Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch, Specification MIL-W-6433, Official FOIA Request
As many of you already know I serve as the historian for Waltham Watches and their NEW Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch project. The official military specification documents for the original Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch (MIL-W-6433) from the Korean War era have been lost in time. MANY have searched for these documents in the National Archives, including myself, but they have never been found. But, there just MIGHT be hope of the documents being found. I decided to take a different approach due to hitting so many dead ends. A few months ago I filed an official FOIA request with the United States government and I just got a response. They are currently searching for these incredibly important records! The government search begins in Ohio. Wright-Patterson AFB and Waltham have a DEEP history. Development of the original Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch began at Wright-Patterson AFB back in the 1940's. And on February 26, 1920 Major R.W. Schroeder, Chief Test Pilot of the U.S. Army Air Service, set a NEW WORLD RECORD for flight altitude of 36,130ft at Wright-Patterson Field while wearing a Waltham Depollier "Field & Marine" Waterproof Watch, the world's FIRST waterproof wristwatch. Fingers crossed that the docs will finally be FOUND!!!
Recipient of the 2023 NAWCC Roberts-Taylor Award for Excellence in the Field of Horological Research. Multiple Title Watch Book Author, Vintage American Military Watch Dealer, Watchmaker.
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that is very cool...
That’s awesome. I hope it turns up.
This is so amazing! I wish you luck on your quest!
Good luck! I don't see anyone else doing what you're doing; keep it up, knowledge is power!
Good luck! I don't see anyone else doing what you're doing; keep it up, knowledge is power!
Thank you! I love getting to the bottom of a great mystery!
If the docs are found there is usually info on other watches in that file grouping.
Hopefully this will be a big score!
Wow!! What an interesting quest! I wish you the best of luck finding the info you're looking for ... a modern re-release of that watch would be awesome! 👍
Waaaay back in the late 70s, my parents gave me a Waltham wristwatch as a H.S. graduation present. It was a small, quartz piece that I wore daily for several years afterwards. Looking very similar to pic'd below, though not exactly the same model ... think mine may have had a date window:
Don't remember what ever happened to the watch, but would love to have it now for sentimental reasons 😀
Wow!! What an interesting quest! I wish you the best of luck finding the info you're looking for ... a modern re-release of that watch would be awesome! 👍
Waaaay back in the late 70s, my parents gave me a Waltham wristwatch as a H.S. graduation present. It was a small, quartz piece that I wore daily for several years afterwards. Looking very similar to pic'd below, though not exactly the same model ... think mine may have had a date window:
Don't remember what ever happened to the watch, but would love to have it now for sentimental reasons 😀
Thank you!
"a modern re-release of that watch would be awesome!"
The NEW Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch is currently in production.
The prototypes were just finished and full production is currently underway.
Swiss made, automatic, 40mm.
They will be out by year's end I believe.
Check Watch Angels if interested.
Very cool. Good Luck 🤞🏻
Wow!! What an interesting quest! I wish you the best of luck finding the info you're looking for ... a modern re-release of that watch would be awesome! 👍
Waaaay back in the late 70s, my parents gave me a Waltham wristwatch as a H.S. graduation present. It was a small, quartz piece that I wore daily for several years afterwards. Looking very similar to pic'd below, though not exactly the same model ... think mine may have had a date window:
Don't remember what ever happened to the watch, but would love to have it now for sentimental reasons 😀
I have somebody's graduation class watch from 1970 (a square cased Accutron 214) and I always wonder how it got to me. Its hard to imagine letting something like that go.
Here is hoping this request bear fruit.
UPDATE: The Department of Defense/Department of the Air Force got back with me as to Mil Spec MIL-W-6433, aka the Waltham A-17 Pilot's Watch specification. Unfortunately, the original MIL SPEC documents could NOT be found at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We highly doubt these docs will be found in Washington DC, many have searched. Several very talented researchers thought that the documents would be found at Wright-Patterson, myself included. The A-17 was originally developed at W-P AFB back in the late 1940s - early 1950s. I filed a FOIA Request about 6 months ago and I received this letter from them last week. Sorry guys, looks like these highly sought after docs may have been lost in time.