In the 1940s CYMA was one of the ‘Dirty Dozen’, which was a selection of 12 watch brands worn by WWII British soldiers. The 'Dirty Dozen' brands were commissioned by the British Ministry of Defense, which needed as many watches as possible produced for the British soldiers. Manufacturing capacity at the time allowed for roughly 145,000 watches to be produced.

The arrow seen on the dial, which is regularly seen on military watches, marks the watch as "crown property"; the British monarch's sovereign public estate, which was considered neither government property nor part of the monarch's private estate.  Although manufactured by a dozen companies (known as the "Dirty Dozen" by military watch collectors), CYMA's models are especially sought-after, as CYMA utilized high-quality steel for their version of the MOD spec watch, despite the steel shortage caused by the war efforts of the time. The other brands had to make their watch cases from much more inferior metals, meaning many of the watches offered by the other brands of the "dirty dozen" haven't held up in the following decades.

CASE & BRACELET

The strong case retains sharp factory lines and finishing with honest signs of previous use. The unsigned crown is believed to remain original to the watch. The military engravings on the backside and inside the case back remain deep and clear. The fixed spring bars remain intact, and the watch will come supplied on a NATO strap.

DIAL & HANDS

The original dial exhibits a consistent dark chocolate patina throughout and exhibits appropriate amounts of aging. The radium lume plots have taken on a dark patina, under U.V. light inspection the lume plots show no degradation. The original radium hands have aged slightly lighter than the dial, and exhibit no degradation under U.V. light inspection.

ACCESSORIES 

None. The watch was recently serviced and is back by a 1-year warranty on accurate timekeeping.