wwii axis reenactment forum

Many thanks to Tom for lending me his account for this...

After a break of a few years while I actually went away and learnt the watchmaking trade properly, I'm restarting production of the DH-style watches.
I stopped making the previous watches simply because they weren't as good as they could have been, mainly due to the way I made the dials from plastic film which doesn't seem to have stood the test of time too well.
The new ones have a printed and enamelled dial which, while not made exactly as the originals, is as close as I can get without investing a few thousand pounds in some purpose-designed machinery. The hands I now use are a good match for the ones on the original Heer and Luftwaffe watches in my collection that I've used as reference sources.

Here's a quick snap of the very first one of the new design, fresh off the workbench:



And now the purpose of this post:
I would welcome any suggestions as to making these as YOU want, rather than how I think you might want them.
After all, these are intended for German re-enactors, so let me know and I'll see if I can incorporate your ideas into production.

I'll have five with me at Beltring for you to have a look at in the flesh as it were, so please pop by and see what you think.
I'll be on the main Summer of 44 pitch in the living history field, in the usual spot as far as I know.

I can be contacted directly via paulbellamy1939 AT hotmail.com.

All the best,
Paul Bellamy

...We now return you to your regular programme.

Very nice mon ami

How much will these be going for if you don't mind me asking?
(Just a thought maybe some wording or maker mark on the dial would be a nice touch??)

Regards Pipes

PB again...

Ta Pipes,

The sub-seconds dial watches are £60, with free postage once full production starts..
I've tried to keep the price as close to the first ones as I can by buying the components in bulk while keeping the quality up, hence there's a lot of common parts between all five different reenactors' watch styles I'm doing.

I've tried to avoid putting a name on the dial so far, as the list of original manufacturers is relatively small, and I won't use any of them anyhow as they are all still trademarked.
I can put a name in there however, to the specified 1mm letter height.
Any suggestions for an appropriate un-trademarked name will be considered of course.
I did some draft designs using "Dalbech" before going with the sterile print.

All the best,
Paul

Hans Gowert wrote:PB again...

Ta Pipes,

The sub-seconds dial watches are £60, with free postage once full production starts..
I've tried to keep the price as close to the first ones as I can by buying the components in bulk while keeping the quality up, hence there's a lot of common parts between all five different reenactors' watch styles I'm doing.

I've tried to avoid putting a name on the dial so far, as the list of original manufacturers is relatively small, and I won't use any of them anyhow as they are all still trademarked.
I can put a name in there however, to the specified 1mm letter height.
Any suggestions for an appropriate un-trademarked name will be considered of course.
I did some draft designs using "Dalbech" before going with the sterile print.

All the best,
Paul

Perhaps just a little "universal" German State eagle or a motif for branch of service such as WH, LW, KM and SS....just a thought

Pipes

The watch looks good as it is. The "trades" Peiper suggests will make it look cartoony. Not everything Third Reich was festooned with swastikas..... I do like the idea of "Dalbech" for obvious reasons...... But if not ordered I will have one of the five from you at Beltring please Paul.........

A good looking watch indeed. Well done.

I agree with Paul the watch looks good as it is no need to add extras

Hoffman Grink wrote:The watch looks good as it is. The "trades" Peiper suggests will make it look cartoony. Not everything Third Reich was festooned with swastikas..... I do like the idea of "Dalbech" for obvious reasons...... But if not ordered I will have one of the five from you at Beltring please Paul.........

A good looking watch indeed. Well done.

Heh heh.....ooops sorry i spoke, there i go again

Using period Radium as well?

Ummm, I'd be interested in one.

I do like the idea of a lufty styled one ?

Wow lovely item! Are there any period markings on the back - can you post a pic regardless?

Are you sure all the manufacturers are still around and copyrighted?

My preference is to get as accurate copy as possible, now if they exisited without markings and you cant use markings for the reason above go with this! But if they were marked (and you are allowed) then I would mark them up!

Mike

TBF maybe a logo would look farby but i was thinking of initials such as branch of service as
mentioned earlier, although if you did want a name maybe you could change one of the real
ones if they are still under copyright such as change "Kienzle" to "Hienzle" or "Gienzle" for example,
just a thought

Pipes

Paul is most likely now down at beltring.

But also note: if cases need to be marked, this will increase in price due to sending the cases off to a seperate bloke to have them stamped.

OR if you find an original case, Paul can make one up for that case.

Keep it simple

Is it a mechanical timepiece you're offering Paul?

Branch marked watches were the property of the armed forces and would only have been lend to personal who required it. An average landser with a Army Property stamp would be enough to jail him, charges with theft. And hence it would not be realistic for most reenactors to have.
I think it's really great with these watches, and I would seriously consider to get one for myself.

Any pictures of the original(s) you based your watch on?