CASE  .  Stainless steel  ,  34mm .

BACK  .  Snap-on  ,  steel .

           Shows the S/N ( very thin ) and the code number of Helvetia ( in this case :  2  3199 ).

MOVEMENT  .  Helvetia  “Cal 800”.

PUNCHING  .  D.I.  H.  only .

S/N  .  6 digits .  By the number of registered watches (22) , there may be two batches .

               The ranges could be :

               –  001XXX   /   004XXX  ;

               –  330XXX   /   356XXX  :

               Batches and S/Ns are purely indicative .

NOTE  .  This is a very controversial watch !

            1.  Many collectors consider it a fake . Other , more prudent , leave a certain margin to originality .

                 Many of the disputes come from the meaning of letter  “ I “ .

                 A hypothesis was advanced by Ziggy Wesolowski : this watch could have been assigned to Afrikakorp’s personnel

                 of which two Italian Corps and three Divisions were involved .

                 The meaning  of  “ D.I.  H. “ could be : Deutsche  Italianische – Heer .

                 Obviously it’s just a hypothesis but it should be remembered that the defeat of Afrikakorp    caused about   220.000 deaths ,  missing and  prisoners

                who ended up in the British prison camps .

             2. Another reason for dispute is the movement : many say it is around 1950  and beyond .

                 That is not true .

                 I was able to consult a catalog of Swiss movement dated 1947( the oldest I had available )

                 and “ Cal 800 “ was already in production .

             3. None of the registered watches is from Eastern Europe . All come from UK ( the majority) , from Germany and from Italy .

             4. Here we do not mean to say that is “ original “ or “fake” . We limit ourselves to leaving the      judgment to blog visitors .