Original German Pre-WWII Stop Watch marked to D.A.F. Betriebs-Sportgruppe Kassel by Slalom – Functional Original Items

Original Item. Only One Available. We have had few of these Torpedo Timer type Stop Watches in over 35 years of business in the U.S.A. This one was made by the German WW2 Military Contractor Slalom of Switzerland and is marked on the dial with their “Ski Slope” style logo. There is unfortunately not much information on this maker/name.

This Stop Watch still runs very nicely, and is housed in a Chrome-plated brass alloy case. The fluted knob on the top controls everything. You wind it up and when you push it in once the single seconds had starts moving immediately. On the second push, the second hand freezes at the time elapsed position. On the third push the timer resets itself to zero ready for reuse. It may need some servicing, as it sometimes gets stuck, but pressing the button a few times returns it to normal.

The rear side is engraved with a six-sided star, inside of which there is an H with U and S interspersed. We have not been able to identify this particular logo, making this a great research opportunity.  Around the edge it is marked D.A.F. – Betriebs – Sportgruppe / Kassel. This would indicate that it is for the D.A.F. “Company Sports Group” located in Kassel, Germany. The Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labor Front – DAF) was the National Socialist labour organisation which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany after Adolf AH’s rise to power. We would guess that the stop watch was used during sports competitions held in the organization, as a type of unifying activity. Unfortunately we have not been able to find much more information, but it is definitely interesting, and worthy of further research.

The dial still retains all it’s enamel and the Maker’s name is quite clear. There is however a bit of oxidation on the watch hands.

About Minerva Watches

Minerva is a storied Swiss watch manufacturer, famous especially for producing chronograph movements and today part of Montblanc in the Richemont group. The company was originally founded in 1858 as H. & C. Robert in Villeret in the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking area of the Swiss canton of Bern. By 1908 the company was known as Robert Frères Villeret, and began production of chronographs and stopwatches. In 1923 the brand name “Minerva” was introduced, and in 1929 the company was renamed to “Minerva SA, Villeret”. In 1934 Minerva SA was taken over by Charles Haussener and Jacques Pelot.

How many times have we all seen these being used in WW2 movies?

Movement is in a fully working condition.

There is no warranty for this watch and returns for a non-working watch will not be honored. Please note all watches are wound and tested then recorded on video before shipment. We are not in the watch repair business- ALL SALES ARE FINAL.