2011 Laco Special Edition Project - CASE BACK and FINISH

[Uwe W.]

Have you seen this link, they go into some detail abut this watch:"These watches seem to have been used together with a device called a mirror sextant for tracking the flight paths of the V-missiles during testing. Obviously exact time, that could only be read though a mirror while using the device, was necessary to read this mirror sextant."

Thanks for posting that link Lume.

Well, if you ever wanted proof that you shouldn't believe everything that you read on the web, you have it. That post was laden with errors. Sextants are used for navigation - primarily to calculate your latitude - but it can also be used to find your position on a map by shooting two landmarks. I own a sextant and would love if the author of that post would explain to me how I can use my navigation instrument to "track the flight path" of a rocket. I'm equally impressed that he has also located evidence that definitively connects the M-B with the rocket program.

[Uwe W.]

Your explanation about why it may be needed in Artillery - I do not know. By timing the shot the only thing you achieve is the average speed of the projectile. The rest is done by observers. You can not follow the projectile, so no need for the binoculars. At distance, it is not possible to see theimpact with any accurancy. That is the reason for airborne or stationary observers.

I've been on artillery ranges and could most certainly see the impact with binoculars - and rangefinders determine the distance of the impact. So determining the average speed of a projectile is important, especially if you're tracking a non-stationary target. In a defensive role a timer or M-B type watch can also be used for sound ranging. We are of course talking about the state of technology in the late '30s.

Regardless, as you stated it is a unique design and I'm quite stoked about this project. It's going to be a very cool watch.

[Manolete]

"Messbatterie" is an obvious choice for the name of the project (which translates to "test artillery" or "measuring battery"). Anyway, V-rockets, classified tests, misterious reversed numbers - that's all very interesting, it would be nice if the name reflected this somehow.

+1 I like the idea of Messbatterie for the watch.

[Lume]

Thanks for posting that link Lume.

Well, if you ever wanted proof that you shouldn't believe everything that you read on the web, you have it. That post was laden with errors. Sextants are used for navigation - primarily to calculate your latitude - but it can also be used to find your position on a map by shooting two landmarks. I own a sextant and would love if the author of that post would explain to me how I can use my navigation instrument to "track the flight path" of a rocket. I'm equally impressed that he has also located evidence that definitively connects the M-B with the rocket program.

And here I was imagining them chasing V-1 missiles with these watches on board an airplane

Perhaps if we contact the makers they will tell us what they know?


BTW Here's the other watch, they named it the Aristo Sextant:



Sextant Titan
Aristo - Pilotwatches from germany

[Janne]

That one is a nice try.

N.B. : TRY !!
The Dial is good, but the rest - bah!

[Uwe W.]

Perhaps if we contact the makers they will tell us what they know?
BTW Here's the other watch, they named it the Aristo Sextant

I doubt if they know anymore than what we've dug up or Dr. Knirim has published in his book and online. If anything I suspect that marketing a "sextant" watch is more politically friendly than promoting the fact they were commissioned by the W-SS.

Aristo isn't the only manufacturer of these. I bought this one years ago; then as now, I was intrigued by the dial and the 'story' that it had something to do with Werner von Braun.

[Uwe W.]

So it looks like the consensus so far is to use the existing case finish. And most seem indifferent to whether or not the FL engraving appears on the side of the case.

In terms of voting for these two items, unless someone states that they would like another finish, I won't include it on the ballot. There will be a 'yes' or 'no' option for the FL engraving.

It also seems like most like the idea of calling this watch the "Messbatterie". Or should it be the "Messbatterie B-Uhr"? Or "Messbatterie Special Edition"? "Messbatterie Limited Edition?" We could also include a name in the vote, but other than a guy pushing a rock up the hill, there hasn't been any other suggestions for a name - and no one liked my "Big Bertha" idea... go figure!

With respect to the case back, the idea of having a B-Uhr type id chart engraved on the back is very popular. If we're going to do this then we'll still need to decide on a couple of items for it:

• a designation for the modified 2824.2 movement
• where to put each watch's LE number

We should also discuss what other information we might like to have engraved on the case back. Some of the specs of the watch as appears on some other Laco watches? Or maybe a more detailed description of it being a special WUS project?

Things are moving along quite nicely, but it would be good to narrow down the engraving options to three or four choices to make voting less complicated.

[lukeaar]

Messbatterie Sonderausgabe

I agree the FL side engraving should go to a yes no vote.

Updated proposition for caseback engraving:
B-Uhr chart info:
Bauart (ETA something)
Gerat-nr (127-560A)
Werk-Nr. (2824.2 something)
Anforderz. (FL23883)
Hersteller: (LACO)

then, cursive (hand engraved?) script 'Nr. X von 50' below the chart

Then, we need somewhere to put the name. I propose following the writing on Uwe's original draft, but replacing like this:
---2011 Laco etc. replaced by "Messbatterie Sonderausgabe"
---Beobachtun.... replaced by simply "Beobachtungsuhr" (no need for the fur Messbatterie if we're calling the watch messbatterie....)

[lukeaar]

Another quick thought:

In order to include the year, can we add a row to the chart that is Jahr: 2011? Or is this too removed from convention?

[Manera]

Here's a quick and dirty Sketchup Model - it's more for fun than anything as it's difficult to see all the elements clearly without a cleaner model and properly rendered textures. At the very least, this should generate a little excitement for the final product (!). I'll have some time off in a few weeks and could then work on a better model for us to play with.

But, to continue the case/back discussion, I've used the combined text suggestions from Uwe and lukeaar in this sample. I think it's headed in the right direction and am in favor of the watch being titled the 'Messbatterie'.