Waltham USSR 'Lend-Lease' Watch

Many younger collectors invariably associate Waltham with the gold-filled dress watches hidden away in dusty cases in antique stores across the United States. However, the defunct American brand was once responsible for producing millions of reliable timekeepers, among them some of the most important military watches of the 1940s and 1950s.

During the Second World War, Waltham supplied American troops will all manner of issued timepieces, from the famed A-11 pilot's watch to more common Ordnance Dept. wristwatches and pocket watches. Though this particular piece appears to be an otherwise common Model 10609 Ordnance Dept. wristwatch in "OG" designation, it's actually something far more rare...

Established in July, 1941, the Russian War Relief was a New York-based organization set up to supply Soviet troops with American-made military equipment. One of the items that it procured was military-grade wristwatches from Waltham, Hamilton, and Elgin — the very three firms producing the Ordnance Dept. wristwatches under contract to the U.S. government.

Rather than being given standard casebacks engraved with issue and serial numbers, those of the U.S.S.R. war-relief watches were engraved in Cyrillic "To the Heroic People of the U.S.S.R. – Russian War Relief USA," with the name of the organization transliterated.

Though production numbers across all three manufacturers are unknown, it's thought that only a few-thousand of these watches were made, making them extraordinarily rare compared to the wider production run of Ord. Dept. or A-11 watches. Given the extraordinary hardships endured by Soviet troops — not to mention the complex political and military relationship between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. immediately following the cessation of hostilities — it's little wonder that so few of these ever turn up for sale.

This particular 'Lend-Lease' watch is a Waltham model 10609. Housed in a 31mm chromed Keystone case with a screw-down caseback, an unsigned crown, and an acrylic crystal, it features a patinated silver dial with an outer minute track in black, radium-filled 'Arabic' indices and 'cathedral' hands, and a sub-seconds display above 6 o'clock. Powering its is Waltham's 9-jewel 6/0 movement, which is consistent with OC- and OG-grade (waterproof) wristwatches issued via the Ordnance Dept. 

Paired to a green fabric two-piece, military-style reproduction strap with chrome hardware, this extraordinary piece of WWII history is ready for wear, its caseback a silent witness to the camaraderie that predated the uncertainty and fear of the Cold War. A rare historical artifact, we're tempted to quote Indiana Jones and say...

..."it belongs in a museum!" 

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