Schiffsuhr F.N. Tietz Kiel (Germany), U-boot Kriegsmarine Nordsee, circa 1935

Ship's clock or Schiffsuhr, produced by F.N. Tietz (Kiel), installed on board U-Boots or on ships serving the "Nordsee" or naval bases located in the North Sea.

The clock, made entirely of brass, has a silver dial and features on the left side the Reichsadler with "M" (Marine) underneath, relative to acceptance by the Kriegsmarine, while on the right side, the "N" (Nordsee) mark as well as the number "XX" assigned directly by the Oberkommando der Marine (OKM), identify the assignment to a specific naval unit forming part of a Flotilla operating in the North Sea.

In all likelihood, this specific watch, given the model and the low assignment number, should be among the first assigned to the Kriegsmarine in 1935.

In 1933, in fact, following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the Reich, the expansion program was further strengthened while Germany progressively freed itself from the limits imposed at the end of the First World War; in 1935, with the complete rejection of the Treaty of Versailles and the creation of new German armed forces, the old Reichsmarine assumed the new designation of Kriegsmarine ("War Navy") and to accelerate the strengthening of naval forces and not only, many objects that until then had been in use by the Reichsmarine of the Weimar Republic were reassigned.

The watch, having a manual winding mechanism with an 8-day power reserve, is perfectly functional and precise.

Excellent condition of conservation.

The FN Tietz company was founded by Johann Friedrich Nicolaus Tietz who was born on February 21, 1843 in Heide, a town in Schleswig-Holstein and took the oath of citizenship in Kiel in 1886. His shop was located at Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 28 and by 1915 he was a well-known manufacturer of chronometers.

Due to the war, there was an obligation to assemble and adjust standard chronometers and observation watches such as the A. Lange & Söhne chronograph caliber 48.1.

Unable to meet the market demands with his own internal production alone, he began to purchase mechanisms from other renowned chronometer manufacturers in Germany and England, such as Tomas Mercer, A. Lange & Söhne etc. etc. He made some models for the Imperial German Navy and later for the Kriegsmarine. A watch of his production is known, found by the English on November 28, 1918, on board the U-boat 80.

Johann Friedrich Nicolaus Tietz died in Kiel on November 9, 1931 and his son Carl Tietz succeeded him starting in 1930.