Jaeger-LeCoultre RAF Observer's Pocket Watch - Air Ministry 6E/50 - Broad Arrow - WWII - 1940s

A bomber navigator did his work in a cramped, blacked-out compartment behind the pilots, bent over a chart table with a pencil, a slide rule, and a watch. Navigation was arithmetic worked on time. Between fixes he tracked the aircraft by dead reckoning, setting heading and airspeed against the minutes elapsed to find the distance run, and plotting it forward through the dark over country he could not see while the aircraft was being fired on. For that he needed a watch that held the time accurately and could be read at a glance, and it rode flat on the chart table beside the chart. The watch issued for the job was the Air Ministry observer's pocket watch, the stores number 6E/50, the reference this one carries. The broad arrow struck into the back is the British government's property mark, the sign the watch was Crown issue rather than a private purchase, and below it sit the stores reference 6E/50 and the issue number A8247. Jaeger-LeCoultre was one of a small group of Swiss houses trusted to supply these, and the model saw the war up close. The Imperial War Museum holds a Jaeger-LeCoultre 6E/50 whose caseback was engraved by the airman who carried it, kept on him through the morning of 6 June 1944 to hold the time across the approach to dawn and the naval bombardment off the Normandy beaches. That watch is the same model as this one, by the same maker and under the same Air Ministry reference.

The dial has aged the way these lacquered military dials do when they are never restored. The whole surface has crazed into a fine web of cracks, edge to edge, with a crystalline shine the way old porcelain or the varnish on an old painting breaks up over decades, with some flaking and small losses where the lacquer has lifted. The crazing has been stabilized with Paraloid B-72, a museum grade archival solution, the same one used to restore valuable paintings, halting any further loss. Through all of it the watch still reads cleanly. The bold black Arabic numerals, the Jaeger-LeCoultre signature beneath the twelve, and the sunk seconds dial at six stay legible, and the luminous cathedral hands stand clear over the crackle, though I believe they have been relumed at some point. It is the original dial, never refinished, and it wears its service in the open.

Behind it is the gilt Jaeger-LeCoultre movement, Swiss made and signed across the bridge, the standard of work the Air Ministry called for in a watch that aircrew set their navigation by. It winds from the crown at the top and it runs and keeps good time.

The case is the plated base metal the services used for these, chosen to be hard-wearing rather than precious, with a bow at the top for a chain or lanyard. Long handling has worn the plating through to the brass at the bezel and around the edges, and the back carries the broad arrow, the 6E/50 reference, and the issue number, struck into the metal and softened by wear.

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. I am happy to service any unserviced watch listed on the site, please inquire about service charges when purchasing.

All sales final.