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     Zaf Moderator Username: Zaf Post Number: 48 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
This is one of the all time military watch classics. It was issued as a "General Purpose" flying equipment timepiece to British Commonwealth personal in 1953. Approximately 5,900 of these watches were made. 1. Original Thin Arrow. The is an original "Thin Arrow" dial example with original radium luminous. Caliber 283, case reference 2777-1SC. It retains the original antimagnetic dust cover and it's spacer ring. Most examples have lost this ring. I have left this watch in its unrestored/unpolished condition. These are fairly rare as the majority of these watches have been converted to the "Fat Arrow" dial.    2. The "Fat Arrow" Example Having found that the radium dials were dangerous when stockpiled, the British Ministry of defence underwent a redialling campaign and redialled the as delivered "Thin Arrow" watches into what is known as the MoD "Fat Arrow Watches". Note the "circle T", indicating that the dial has tritium luminous material rather than radium. The majoritiy of the watches out there will look like this.  3. The Omega Factory Restored "Thin Arrow" Example Some brave souls have been sending their watches for factory restorations. It's very time consuming, somewhat expensive and a few have been lost in postage, but the results are nice. Here is an example of a watch that I sent in. These appear to me a "new" dials rather than New Old stock.  These are all handsome watches and are some of the nicest RAF issue timepieces on the wrist. The case is 37mm and is not too small by today's standards. They're still relatively affordable and I still think there is still some upside as collectors snatch them up. The Thin arrows are hard to find, I'd guestimate that there are fewer than 400-500 that survive with original dials. Zaf |