Elgin Watch - Ord. Dept. U.S.A. - WWII Issue - Golden Radium Burn - 1944

On the morning of June 6, 1944, the Allies put a hundred and fifty thousand men across the beaches of Normandy, and every one of them had been equipped by the supply system behind him, down to the wrist. The watches came through the Ordnance Department of the United States Army, the branch that armed the infantry, and they were issued the way rifles were issued, drawn from a supply room and signed for on a property book. The movement inside this watch was made that same year. Elgin had stopped selling to the public in December of 1941, and for the rest of the war the whole factory ran for the military.

Whether this one crossed a beach or kept time at a depot stateside, no record survives to say. What survives is stamped into the metal: Ord. Dept. U.S.A. across the steel back, the property mark of the department itself. Many know the Elgin A-11, the airmen's hacking watch the trade calls the watch that won the war. This watch was issued alongside it, to the men who set foot on the ground and faced the enemy face to face.

Over eighty years its original radium lume has burned into the face, turning the whole of it an even sun-warmed yellow, the burn collectors hunt and seldom find unbroken. The numerals stand sharp across it, a railroad minute track rings the edge, and the running seconds turn in their own small dial above the six. Most of these came home to hard wear and a fresh coat of paint on the dial. This one kept its original dial, and the burn runs even from edge to edge.

Behind the dial is the Elgin caliber 554, its bridge stamped Elgin 554 U-S-A and numbered T533659, fifteen jewels, wound by hand, the movement Elgin built straight through the war. It still has its black gears that only the military issued watches carried.

The case is in exceptional condition with sharp corners and crisp edges. The maker's stamp inside reads Star Watch Case Co., a contracted military case supplier through the second world war. 

The dial holds scattered spots of age, and the case wears the marks of its years, all of it in the photographs. It comes on an olive leather strap. The watch runs, and its service history is unknown.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

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