ww2 RAF Sector clocks are highly sort after by serious collectors.The summer of 1940 saw the Battle of Britain, the aerial conflict between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe, reach its apex. When in this speech Churchill stated 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much been owed by so many to so few', he was paying tribute to the enormous efforts made by the fighter pilots and bomber crews to establish air superiority over England. Sector clocks were a fundamental part of Ground Controlled Interception. During the Second World War they played a significant role in the Battle of Britain and continued to be used by the RAF until the end of the Cold War. They are an amazing part of 20th century history and an absolutely wonderful collectors piece. Whilst Air Ministry white dials are fetching over £1000, , Sector clocks are going between £4000 to £8000. Due to this fact large numbers are being frequently faked.
Sector clock dials were never hand painted when originally produced and were made by a process of Screen printing. Below (right) shows the one I have which is a 1943 dial which were prone to extreme rusting; no
undercoat. There are signs that the
centre of the dial has been repaired and repainted whilst in RAF service. Whilst the outer ring of large numerals are
correct, the inner ones are not; note
the varying slight differences in the inner numeral 2 compared with the outer
ones. Also the letters of the word RAF
in the crest are slightly too flamboyant.
Now to the left is a poorly hand painted one which is currently for sale for £5,995. This clock face may have been sector dial and been repainted? (unlikely and you would require photographic proof before repaint) Value would also drop considerably rather than an original dial. Or it was an RAF/AM white dial clock (but why would you take out the RAF/ Kings crown logo and crudely repaint?)
Or its not an RAF clock in any guise. Also we are looking at something which is over at least 80 years old.
Another example of repaint vs original
Another example, a better quality repaint vs original dial
