Product Details

SKU: ORD1/HW

In WWII Ordnance watches were made for the US military by Waltham, Hamilton, Bulova and Elgin. The original watches were made of nickel-plated brass because wartime conditions precluded the use of stainless steel as a consequence the original watches were not very durable hence finding one in good and sound condition is very challenging. The original watches were very small and measured 33/34mm but we increased the size slightly to 36.5 mm excluding the crown and 39 mm including the crown.  

The US Army Ordnance Department watches were intended for use by non-aviation personnel; the A-11 which is similar but with a black dial was the USAAF equivalent.

The interesting thing about the design generally is that the British War Office procured a very similar timepiece in 1938 which was two years before the ORD watches hence the reason the watches both look pretty much identical.

Before WWII and particularly during WWI soldiers adapted all sorts civilian pocket watches and trench watches to their needs and this situation also existed with American troops. It was only following World War One that the British War Office decided to procure watches designed specifically for military use and the US Army Ordnance Department went down exactly the same path.

During WWII U.S Army personnel were issued with watches by the "ORD DEPT" In 1940, the Ordnance Department published the specific requirements and specifications for military watches hence ORD and ATP watches were very similar in basic specification and design which met the key objective which was to standardise the timepieces in use.

The original watches were handwound, this particular watch retains the hand winding mechanical movement, there is also a self winding automatic version for buyers who prefer not to wind the watch by hand each day.

For comparison the last two images were sent to us by a watch enthusiast and show original WWII watches made by Elgin which are ORD watches the third image is a Grana which is a British military ATP watch, as you can see they followed a very similar design with minimal differences.

Specification:

• Case Diameter: 36.5 mm exc crown, 39 mm incl crown
• Lug to Lug 43 mm
• Thickness 13.5 mm
• Lug Type: Spring Bars
• Dial Colour: Off White 
• Case Material: 316L stainless steel
• Caseback: 316L stainless steel
• Crown: 316L stainless steel
• Water Resistance: 5 ATM (50 m)
• Movement: 21 Jewel Mechanical Handwinding
• Subsidiary second hand
• Glass: Plexiglass / Perspex
• Luminous Material: Luminova
• Serial number on caseback
• Strap: 18 mm Canvas
• 24 Months Guarantee

• Delivery

  • Delivery charges are as follows:

    USA/CANADA	EUROPE	UK	REST OF THE WORLD
    Tracked Mail US$11.50	Tracked Mail €11.75 / £10.25 / US$11.50	Tracked Mail  £9.95	Tracked Mail US$11.50 / €11.75 / £10.25
    Express Courier UPS or FedEx  US$25.00	Express Courier UPS or FedEx  €27.50 / £24.00 / US$27.00	Express Courier  UPS £12.95	Express Courier UPS or FedEx  US$41.50 / €42.50 / £36.50

    You will generally receive two emails after placing an order, the first will be a confirmation of receipt of the order and payment, this will be followed by a notification of shipment  once the goods are dispatched. When an order and payment has been processed, goods will be shipped by the Post Office or Courier within 48 hours. Please note that our shipping centers are closed on Saturdays and Sundays therefore orders placed during this time may take up to 72 hours to be dispatched, this includes orders after 13:00 European time on Fridays.

    The estimated delivery times in working days are set out below: *

    • USA Registered Mail: 4 to 12 days
    • USA UPS: 2 to 3 days
    • Europe UPS: 2 to 5 days
    • Europe Registered Mail: 7 to 14 days
    • UK DPD or UPS: 12 to 48 hours
    • UK Royal Mail: 1 to 3 days
    • Rest of World UPS: 3 to 10 days
    • Rest of World Registered Mail: 7 to 21 days

    All shipping estimates exclude Saturdays and Sundays when our packing and shipping centres are closed and also some countries postal services do not operate at the weekend.
    

    * Some countries are prone to be notoriously slow to process goods on arrival, among these countries are Israel, Hong Kong, Macau, Mexico, South Africa and some South American countries. We also tend to experience significant delays with many countries in Africa in addition to South Africa, you can always contact us for advice although we do not know with certainty exactly which countries will be slow, and which will be fast but the above estimates are a pretty good guide for most countries, keen in mind remote territories or those with slow customs processing can also tend to be problematic. Regardless of the processing speed, all of our shipments are fully insured against Loss.

    Please Note: We recommend using UPS, DHL or Fedex, which we offer as an option, if the delivery is very time sensitive and you are aware that your local Postal Service he's not particularly reliable.

    Whilst we make every effort to deliver your order within the above timeframes this is a guide and delivery cannot be guaranteed. We will not accept responsibility for delays caused by our Couriers or any National postal service. If the goods are not delivered within the time we have estimated, please feel free to contact us or email admin@mwc.watch, and we will do everything possible to resolve the issue promptly. We will not be liable for any loss caused to you by late delivery.

    Our delivery charges covers the cost of shipping the goods to you. However, this does not include import charges and administration fees to clear the goods when entering your country. Some countries are hassle free such as here in the US where up to $800 worth of goods can be imported free of duty/taxes, Australia is similar but some countries will try and collect every cent they can.

    It is the responsibility of the purchaser to understand that charges may apply and pay all subsequent import tax and duty on goods shipped to their respective Country. In the instance that items are returned to MWC as a result of a rejected payment, subsequent charges incurred such as Import Duty and processing costs will be deducted from any refund issued. For further information on this please contact accounts@mwc-distribution.com 

    We do not accept any liability for goods that have been lost after delivery to a PO Box. We reserve the right to cancel orders where the delivery address is a PO Box. Furthermore, we also do not accept any liability for goods that have been lost after they are confirmed as delivered to APO or BFPO locations. 

    It is the Customer's responsibility to notify us if the goods have not been received within 21 days of the estimated delivery date or time of ordering. If no notification is made within this time period the buyer shall be deemed to have received the goods.

    Failed delivery of an item ordered due to non-acceptance of the delivery

    Please note that if you order an item and the delivery company inform us that the item was refused it would be returned back to us, in many cases especially with FedEx, UPS etc they will also charge a return fee to send it back. Because in these circumstances we have done everything that is required to get the item to you we would refund less both the outbound and Inbound shipping charges once the item was received back at our packing and shipping centre. Unfortunately sometimes if you are having the order delivered to a business location the people receiving inbound parcels are prone to refuse an item without checking with the individual concerned we would strongly recommend being very cautious in this situation and notifying the people who handle the incoming parcels that you are expecting a delivery to avoid this problem occurring. Usually, we would be notified there is a delivery issue and would email you for your instructions, normally these sorts of problems can be avoided if you contact the carrier and tell them there is an error but it's very important to act quickly to avoid the return and associated costs.