A deck watch numbered 55071, by Vacheron & Constantin. A very well-finished jewelled movement with the regulator scale marked ‘A R’ and other inscriptions ‘VACHERON & CONSTANTIN’, ‘GENEVE’, ‘455071’ and ‘166’. Club-tooth lever escapement. It has a two-arm compensation balance. The movement is housed in an open-face silver case with snap-on bezel and glass and snap-fit jointed back. This is inscribed on the outside ‘H.S.2 / 55071’ and the broad arrow, and on the inside, ‘VACHERON & / CONSTANTIN / SWISS’, ‘0,925’, ‘FFBA 1’, the Swiss silver mark of a duck and ‘286450’. The snap-fit dome is marked on the inside ‘0,925’, ‘FFBA 1’, the silver mark, ‘286450’ and the letter ‘L’. A pull-out hand-setting winding crown is at the 12 o'clock position. The winding/hand-setting is faulty. The hands can be set both pulled out and pushed in, and cannot therefore wind the watch.

A silvered-brass dial has Arabic hour numerals, Arabic five-minute/second figures outside and centre-seconds. The dial is inscribed in the centre ‘VACHERON & CONSTANTIN / GENÈVE’ and under the six o'clock position, ‘SWISS’.

The movement is housed in a mahogany deck box with a hinged lid opening 180°. The box has a flip-catch to lock it. The box lid is lined with green baize and has a brass label-holder (empty). The watch sits in a circular green-baize-lined aperture in the base of the box and can be seen through a circular porthole glass window when the lid is closed. The underside of the box is covered in green baize.

Vacheron & Constantin was a Swiss maker of high-grade commercial lever-escapement pocket watches. In 1942, they made very fine calibre 166 chronometer watches mainly for the British Admiralty. Cased in silver, with inner dome, the movements were extensively jewelled. The metal dial was a military specification, with enamel dials believed to be at risk of error owing to creep during firing. The watches were additionally housed in wooden deck watch boxes manufactured by the Admiralty chronometer workshops.