Need help with identifying the watch

Hi

Please help me with identifying this watch.

I am in possession of a watch that may be interesting. This is a watch which seems to be the airforce of the First World War, Mechanism is IWC Jones, porcelain dial signed IWC. Case is made of steel, screw cap. Numbers on the dust capsule W ↑ D 318201. The numbers seem to be military. In addition to the case there is a military strap which is dedicated to be attached to the leg.

Is it possible that the watch is the original one?

[](images82.fotosik.pl/685/5a96add3ee76dc25.jpg)

[](images83.fotosik.pl/683/6e25ddac99b44b9a.jpg)

[](images82.fotosik.pl/685/34b01c3c5952ea61.jpg)

[](images82.fotosik.pl/685/ff915a5a80baa6cf.jpg)

[](images84.fotosik.pl/684/d744da96361de414.jpg)

It looks like a pocket watch has been converted into a wrist or thigh watch. I doubt that the conversion was done in Schaffhausen. The dial and movement may be of interest to some collectors.

As Ralph said it appears to be a conversion from a pocket watch into a wrist watch, probably made a longtime ago, or made recently to look like it was made a longtime ago.

The WD engraving in the case back means War Department and the Pheon that it in the inventory of the the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.

It is highly unlikely that a Jones movement would end up in a military watch belonging to any of the branches of the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.

The long strap, assuming it is contemporaneous to the modification, was intended to wear the watch over the sleeve of a bulky flight suit, and not intended to strap the watch on the leg.

The markings derive from the WW I era, thus about 40 years after Jones went bankrupt.

It is a 0.00% to 100% that it is an issued watch what the markings suppose. There is a slight chance it was the private watch of a warrant officer. But the chance it got the markings applied far after WW I is by far the biggest. At this time precision timekeeping has that much evolved, that nobody would bought a Jones any longer.

Regards

Th. Koenig

Addendum:

1) I saw this particular watch (Jones WD 318201) for the first time in 2006. No similar watch before and after.
2) The ID-No on the outer back normally refers to the movement No., if there is no movement No. to the case-No. In this case the movement No. obviously is not 318201. If the case No. in the inner side of the back is 318201 my educated guess is, that the Jones movement has been swapped in that case. If there is no case No. the markings are fake.

Regards

Th. Koenig