A watch with a black dial, a broad arrow marking and Arabic numerals in a stainless steel case. Pretty unassuming and to most, it looks exactly the same as every other black dialled military watch. In that respect, the stainless steel Lemania Dive Supervisor with its black dial, broad arrow marking and Arabic numerals is exactly that- mundane.
What makes collecting military so rewarding for me though, is not that it is a 45mm titanium rose gold tourbillon attention seeking piece, but the fact that at often times, it is the subtle details both in construction and historical provenance that makes me gravitate towards it. The more you research and study, the more the story of these watches become so interesting. In that respect, the Lemania Dive Supervisor with its black dial, broad arrow marking and Arabic numerals is one of the most unique and rare watches ever to have been made.
This watch is so peculiar, that for a long time, it was thought that these Lemania Dive Supervisors were fake due to discrepancies in certain details that other British military timepieces had. For a start, the Lemania did not have fixed bars, the case back markings were unusually different and there is no other broad arrow T dial out there displaying similar font characteristics.
After a few turned up for sale, all in varying conditions but with the same unique case back markings and dial, the community over at the Military Watch Forum (MWR) debated about whether this could actually be an original issued watch. At the time, only very basic knowledge existed about the watch. With its ‘0552’ marking on the case back, it had to have been issued to the Royal Navy but its relatively weak construction created doubt as diving watches had to be much more robust.
Well, in the end after some solid evidence was provided, there was a mutual agreement that this oddity of a watch was indeed issued and is perhaps one of the rarest military timepieces out there. Two versions exist, one with a date and one without. This one without was issued for one year only in 1965 and the other only in 1968, production numbers are estimated to be around 200-300 examples.
The proof that this watch was genuinely issued to the Royal Navy is provided through two corroborating documents. The first is from a Def Stan (UK Defence Standardisation) document (64 Table IIIa) that states ‘0552/160647’ as a ‘supervisor’s watch. These markings are found on the back of this Lemania. The second is from a Royal Navy dive book (BR 2806 Chapter 3334.1) that states ‘two types of watches are provided for use when diving- the diver’s watch ‘Rolex’ or ‘Omega’, and the supervisor’s watch, ‘Lemania’.
Furthermore, what the Royal Navy Divebook reveals is that this Lemania is part of a much, much bigger story as the Rolex and Omega mentioned is, of course, the Rolex MilSub and the Omega Military Seamaster 300- some of the most sought-after watches in the world. What the Divebook confirms is that the Rolex, Omega and Lemania are part of a trilogy of issued watches of that era. Fancy that, in a short time, the Lemania went from being labelled a ‘fake’ to joining a group of the most revered watches in collecting circles. And remember, with only 200-300 made, this is much rarer than the Rolex or Omega.
Addressing the previous concern that the Lemania’s build was nothing compared to the SM 300 or MilSub, it makes sense as Dive Supervisors were not required to dive, but were always topside supervising divers and managing equipment. This ties back to a big reason why I love vintage so much. It is the fact that every piece made back then was to serve a very defined purpose. If you were a diver you wore a Rolex or Omega that needed to be able to withstand the depths of the ocean. If you were a Dive Supervisor, you didn’t need that and wore the Lemania.
Though not as robust, the Lemania is still housed in an Ervin Piquerez S.A. (EPSA) super compressor case. These cases were used by many companies who also produced dive watches such as Enicar and Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Why the case back markings and dial are so different to other issued timepieces remains a mystery. You can see that the broad arrow and ’T’ on the dial are not like any other British military piece and the case back markings have a unique grainy texture, very different to the EPSA engravings. Sized at 34mm with long bevelled lugs, the Lemania houses an in-house manually wound Cal. 3060. The EPSA super compressor case has a unique Lemania crosshatch crown and a spear seconds hand reminiscent of Omega watches.
Again, what makes collecting military so interesting and fun is exemplified by the story of this watch. Thought to be fake, not only was it proven to be real, but in fact one of the rarest military watches ever, it was only through research and debate that this could’ve been achieved. This is why communities like the MWR is so invaluable for learning and why I hold sources of information like this in such high regard.
This Lemania Dive Supervisor is available in the shop.
