Ubik
1871
The British military workhorse
I can give you a bit more information
on this watch. To military collectors it's mostly known by it's initial
designation HS9.
A little searching on the Broadarrow website will give you lots of examples.
Starting with the back, HS stands for Hydrographic Survey, which was the branch
of the military who were in charge of charting the world's oceans. They
produced a series of designations -- HS1 through to HS11 -- which were mostly deck
watches and pocket watches for use in the Navy. This one was probably used by
the Royal Navy's fleet air arm and dates sometime to the late forties.
It's a testament to these Lemanias that they were kept in service for a long
time, when the military switched their coding system to the NATO system, they
struck out the original designation and added the NATO number which is 0552/924
3305 number. These are sometimes referred to as double issue Lemanias. These
were the only wristwatch chronographs that the British military used from the
Forties until the end of the Sixties, when the two button chrono's became the
standard.
The 1959 does not refer to the date, but is the unique issue number of the
watch.
These early dials would have used Radium, this was taken off the watch sometime
in the Fifties and the dial was redialled by the MOD and the circle P has been
added, which according to Donald Woo's great article in the book British
Military Timepieces stood for a Phosphorous luminous compound. Later on you see
a lot of military dials with the more common circle T for Tritium as well.
The movement should be the Lemania 15CHT.
The hands, as you say are incorrect. You should be able to get a correct set
of hands if you look on ebay. They should look like the one posted by G99 many
years ago.
Congrats and enjoy. Now should you ever come across the HS10 divers watch, please drop me a line
(Credit - Vintage Rolex Forum)
Lemania two register chronograph
I'm fascinated with chronographs and, more, when they have two registers without date. This weekend, on our regular GTG, a friend was wearing a Lemania that I love. Based on my little knowledge about Lemania in general I presume that this one was made for...
What a coincidence! I was on to post another version of this Lemania
This one: ... Which is on my wish list... ;) Best, Nicolas ...
Oh, coincidences ...
"Bright Minds Think Alike". But, please, post yours with yours words of wisdom. Cheers, Nilo
All business!
Lovely watch. Your post catches me in the middle of an evolving admiration for Lemania. Besides being the secret engine behind many a chronograph produced my other manufacturers, Lemania itself strikes me as the quiet epitome of the tool chronograph. Your...
Not mine ...
I only wish it was. This friend (All guys that goes to our GTG) is another "black hole" (everything enters, nothing leaves!). I also have a great respect to Lemania. I only feel uncomfortable with the Lemania 5100 because of the plastic parts, but this is...
What a great group you hang with Nilo
This one is in my collection as well, and I love it to death. It's a beautiful watch to wear and as you say, very pure. The British Military's love affair with Lemania started in the late Forties when they used the predecessor to yours and Nico's version....
Thank you, again ...
Ubik, Of course, when this watch poped out, yours was my reference. Cool watch with the historical bonus. Cheers, Nilo
Thanks for all the information....
Your last statement is definitively true. Lemania chronographs, military or not, are still amazing and affordable collectors' items
i've been very lucky to own 2 of the 1 button Lemanias
The black dial for the RAF and the white dial for the FLEET AIR ARM. Lemania are a brand that make very lovely chronographs, (up until the 861 that is) You have lots of friends with black hole collections Nilo. I would kill to see all your friends watches...
WARNING - There are some concerns ...
About the 100% originality of this watch (caseback, pushers and maybe the crown). Please, do not use those pictures as reference. Tomorrow, the member that raised those concerns will explain in detail. Sorry about that, Nilo
Thanks Nilo
I'll post my questions about this tomorrow - on closer look I think it has several question marks?
Chat with the owner and ...
He got this watch 15 years back and tomorrow morning we go to our watchmaker to have the case opened and see the mysteries that are inside. I will be there to take pics from the inside and I will update this post. In any case it will be very educative to ...
nice chronographs!
these Lemanias are amongst some hidden treasures, very nice! I love the one button versions, British and Sweedish army issues, on my list, one day!... Matt
Can I start guessing? :-)
Wrong hands? Should be more slender... A (refinished?) one-button dial? Numbers are cut off, unlike Ubik's Wrong crown? Should be shorter with a chamfer on inner surface. "Interesting" caseback opening slots/wrong caseback? "Interesting" number stamping?
Hi Ben, Long time no...
Hi Ben, Long time no hearing from you here. Whats the goss? G On Oct 2, 2012 7:15 AM, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:watchprosite > *Posted By:* BDLJ (registered) on October 1st, 2012 - 23:15 > > *Title: Can I start guessing? :-) > * > > *
Mainly...
