Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Ingersoll Watches had manufacturing and assembly plants in London since 1911 and Dublin (Ireland) since 1936 primarily for pocket-watches, but during WW.II were engaged in unidentified "radios and instruments" - the latter covers a multitude of sins!

Does anyone know what these were and does Ingersoll show up in military stores vocabularies or manufacturer's identity codes?

Many thanks,
Barry

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

The speaker designed for use with the AR88 has 3 holes to carry a pocket watch holder, possibly for an Ingersoll watch?

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Watch carriers seemed popular on a lot of wartime military gear, attached photo of my ZC1. I couldn't find an Ingersoll watch , so I used a Waltham type.

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Thanks lads, the Ingersoll pocket watch was supplied to the army c.1920-26 when declared obsolete and again c.1934 to 1946 when disposed (though they appear to have remained on the vocabulary until 1957). These were mostly for GSTP duties or WT, so 'radio and instruments' may have been a cunning ruse to confuse the enemy!

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Yes, there were several different pocket-watches used with the WWII radios; different watch-makers used different-thickness 'winder' spindles and it's not unusual to find the bakelite pocket-watch holder on a radio has a bit broken out of the spindle-slot in order to accept a watch with a thicker winder-spindle.

As to what Ingersoll may have made during Wartime - well, could be almost anything clockwork - I've seen a "Gent" artillery-ranging calculator (used to set the Az/El of a gun, given range/air-temperature/wind-speed) and a Smiths bomb-trajectory clock used in WWII aircraft.

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

As a clock person, there are loads of references to Ingersoll clock movements in the textbooks of the time. But I've only ever seen one Ingersoll clock in the flesh, and that was an unexciting, postwar, mantle timepiece with a Smiths "Model D" platform-escapement movement.

"Ingersoll" radios to me conjures up 1970s rebranded transistor sets from Hong-Kong.

So the surving examples of clocks and radios seem to be re-brands from what I've encountered.

Nick.

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Wikipedia has some patchy info about American and British Ingersoll: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingersoll_Watch_Company

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

I have an Ingersoll Leader Radio Lite pocket watch, I guess it means radio active not designed for a radio as such.
The winder does not quite fit in the standard pocket watch holder on the 19 set.

Black face white numerals it looks quite sinister.

Re: Ingersoll watches - war time radio and instruments
 

Good point re different winding stem sizes; perhaps their clandestine 'radio and instruments' work relates to holders. Early 8-day aircraft and motor-car dashboard clocks had extended winding stems for gloved hands. Smiths RFC/RAF MkIV aircraft clocks had vulcanised rubber holders instead of the usual brass.

'Radiolite' does indeed relate to radium 227 zinc sulphide (?) luminous paint first used by Ingersoll in 1913; Ingersoll reckoned 85% of their war-time sales were luminous (said to have been much used by tank crews).

Post-WWII lngersoll marketed many Smiths-made clocks in addition to their joint AngloCeltic watches, well into the late 1970s when Smiths pulled out of time pieces altogether.