Although it's a Matchless model, it has an otherwise almost identical dial but without the sub-seconds ground out. The movement is very similar too but finished to a lower quality (I believe these are Revue movements). The style of the case would suggest at first glance that this is earlier than the first watch, yet the serial number is nearly 40,000 later. (The caseback has the serial inside and also the two four digit numbers on the outside).
The glass appears to the original very thick flat mineral glass, something that seems to be specific to West End Watches. There are quite a few scratches in the surface but the glass is so thick that they could very easily be ground out and still have plenty to spare. Perhaps that is by design. I think this is the original crown too.
This particular watch consistently runs 10-15 minutes too fast. At first I thought the cause of this was that the hairspring was twisted so that it hit the centre wheel when it rotated one way. However twisting it slightly to fix this, and a thorough cleaning etc, does not seem to have made much difference. I suspect now that unfortunately the hairspring is a little short.The difference in aging between the stainless back and the rest of the case, (made of some alloy I can't identify that was probably chromed) is very apparent. I imagine the back looks pretty much the same as it did the day it came out of the press.
Update 6/08/2012: After much fiddling, I've managed to lengthen the hairspring using the excess and it's now back into the realms of the reasonable timekeeping. I've probably managed to mangle the spring into a less than ideal state, but it's better than being 20 minutes a day fast. Opening this one up again it struck me what a beautiful movement this watch has and how good a condition the dial and hands are in.
