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This is part 2 of this series, which covers post-war ads from the “Dirty Dozen”. The first installment of this series, which can be read here, covered Buren, Cyma, Eterna and Grana. Part 2 will be looking at ads from IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lemania, and Longines.
IWC Advertisement From The 1950s
The year 1950 marked the “start of an era” for IWC. International Watch Company named Albert Pellaton technical director in 1944, and shortly after, he started developing an automatic wristwatch for the company by May of 1945. The very first sketch for IWC’s very first wristwatch was patented on June of 1946. Pellaton continued to tweak and modify his designs until the fateful day – June 7, 1950 to be exact – when patent number 284841 was filed for the Pellaton winding system. This was the birth of the winding system that is integral to IWC’s movements even today. The below ad comes from this era of time, and even depicts an automatic IWC movement.
Of course IWC’s contribution as a member of the Dirty Dozen didn’t involve an automatic movement. It’s estimated that it provided roughly 5,000 watches, which was on the low side compared to the other eleven members (except maybe Grana). Interestingly, IWC was the only company that produced a Dirty Dozen watch with a snap-on caseback. The other eleven manufacturers provided watches with a screw-down caseback, but all twelve were powered by hand-winding movements.
The watch is often referred to as the Mark X. The company still produces Mark series watches today, with the latest version being the Mark XVIII. The modern Mark series watches appear to now also borrow inspiration from the the style of B-Uhr pilots’ watches. The watch in the feature image is my personal Mark XVI Spitfire, which clearly deviates from the classic, “no frills” sterility of its original ancestor that is the Mark X. It definitely looks more “flieger” than field watch.
The Mark series watches have been a mainstay in the IWC brand’s portfolio, and I’d expect them to remain there going forward because of the rich heritage, even if the design language has changed a bit over the years.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Advertisement From 1954
The original Dirty Dozen field watches eventually evolved, and this evolution ties up the history of JLC with the history of IWC. The Mark XI, which you could say was the quintessential pilot’s watch, superseded the original Mark X “Dirty Dozen” Field watches. Around 1946 or 1947, the Ministry of Defense needed more accurate watches, and decided on a new standard. The original Dirty Dozen watches were suitable for general military use, but didn’t “cut the mustard” for aviation purposes.
IWC and JLC eventually secured the contract, and both produced the Mark XI watches for the Royal Air Force and other agencies. IWC’s version was fitted with the venerable Cal. 89, and was the sole supplier of the Mark XI watches after 1953. This was largely due to inadequate shock protection in JLC’s version, although JLC would ironically later provide the movements that would power IWC’s Mark XII watches. The ad below dates to approximately one year after JLC stopped producing its version of the Mark XI.
JLC created its first automatic caliber in 1946 (the Calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 476), and six year later it released the Futurematic. This was the first entirely automatic watch in the history of watchmaking, according to the brand. In 1950, the Memovox was released, which was a manual-winding alarm watch. This was roughly one year after Vulcain released its “Cricket” model, also with alarm function. Jumping ahead to 1956, JLC released the first automatic alarm watch, which was also a Memovox model, powered by the Calibre 815 movement. Today, JLC is a top-tier brand within the Richemont Group.
Lemania Advertisement From The 1950s
Another original Dirty Dozen member was Lemania. A celebrated chronograph producer, it supplied every chronograph wristwatch issued to the British armed forces (Royal Navy, Fleet Air Arm and RAF) not only in the 1950s, but through the 1960s as well.
Today, it’s technically now owned by Breguet. It’s also the movement-maker behind the Iconic Caliber 321 that powered the Omega Speedmasters that went to the moon. The recently discontinued Omega Speedmaster Caliber 1861 is also based off of a Lemania movement as well. These are arguably some of the most iconic movements of all time.
Lemania originally merged with Omega and Tissot in 1932 to form SSIH – which later became what we know today as Swatch Group. Swatch Group was technically formed in 1983 when SSIH merged with the world’s largest producer of watch movements and parts, ASUAG.
Interestingly, when SSIH was restructuring, and in the course of a management buyout in 1981, Lemania was actually separated from SSIH group and changed its name to Nouvelle Lemania. It was then purchased by Breguet in 1992, and Breguet, like Omega and Tissot, is now part of Swatch group. Swatch acquired Breguet (and thus Lemania) in 1999.
Longines Advertisement From 1956
The final Dirty Dozen member that we will cover in part 2 of this series is Longines. Many state that Longines’ version of the original field watch was the best. Its larger case size at 38mm and stepped case make it one of the most popular Dirty Dozen watches with collectors.
After the war, the 1950s were a busy time for Longines. It developed its first quartz clock in 1954, and also launched its Conquest model in that same year. The below ad dates to roughly 1956, two years after the Conquest was first launched.
1957 was the year Longines launched its Flagship collection. It soon also ventured into the burgeoning field of dive watches, releasing its Nautilus Skin Diver and Compressor – also in the late 1950s. Today, Longines is owned by the Swatch Group.
Part 3 will cover Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex.
Know more about IWC, JLC, Lemania, and Longines and want to add to the discussion? Please post a comment below!