Waltham Aircraft clock, Japanese speaker needed.

[bazelot]

I just got this Waltham Navy clock that comes from an airplane. It came in a vintage brass stand with 2 Japanese (?) shells soldered to it.
First of all are these Japanese characters on the back of the shells and if so what do they stand for? What kind of shells are these?

 

[Andrew]

I have exactly the same clock, mine came out of a RAAF Catalina that did patrols from western Australia throughout Indonesia, NG etc. Mines also mounted but in a timber case. I had mine refurbished last year and it runs continuously and keeps great time. Hope yours goes ok, watch out for the balance staff, it was so hard for my jeweller to find one, he finally got two from the States and they said that was the last they could get!

Have the hands and date been repainted on yours? My dates are green and the tail end of the second hand is black.

It's a great clock, takes a bit getting used to the 24 hr time but they will run for over 8 days and keeps great time. I often wonder where it's travelled and what they did.

 

[deeb7]

.... watch out for the balance staff, it was so hard for my jeweller to find one, he finally got two from the States and they said that was the last they could get!

Oh yeah ... I like aircraft clocks, I have one from a Spitfire somewhere, and another from a RNZAF Vampire.

Don't worry about the staffs, they're easy enough to make, and still in stock here at $12.50 ....

http://ptpwp.com/WalthamStaffs.aspx

 

[bazelot]

Have the hands and date been repainted on yours? My dates are green and the tail end of the second hand is black.

It's a great clock, takes a bit getting used to the 24 hr time but they will run for over 8 days and keeps great time. I often wonder where it's travelled and what they did.

From what I gathered they had two versions, the one with green paint and the one with white paint. The clock runs perfectly fine right now and hopefully it won't need to be overhauled in the near future as the price of an overhaul would be the same as the purchase price here in San Francisco.

Anyone has any idea what the markings are on the back of the shells? The anchor makes me think that they are Navy shells but beyond that I am stumped.

 

[bazelot]

Any info on the shells?

 

[Andrew]

Send AMiles a pm perhaps?