, DUROWE developed a number ofinnovative movements, including one of the first German automatic movements andsome of the slimmest German movements manufactured at the time. However, due toa downturn in business, the DUROWE and Laco brands were sold to the TimexCorporation on 1 February 1959. The primary motivation for the purchase was sothat Timex could gain access to research that DUROWE had done into electronictimepieces, however the watches were generally not commercially successful. Sixand a half years later, on 1 September 1965, DUROWE was purchased by the Swissmovement manufacturer ETA SA to gain access to the European markets of the thenEuropean Economic Community. ETA accordingly re-focused DUROWE on theproduction of mechanical watch movements.[1]
However, DUROWE was to be one of the manyvictims of the Quartz crisis and by the end of the 1970s the firm had stoppedproduction.
In 2002, Jörg Schauer, the owner of the STOWAand Schauer watch brands, purchased the rights to the DUROWE brand and plans torecommence production of DUROWE-branded movements in the future.[3] Accordingto DUROWE's website, this movement is likely to be the Calibre 7440, ahand-wound movement based upon the Unitas 6498, and the aim of DUROWE is toproduce 200-500 movements by the end of 2010, first to be used in STOWA andSchauer watches but later made available to third party brands.
Elgin
During World War II all civilian manufacturingwas halted and the company moved into the defense industry, manufacturingmilitary watches, chronometers, fuses for artillery shells, altimeters andother aircraft instruments and sapphire bearings used for aiming cannons.
All US manufacturing was discontinued in 1968,and the rights to the name "Elgin" were sold and subsequently resoldmultiple times over the years. The rights eventually were purchased by MZ BergerInc., which company manufactures its watches in China and distributes themoutside traditional watch dealerships. Elgin-branded watches produced after1968 have no connection to the Elgin Watch Company.
