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Online, Mar 25, 2004

LOT 374

Zenith, No. 3286183. Produced for the British Royal Navy circa 1940, transferred to NATO service in the 1950s.Fine and rare, keyless, stainless steel "Staybrite", military watch with NATO decimal dial.

C. three-piece, "bassine", polished, screwed-down case back and bezel. D. matte white with 12-hour inner Arabic chapter, outer red Arabic minute chapter, outermost decimal scale from 1 to 10. Blued steel "index" hour hand, painted red "index" minute hand. M. Cal. 40 mm, frosted gilt, 17 jewels, straight-line lever escapement, cut bimetallic compensation balance, blued steel Breguet balance spring, cam type Zenith micrometer regulator.Movement signed, case engraved with the British Navy numbers.Diam. 52 mm.This watch bought by the British Navy was transferred to the NATO system in the 1950s and was converted to a decimal seconds dial, which was needed for fast ballistic calculations.