Orig. Lange & Söhne Pilot's Watch B-Uhr Observation Watch Reichs Luftwaffe WW2

Large pilot's wristwatch with central second hand, A. Lange & Söhne Glashütte i.Sa., No. 216508, Reichsluftwaffe WWII

Nickel case, case with push back, dial type B

Large-caliber observation watch of the German Air Force with movement made by A. Lange & Söhne, Glashütte near Dresden

Marked on the movement plate and with the movement number 216508, grained gold-plated movement with manual winding and 16 jewels, cal. 48, with compensation balance with Brequet hairspring

Second stop by pulling the crown, original black dial with luminous numerals and hands, central second, three-piece nickel case with later shortened lugs, case back possibly added, but we suspect that this is the original case from the last weeks or months of the war, when in the confusion of the lost war, what little parts were left was "put together"

Attached is an old leather strap that was later shortened. The watch is functional and has a diameter of 55 mm.

Year of manufacture around 1944 - 1945, this magnificent piece of (military) watch history runs continuously (accuracy not tested)

As a "defect" or pragmatic peculiarity, it should be noted that the original lugs were shortened at the request of the previous owner in order to be able to wear the magnificent artifact flatter and more comfortably on the wrist, which is not possible with the original under-strap bracelet.

Hardcore militaria collectors will see this as a deficiency, enthusiasts who want to wear this magnificent piece will see it as a most welcome improvement.

Rating / Thoughts on the authenticity of the case in particular:

The movement is undoubtedly an original movement Caliber 48 with stop-seconds from Lange&Söhne, which is also shown by a list of the movement numbers of Lange&Söhne observation watches by Konrad Knirim on the photos of this offer

The case itself lacks typical features of an observation watch of the Reichsluftwaffe in World War II: the matt painted grey case material, the FL number on the side outside, manufacturer and casing stamping on the inside of the lid

Was an original movement - for whatever reason - installed in a replica, non-original case?

There are several reasons against this:

- The movement sits rock-solid in the case; nothing wobbles, nothing is fiddled with. The cover also fits perfectly and rock-solid.

- for the size of this watch there were and are no raw cases for installation, especially not with oversized lugs for a long strap bracelet

- the soldering points clearly show that these are the original lugs of a Lange&Söhne B-watch

- if the case had been rebuilt by hand at some point, for whatever reason and at whose request, why was the "error" of the lugs being too large made by hand and then immediately removed, i.e. shortened and flatter bars soldered on?

- the "lack" of a swan neck fine adjustment means nothing, Konrad Knirim confirmed upon inquiry that there were original movements with and without swan neck fine adjustment, depending on who ordered which quality and under which conditions

We assume – and there is more than enough evidence for this in the specialist literature – that this was a very late war production, which is also confirmed by the movement number, which is located at the end of all movement numbers of Lange&Söhne B-watches towards 1945 (see photos).

Towards the end of the war, the loss and wear of equipment became increasingly severe, and the need for replacement or new production increased accordingly. Towards the end of the war, producers lacked individual parts, steel, or—due to bombing and destruction—equipment for steel processing, so improvisation and "tinkering" were the order of the day, as documented in the specialist literature.

The Lange & Söhne factory in Glashütte was bombed and damaged during the war, but improvised production and maintenance of B-clocks and ship chronometers continued until the end of the war.

We assume that the B-watch in this offer is 100% from Lange&Söhne and was also assembled there

Either there were no original matte-painted raw cases available at the time of production, which could be embossed or engraved in the lid (more so at Lange&Söhne), and it was somehow improvised, or after the bombing there were no machines for manufacturing or processing the original cases and a different "replacement case" was built "in a hurry", which could not be embossed (FL number) or engraved (inner lid), or there was no time to do so.

At the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945, material, material, material was needed, and a lot of it and quickly, so a correct FL number and manufacturer's stamp simply no longer played a role and were not absolutely necessary.

No other explanation for this case makes sense! Melting down the case while preserving the valuable movement, as is done with gold pocket watches, makes no sense, since the original case did not contain any precious metal and therefore had no melting/material value.

It is virtually unthinkable that, through whatever force or enemy action, an original case would have been destroyed or cracked while the far, far more sensitive movement remained functional.

Of course, someone could have installed an existing, assembled movement blank into a case made after the war, but - as already mentioned - why then laboriously reproduce the original, huge lugs of a "knee watch" that no one needed or used in demilitarized Germany after the war, and then immediately remove them and solder on flatter ones?

For us, this is a 100% authentic observation watch, made in all its parts by Lange&Söhne - and assembled there - from a makeshift production in the last months of the war

EZ: 2: Normal signs of age and wear, no damage or deep scratches, tarnishes, crystal in good condition, lugs shortened for wrist wear, luminous hour hand broken, original minute hand probably replaced at some point. The baton index at "60" and parts of the "10" numeral are oxidized but retain their original condition.

There are no FL numbers or lid engravings inside!