Mark II RAAF dial - issued or not ?

Hello all 

I have recently come across this IWC Mark II Navigator that has all the elements of the watch being an RAAF issue except for the dial which has the broad arrow and from my understanding and to quote from Man is (still) Not Lost by Khan, Koenig & Steer: 

"The RAAF IWC Mk. 11s do not have a broad arrow on the movement, the dial or the case back. All RAAF IWC Mk. 11s have the classic design that the RAF began using in 1952 with the 12 replaced by a triangle and, accordingly, the stubby hour hands. However, the dial is not printed with either the broad arrow or encircled T. All RAAF watches have the Stores Reference number G6B/346 (as a result of the slightly different nomenclature used by the RAAF)." 

So, all clear and safe to say that this dial is a broad arrow MoD replacement? 

Dear John 

as you assumed the dial is not original to a RAAF Mk 11. I assume it is no MoD replacement but a private replacement after decommissioning. But nobody can be sure about this. As well the crystal is wrong for a RAAF.

Would you please be so kind as to PM the movement number of this 598/57and the 65/57 you presented here on the forum some years ago? I run a private Mk 11 database which allowed to establish which movement number originally belonged to which military ID ("matching numbers") for RAF watches. But the number of RAAF and RNZAF watches included in this database is for the moment still too low to draw conclusions.

By the way: Are you active on MWR using the nickname blubarb?

Regards

Th. Koenig 

Hi Mr. Thomas Koenig,

Is there a email address I can reach you at? I have some questions about mk 11 and seems like you are the guy to reach out too.

 

John, fascinating piece and even more fascinating that Mr. Koenig himself dropped in to weigh in, that is essentially the final word on this question given his work on the subject.

His point about the crystal being wrong for an RAAF spec is worth flagging for anyone reading this thread later, because the dial swap tends to get all the attention but the crystal profile is often the more reliable tell on these. A privately reglazed Mk 11 with a non-original crown crystal combined with a transplanted broad arrow dial would explain everything you are seeing, and that scenario is unfortunately quite common with watches that passed through dealer hands in the 70s and 80s before the collector market understood what was being lost.

The G6B/346 stores reference detail is the part most casual sellers miss, so it is genuinely useful to have that quoted in this thread for anyone Googling RAAF Mk 11 in the future.

For what it is worth as a market observation rather than a technical one, even with the non-original dial and crystal, a Mk 11 case and movement of this vintage is still a worthwhile piece if the price reflects the condition honestly. The trouble only begins when a watch like this is sold as a fully correct RAAF issue. As long as you are going in with eyes open on the configuration, it is a legitimate piece of history.

Hoping connerwatches managed to get in touch with Mr. Koenig, that database is genuinely important work for the small RAAF and RNZAF cohort.