...hiding on the Auto and Time out areas, G. No watch goss, sadly. Work permitting have been playing/working-on with a couple of bikes (petrol and human powered) and sorting out some dive stuff now that the sun has rediscovered Melbourne. How're them chic...
You get the sun amd...
You get the sun amd i get torrential rain for the whole week. How i envy the rich and famous who can follow the nice weather. I've been keeping an eye on the duke progress emails. Looks good. G On Oct 3, 2012 2:06 AM, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:...
The Duke TT has...
....slowed a bit, sourcing stuff for the engine rebuilds is slooow. And of course, the basic stuff, the stuff you need to get started is the slowest. Sorting out the bodywork now...which isn't fun. Will send you some more PMs/emails and not clutter up Nil...
Having another look at this watch
these are the questions I would have about it. Of course this is just based on looking at a series of them that all share the same attributes - which don't appear in this one. On the other examples the pusher and crowns are bigger - they exactly fit the g...
OK - Let's go by steps ...
Here are the pics from the case back inside and the movement: Case back (last two digits masked): Movement (Last two digits masked): I agree that: 1) The dial is ... strange but we could not see, even using a 20x magnifier and my watchmaker expertize any ...
Looks like a Lemania 187..
...which would seem correct for the era....but is missing one of the levers to the cam? Does the chrono work? Would love to see inside Ubik's example to confirm. But to me, the question is the caseback, with incorrect, unaligned and stamped (rather than e...
The chrono works fine ...
I believe that the case back numbers should be a concern, when we match then with the Navy standard. Did you notice that the numbers seems to be misaligned because I erased portions of the number? Did Lemania produced this chronograph to other armies? Che...
Nilo, I'll try and discuss your points
1 - The dial. It may well be an original Lemania dial and it bears a resemblance to the dial style found on the one button assymetric Lemania. The aim would be to find another reference of a military watch with the same subdial. As a note on the Lemania d...
The Submarine marks ...
Close the case. I will deliver the bad news to my friend. It's a shame that he got this watch many years back and only now it could be validated. To mitigate his pain is the fact that, at that time, he didn't paid too much (I hope). This and other similar...
You don't have to avoid Vintage watches...
You just have to stick to the platinum rule: In case of doubt, pass. Or ask. Best, Nicolas
It's an experience
all of us who collect vintage watches have, so I empathise. As Nico says, you just need to invest a little time in finding out the information, those of us who do collect vintage watches enjoy that element of it as well and when you find a hidden gem and ...
I agree ... for some brands that ...
We have plenty number of experts and/or access to documentation. Two recent cases show me that the fake makers are moving to brands that those conditions are not that simple to fulfill. And this old "military" Lemania is another example (bad). Cheers, Nil...
Nato number clarification
I've re-read this and want to correct a point. While the NATO stock number is used by a number of countries, the prefix 0552 to the best of my information is unique to the UK armed forces and specifically the Royal Navy.
Easily faked....
Easily faked. On Oct 3, 2012 7:52 PM, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:watchprosite > *Posted By:* Ubik (registered) on October 3rd, 2012 - 11:52 > > *Title: You Frenchies have it easy M.N. :) [nt] > * > > *
Nice post, Ubik.
There's a lot of work and information in there. Many thanks for compiling it.
Very interesting
The first watch I was given (back in the 70's) was a Lemania Chrono - 'much too good for a schoolboy' was one watchmakers opinion. I'm ashamed to say I didn't treat it well but later I sent it to Switzerland to be repaired in the early 90's which is where...
Please post a picture of the case back ...
In this way, our Lemania Master, Ubik, can examine your watch and share with us more information. Cheers, Nilo
Case back
Glad to - are there any precautions about revealing the whole number? or is that only when the provenance is not proved? (I doubt anyone was making dodgy Lemanias in the early 70's ;-)
I don't see any problem ...
Showng the case back. In respect of making dodgy 70's, we have on the top of this chain, a very educative dissection of a dodgy one by Ubik. Cheers, Nilo
In all it's beauty...
Refurbished in 1990 or 91 by Ollech & Wajs who put on the replacement hands ...
The British military workhorse
I can give you a bit more information on this watch. To military collectors it's mostly known by it's initial designation HS9. A little searching on the Broadarrow website will give you lots of examples. Starting with the back, HS stands for Hydrographic ...
Thank you very much ...
