Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

This is a watch that my grandfather had acquired during World War II, we believe around 1944, 1945. He was stationed in some of the islands in outer Japan, and he somehow acquired this and mailed it back to his wife, my Grandma Janet, in Chicago. It still runs time. That's all I know about it.

APPRAISER

We have a Japanese watch. We see it has the characters on the back, and they're numerals. The maker of this is Seikosha. This was a very well-made timepiece. It is a World War II Japanese pilot's watch. We know that it is navy, and among the symbols, there is an anchor. This particular style of watch is specific to the Japanese navy. The Japanese naval aviators were the elite. They are generally more highly regarded than their army pilots. There are reproductions of pilot's watches being made. This style tends to be going to bigger and bigger watches, so there's a fashion component to that, too, that's helping to drive that market. It is a rare piece. It is one of the rarest World War II pilot's watches, because Japanese naval aviators, their standards of training were very, very strict coming into World War II, so there weren't as many of them at the start of the war. And then they did not have a high rate of survival. From a value perspective, in this nice condition, you should expect a retail value between $8,000 and $10,000.

GUEST

I love it. My grandpa was an incredible man, and I'm lucky he was my grandfather.