Chikara Masuda's 1942 Bell Watch
This is a typical 30mm WW2 era wristwatch, sold by the Bell Watch Company in New York City. This is an assembled watch, with a Kingston 17-jewel movement housed in a steel "Borel & Co SA" case. The military-style black dial features a 60-second "railroad track" outer dial and a red sweep second hand. Although the watch has not been serviced, it runs accurately for over 30 hours.
The center of the watch case is inscribed "Chikara Musuda"; along the top edge is Chikara's Army Service Number (ASN): "ASN 39012973”
The Bell Watch Company headquarters were in the Time-Life Building in Rockefeller Center, NYC. There is no evidence that Bell manufactured their own watches; they appeared to have simply imported them from Switzerland.
Bell advertised their watches to the military, to both men and women soldiers. Their ads appeared in many popular magazines -- Life, Time, Popular Mechanics, and the American Legion.
Chikara probably bought his Bell watch at the PBX. It cost him $42.50 (about $750 in 2020...) -- equal to an Army Private's monthly salary.....
