Men's military watches: field experience

In the pantheon of highly attractive watches, men's military watches have long held a prominent place. Whether recent or vintage, these watches fuel a vast and powerful imagination.

Men's military watches, a world of their own

Let's just say it straight away, even if it means stating the obvious: men's military watches are distinguished from other watches mainly (if not essentially) by their service record. Indeed, what other watches can boast of having experienced so many adventures and braved so many perils like those with a military canvas watch strap? Thus, the fragments of history and anecdotes they contain are particularly appreciated by collectors, always in search of authenticity. Unfortunately, military watches represent only a tiny part of watch production and, given their conditions of use, finding one in good condition can sometimes be an obstacle course... As misfortune never comes alone, rarity is often accompanied by speculation: it is therefore common to see their prices soar.

However, at the risk of disappointing some, it's important to understand that there is no single, universal model of men's military watch. Each era, each nation, each army corps has specific needs and expectations when it comes to timepieces. The specifications have therefore been revised as often as necessary. To be completely honest, any watch can actually become a military watch as long as the soldiers find it to their liking.

That being said, there are three characteristics that must be recognized that unite these watches under one banner: reliability, robustness and readability.

While the first two criteria are not particularly controversial as they seem self-evident, the third holds a few surprises. For example, are you familiar with the so-called " California " dials? Following a request from the US Navy, Rolex filed a patent in 1942 for dials with " correct and instantaneous reading ." Indeed, in the heat of battle, soldiers and pilots tended to confuse the numbers on the dial... To remedy this, Rolex proposed a dial divided into two distinct hemispheres: the upper part is composed of Roman numerals, while the lower part is made up of Arabic numerals. The whole was filled with Radium luminescent material to guarantee optimal readability in all circumstances. The name California came from Japanese collectors who crisscrossed California in the 1980s in search of watches featuring this very particular dial.

And who would have suspected that the two dots that escort the midday index line of the famous Omega Speedmaster, although intended for racing drivers, were in fact inherited from one of the first specifications of the British Ministry of Defense (MoD)? Yet it is indeed one of the readability requirements of this specification, known as Mark X, which would spawn the most famous men's military watch model of the Second World War. Produced by 12 carefully selected manufacturers, these watches are nicknamed the " Dirty Dozen" by insiders.

Two very different interpretations of what the readability of a men's military watch should be... And this is just a modest sample!

Military canvas watch strap, strong advantages over leather

As for the strap used to secure a field watch to the wrist, there were, like the MoD specifications, a number of versions. And while nylon seems to be the most popular material at the moment, it obviously hasn't always been this way. Among the most notable straps, we can notably mention the "Bund" strap. Issued to pilots of the army of the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) during the Second World War, it is characterized by a protective leather plate placed between the watch and the wrist, otherwise known as an "American plate". This strap was to fulfill 4 functions:

• Insulate watches from sweat and moisture to increase their lifespan
• Reduce vibration transmission by holding the watch firmly on the wrist
• Limit injuries in the event of a violent impact
• Protect the soldier from steel burns if he becomes trapped in the flames.

But as we will see in a future article, it is far from the field that the Bund bracelet has passed into posterity.

Still, it would be wrong to think that leather straps were the only ones used on military watches. Indeed, they have a formidable enemy: water. Not only does leather deteriorate quickly in a humid environment, but above all, it dries slowly. This particularity being likely to cause some skin problems, fabric was often preferred. Thus, many watches distributed during the First World War were equipped with military canvas watch straps, also called textile watch straps.

Echoing this regulatory endowment and after extensive research, Maison Fèvre is proud to present its version of the military canvas watch strap. Its minimalist profile not only honors the clean look characteristic of tool watches but also hides its game well: its cowhide leather lining makes it very comfortable to wear. Equipped with quick-release springs, it allows any watch to be made serviceable in the blink of an eye. More than ever, if the dial is the face of a watch, its strap allows you to assert its personality.

The Maison Fèvre military canvas watch strap will allow fans of fatigue pants and other M-65 jackets to vary their pleasures, especially since it is compatible with Apple Watch thanks to Apple lug adapters. Discover our collection and find the strap you need, like the Apple Watch fabric strap in several colors.

Military smartwatches, the watch of the future?

The transition is perfect for addressing the breakthrough of military smartwatches in soldiers' standard equipment. But before getting there, let's discuss the withdrawal of mechanical watches in favor of quartz ones, and in particular the now famous Casio G-Shock. In 1981, Kikuo Ibe, then an engineer at Casio, dropped and broke the watch that had been given to him about ten years earlier by his father... He then set himself the goal of creating an unbreakable watch, which quickly became based around the Triple 10 rule: a battery with a lifespan of at least 10 years, resistance to water pressure of at least 10 bars, and resistance to a fall of at least 10 m onto a hard surface. It was after 2 years of research and no fewer than 200 prototypes that the G-Shock was born. With such specifications, is it worth mentioning that it immediately attracted the interest of several armed forces? It equipped the wrists of both the French Navy's mine clearance divers and those of the Delta Force soldiers during the Battle of Mogadishu, which went down in history as Black Hawk Down...

And then came the era of military smartwatches. In this category, it must be recognized that Garmin watches stand out from the crowd. Founded in 1989 by two American engineers, Garmin specializes in navigation assistants, the famous GPS, intended for aviation and the army in particular. At the turn of the 2000s, Garmin became more popular with the general public via GPS navigators intended for hikers and created a watch range in 2012. Popular with athletes thanks to the numerous features they include, Garmin watches have also found favor in the eyes of soldiers. While I imagine that this evolution is in the natural order of things, I cannot help but make two reflections:

Knowing that digital is the next battleground and that hacking has become a weapon, isn't it risky to equip our troops with a connected tool?

Military smartwatches are the product of new technologies and, by their very nature, subject to planned obsolescence. While I have no doubt that they will have as many adventures as their mechanical counterparts, there's little chance they'll spark much excitement on the second-hand market.

Special forces military watches, at the heart of the action

In any case, the American brand has been equipping the RAID's wrists since late 2018. This collaboration illustrates the fact that elite units are certainly those whose wrists are the most demanding. Indeed, special forces military watches remind us that they are above all tools and not just accessories. And if smartwatches seduce with their tactical functions, they are the extension of well-known developments. If the action films of the 1990s largely abused the famous scene where the protagonists had to " synchronize their watches ", know that this function comes from the American A-11 specifications specifying that the watches had to be equipped with a hack-system allowing the balance to be stopped and therefore, the synchronization of the watches to the nearest second before a military operation.

More than any other military watch, special forces military watches must stand out in the robustness and reliability criteria mentioned above. Thus, with honor where honor is due, the GIGN turned to Rolex, and more specifically to the Submariner No-Date model, to equip its men. As for the BRI, it turned to the French brand Ralf Tech to equip its agents.

This list cannot be exhaustive, but it seems that sometimes, chance encounters or past exploits guide the choice of special forces military watches. Was it the exploits of Thor Heyerdahl that guided the Israeli naval commandos in choosing the Eterna brand and its Kon-Tiki model? What is certain is that sometimes there is only a fraction of a second that separates the failure from the success of a mission...

Cyril LEROY
Watchmaking editor at Maison Fèvre
Enlightened amateur & passionate collector