Original Item: Only One Available. This is a rare vintage 1939-1944 Swiss made, under military order for Germany, mechanical men’s wrist watch by Alpina. Known as a “D” service wristwatch of the German Luftwaffe for officers and soldiers during WWII. All of parts of watch are 100% original with the exception of the leather wristband, which is a high end replica.
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.
This example has a beautiful original metal chrome case with stainless steel screw-back. Reverse of screw-back impressed with issue number D 232823. There is no “H” after the number, which many believe indicates it was issued for the Luftwaffe, instead of the Heer (Army).
This genuine vintage German military Alpina wristwatch from the WWII period is offered in very good FULLY FUNCTIONAL condition. Constructed as a two piece case with fixed lugs bars, body with acrylic crystal, original chromium coating, screwed stainless steel back.
Chromium plated original crown, original black dial, military style, marked on face in white:
The watch features a recessed sub-dial for small seconds at 6, luminous Arabic numerals, luminous baton steel hands, and a manual winding movement. Due to age the numbers most likely no longer glow.
Functioning and ready to be cleaned and oiled. Be sure to watch the video in the thumbnails! It was taken with a digital microscope to show that the watch is fully functional.
The German Military issued wristwatches to their officers of the Luftwaffe (The Air Force). The Letters D found on the reverse of the case indicated that the watch was made in Switzerland under military order for Germany during the WWII.
The German Luftwaffe had watches produced and retailed by companies such as ARSA (Auguste Reimond), Alpina, Mulco, Titus, Minerva, Record, Zenith, Silvana, Helvetia, Longines. And also (mixed up with German): Buren, Doxa, Dogma, Glycine, Gala, Mimo, Phenix, Record watch Co., Recta, Para, Leonidas, Revue, TritonA, Wagner, B.W.C., Grana, Helios, Moeris, Helma, Siegerin, Vogele, Zentra, Laco, Stowa ,Wempe, IWC, A. Lange & Sohne, Hanhart, Glashutte.
More on German D and D H Watches:
The pocket as well as the wristwatch had screwed backs and were shock resistant. The dial was black with a small second hand with radium digits and hands. The back was marked “D.H.” (Deutsches Heer), with the case number. The watches were partly deployed and written into the soldier’s book, and also sold to army staff. It is not entirely clear what D H stands for. Some writers suggest the D stands for Deutsches (Germany) and the H for Heer (Army). Some prefer the interpretation given by Konrad Knirim (http://www.knirim.de/english.htm), who has written that the D stands for Dienstuhr (Service Watch) and the H = Heer (Army). However, it is not entirely clear that DH watches were originally intended for the Army alone, given documented instances where the service record books of members of the Luftwaffe (Air Force) have been found with DH watch serial numbers written as issued to these troops. In addition to watches marked with DH, there are some identical watches with only the letter D in front of the serial number and no H after the number. Collectors speculate that these D only watches were for the Luftwaffe. Others speculate that these watches were used by Para-military personnel such as those working in railroads. However, given that the WWII German records have been lost we really don’t know for sure how these watches were issued.