Swiss aluminum eight day deck chronometer Circa 1940

Aluminium lever pocket watch
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An absolute rarity, this Greenwich Civil Time deck chronometer with 24 hour dial and eight day going movement made for Wittnauer & Co in New York, U.S.A. by Longines Francillon SA in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, circa 1940. The case of this watch, crafted from aluminium, is fitted with a screwed bezel and five fold screwed back. The silvered dial features red and black Arabic 24 hour numerals, an outer minute track, subsidiaries at 6 and 12 o’clock and luminous steel cathedral hands. The numbered movement, adjusted to temperature, has a lever escapement, special fine adjusting device and 17 jewels.
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Diameter: 80 mm
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Signed: Longines 
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The watch presented here is part of a set of two deck chronometers, ‘Greenwich Sidereal Time & Civil Time’. In original condition, both watches were in a mahogany box.
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Longines-Wittnauer
On vintage Longines watches, the name Wittnauer indicates the timepiece was imported and distributed by the Wittnauer Watch Company for the American market. This unique “dual signed” branding is a trace of a partnership that lasted over a century.