royal canadian air force pilot
hack watch

Rare Waltham RCAF 6B-150 air navigation watch with a calibre 6/0 hack watch movement affected in 1942 a WWII military pilot's watch made for the royal Canadian air force in 1940, the firm Waltham, at the same title as hamilton, Bulova or Elgin were asked by the American war department to produce before the entry into the war of the united states of America and throughout the second world war military watches for the American and allied air forces. Some of these models were sent to the European armies stationed in England, like this Waltham RCAF watch; others were sent before the war relief funds to the USSR (see the article on Stalin's watches).

Pilots of the Royal Canadian Air Force will, from the London blitz, participate massively alongside the British royal air force to counter the German air threat on England, strong of a contingent of more than ten thousand men at the beginning of the war, it will constitute throughout that here more than eighty squadrons of fighter and bomber pilots. Also engaged on the Asian front alongside the British in the reconquest of South Asia from Japan, more than thirty-five thousand Canadian men and women supported the British army until victory in 1945. At the war's end, the RCAF will be the world's fourth most powerful air force.

The Canadian Air Force used this collectable military watch until the end of the sixties. In 1965, the RCAF modified the model's dial and replaced the radium indexes with tritium (on this occasion, the dial will be marked with the words Ref 6W/12 below the hands). For the model presented here, the pilot's watch is in its original condition, and its assignment markings indicate a squadron assignment during the Second World War in 1942. The case that houses the movement is comparable to the equivalent American A-11 models; it is made of chrome metal, a finish that remains sensitive and keeps track of its use during its years of service. The watch shows signs of wear, but its condition remains exceptional given its age. Its mechanical functioning is good and still meets the operational standards of the time.

The movement is equipped with the stop second function (hack-watch). The watch has a screwed back with its original markings; it houses a non-magnetic bell which protects the mechanical movement with manual winding Waltham 6/0 from electrical or magnetic influences and disturbances in flight. Its operating speed is 18,000 vibrations per hour. After complete winding, its active reserve is thirty-seven hours. The glass that houses the dial (radium indexes) is in Plexiglas, and the winding crown is slightly oversized to be operated with flying gloves. Regarding collection, This pilot's watch is a rare, well-known and highly sought-after model. Rare since few copies survived the global conflict in 1945, given the bravery of the Canadian crews engaged alongside the Royal Air Force and the violence of the fighting during the missions because it has since been established that the Canadian units were mainly assigned to offensive missions over enemy territory. Which strongly mortgaged the chances of survival concerning the defensive assignments above England.