Ubik, You are the master of military watches. As usual, I saved your post for future reference. Thank you again for another great help. Cheers, Nilo
there is also a good...
there is also a good reference book called 'military timepieces' by Ziggy Wesolowski which lists all the HS numbers and their designation. for example and HS1 is a marine chronometer, HS2 marine deck watch. HS8 and 9 are fleet air arm pilots watches as Ub...
Thank you Lord Graham ...
With you and Ubik, we Purists are 100% covered. Cheers, Nilo
Thank you Ubik
I have seen on some sites that the letter P stands for 'Promethium' (used before Tritium) as a schoolboy I announced to my friends it stood for 'Pilot"... As soon as I've sold my near mint Breitling Intruder, I'm inspired to get my HS9 refurbished again (...
if you pm me i...
if you pm me i can give you details of an excellent watch service engineer that i use a lot and is cheap. he loves vintage stuff and wont over polish anything. best Graham On 26 Sep 2013 16:47, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:watchprosite > *Posted B...
A pleasure fop
The article I mentioned says that it does not stand for Promethium, as later circle P's do. As this would be too early for that to be used instead of Radium. The circl P and T were used by the military so that they knew that the dial was free of Radium. Y...
'Silk' Escape maps
Ubik, Thank you for your time and measured responses. It will be a pleasure to return the favour. I got these RAF 'silk' escape maps about 20 years ago direct from a stores dispersal (before ebay was invented!) however if you type RAF silk escape maps int...
all done Fop. if you...
all done Fop. if you havent got it get back to me. regards Graham On 27 Sep 2013 13:11, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:watchprosite > *Posted By:* fop (registered) on September 27th, 2013 - 05:11 > > *Title: 'Silk' Escape maps > * > > *
Strap Suggestions for a Lemania HS9?
I've taken the plunge and sent my Lemania HS9 off to Graham's watch maker friend to see about getting it refurbished :-) (I decided I'd rather have it on my wrist than in a draw - I'm selling off my near mint Breitling Intruder and Seiko 90's MOD Chrono f...
go for a shell cordovan...
go for a shell cordovan nato. best leather in the world, superbly made straps. just pm me for source. i use them on speedmasters, Zenton bronze, Lum-Tecs, Sm300's. you name it, if its sporty then shell cordovan is your best bet. best Graham On 21 Oct 2013...
PM me for suggestions
With the leather Nato's you need to make sure they are thin enough to go through the fixed bars. Otherwise you can get an open ended strap that will work.
The saga continues.
Since taking my old Lemania HS9 into daylight again (pictured above). I sent it off to Graham's watch repairer friend to be restored, he says it needs new pallets but is having difficulty sourcing them because the 'calibre of the watch isn't indicated on ...
Hands
Just heard from Graham's watchmaker contact and restoring my beloved Lemania to working condition is distinctly achievable! The only issue is that he can't find any original Lemania hands to replace those shown in the photo. What do people think? The hand...
glad to hear it is...
glad to hear it is possible to sort it. shame about the hands, but sonetimes not all things are possible. best Graham On 8 Nov 2013 14:04, "www watchprosite" *Alert from:* www:watchprosite > *Posted By:* fop (registered) on November 8th, 2013 - 06:04 > > ...
Original hands
I can live with the present hands when combined with the chunky leather strap. But I'd love to know what Ollech & Wajs did with the originals.
Absolutely delighted!
Graham's watch repairer has done a fantastic job I think you'll agree (I'm posting this shot here so you can do a 'before and after' comparison) - he even polished out my schoolboy initials from the back! I'm going to keep this chunky leather strap for no...
very pleased that another purist...
very pleased that another purist has benefitted from my contacts skills. he's a lovely down to earth man who will do whatever he can to fix anything. good result Graham
Lemania HS9 hands
If anyone is looking for some HS9 hands there are about 5 sets from the same seller on ebay (UK) at the moment. £16 a set, genuine looking stores item.
lovely piece Nilo
from the caseback markings it looks like a UK issue from 1966 unless there are erased markings that confuse things. Lemania make superb chrono's. the 1 button is a real classic as is this. i'm only guessing, but the movement is probably very similar to th...
Not mine. Please read Ubik comments ...
Where he demonstrated that this watch is not what it looks. Sorry, Nilo
oh dear, brain in neutral. commenting on a post i've been involved in for 2 years
please forget my last post and put it down to getting up early and doing an honest days work :) G
A question about this!
A Lemania 815 A with movement 321. chronograph. Around 1965. Do you have any info on this? It was a nice Lemania you have Nilo. [URL=] [/URL] Thanks in advance ...