Ah, the ‘Dirty Dozen. 

Diehard collectors of these watches know the story, but it bears repeating. These watches — stamped W.W.W. for "Watch Wristlet Waterproof" — had to meet strict standards mandated by the British Ministry of Defense during the last half of 1945. The specs were these: black dial; Arabic numerals; luminous hands (radium); 15 jewel movement; and waterproof.

Twelve companies met these standards, and manufactured the watches that would be dubbed the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and fascinate collectors for decades. They were: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, JLC, Lemania, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, Vertex, and Longines. Of these, only Longines produced a watch with shock-protection.

Collectors have given the Longines Reference 23088 the nickname ‘Greenlander"’due to its purported involvement in the 1952-54 British North Greenland Expedition. This was recently proven to be false. But even though the ‘Greenlander’ never made it to Greenland, many Longines did in fact make it on other expeditions in extreme cold-weather conditions. So when you consider that these watches were meant to go to war, this fact doesn't take away anything from the watch's lineage. Whether worn in combat or on an expedition in the farthest reaches of the Arctic, the ‘Greenlander’ was meant to withstand it all.

This particular Greenlander dates to circa 1945 and features a 38mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal, an unsigned crown, a stepped bezel, and a matte black Radium dial with printed ‘Arabic’ indices, a large sub-seconds display, a ‘cathedral’ handset, and the ‘broad arrow’ symbol indicating Crown property. Powered by the hand-wound Longines Calibre 12.68Z movement, its caseback is inscribed with the ‘broad arrow,’ ‘W.W.W,’ and various serial numbers and it comes fitted to an appropriate forest green NATO strap from Phoenix®.

Already rare, this watch's lovely condition — with puffy lume plots and handsome dial — makes it very desirable.

Snag it before another collector has the same idea!