1945 CYMA 'Dirty Dozen' W.W.W. WWII Military Watch 38mm

Here we have a classic 1945 CYMA 'Dirty Dozen' W.W.W. WWII Military Watch, featuring a large, for its time, 38mm brushed stainless steel case that curves over your wrist with tapered, rounded lugs and fixed spring bars perfect for NATO straps. Its curved brushed flanks lead to a lug-to-lug length of 45mm and a case thickness of 9.5mm, ensuring a comfortable fit on your wrist. The broad chamfered-edged smooth bezel holds a domed crystal above a black dial. An outer minute railroad track features lumed pips and batons at the hour, surrounding Arabic numerals that mark the hours. Lume-filled hands sit above a recessed seconds sub-dial. At noon, we have the Cyma motif and the ‘Broad Arrow’ (pheon), which signifies that this military equipment was Government property. On the reverse, a screw-down solid case back engraved W.W.W. stood for ‘Watch.Wrist.Waterproof. ’P12771 / 17771’, were issued to ‘General Service’ military personnel. Two serial numbers are engraved, one being the manufacturer’s number, and the other (with the letter) being the military store number. Inside a dust cover protects the manually wound CYMA Cal. 234, 15 jewels, beating at a leisurely 18,000 beats per hour. It comes paired with its 18mm NATO strap.

This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and, therefore, comes with no original CYMA box or paperwork. It is paired with a well-suited 18mm NATO strap. The watch is from the Circa 1945 and is sold in worn, honest and excellent vintage condition, with wear across the case and a delightful patina on the dial, as you can see from the photos. The watch comes with our 12-Month NON-Waterproof Warranty.

Between all of the 'Dirty Dozens', I think the CYMA has to be one of my favourites. Cased in stainless steel and coming in at 38mm, it wears perfectly on the wrist. This example has some of the most incredible patina I have seen, with the dial becoming tropical from the mass of radium in the hands and indices, which have also developed an amazing tone. If you are a military watch fan, an original Dirty Dozen is a must, and this is a fantastic example. I would not hesitate to add it to your collection today!

Reference : W.W.W.
Movement : Manually Wound CYMA Cal. 234
Age : Circa. 1945
Year : 1945
Case Size : 38mm
Case Thickness : 9.5mm
Lug to Lug : 45mm
Lugs : 18mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box and Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
The wrist model's wrist size is 7inch

Cyma was founded in 1862 by the brothers Joseph Schwob and Theodore Schwob, in the town of Le Locle, Switzerland. In 1871, Henri Sandoz established Sandoz & Cie in Le Locle. Sandoz moved to Tavannes in 1891, just North of Biel, where he manufactured highly desirable repeaters and chronographs. Sandoz soon saw the potential of Cyma forming a business relationship with the Schwob brothers, and Cyma was officially registered in 1903. During the 1940s, Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) needed watches to be issued to the Army during World War II. Rather than relying on one watch manufacturer, they invited many Swiss brands to build a watch to a tight specification. Out of those submitted, 12 brands were chosen: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger Le-Coultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex. This is where the “Dirty Dozen “ derives from. The watches had engraved into them the W.W.Ws, a code established by the British Army to distinguish these from other military equipment, and it simply stood for Watch. Wrist. Waterproof. Two serial numbers were engraved, one being the manufacturer’s number, and the other (with the letter) being the military store number. A Broad Arrow (pheon) was also put on the watch to indicate British Government Issue property. They were delivered by 1945, which was the closing period of the war; therefore, many of these watches never actually saw action. Cyma produced an estimated 20,000 watches. In 1943, Cyma unveiled its first automatic wristwatch, endowed with a 420 calibre featuring a unidirectional rotor. In 1966, the company was bought by the ASUAG Chronos Holding, and production continued under their Synchron group in 1968. Cyma became a sister company to Doxa and Ernest Borel throughout the 1970s.