Vacheron Constantin confirm the sale of the present watch in 1943.
Accompanied by a copy of the British Royal Navy inventory sheet for "Chronometer Watch Vacheron & Constantin Number 4720" purchased on 13 December 1943 from H. Golay & Son.
According to the entries on the sheet, the present watch was first in use on the destroyer HMS Volage and then transfered to the HMCS Leaside on 30 June 1944.
The HMCS Leaside (K 492), a Corvette of the Castle class, was launched as "HMS Walmer Castle" on 10 March 1944. As it was never commissioned into the Royal British Navy it served with the Royal Canadian Navy as "HMCS Leaside".
It appears that the present watch was originally fitted with a Rating Certificate issued on 2 November 1942 by the H.M. Chronometer Depot, Bradford-on-Avon.