G.I. Joe tells time

history
Every generation of soldiers has a fixed image of what
represents the quintessential U.S. military wristwatch.
Here is a brief overview of key moments and models.
BY Steve Lundin
GI Joe watches: (l-r) Luminox,
Waltham , MTM, Elgin, Reactor
G.I.
Joe
Tells Time:
a history of u . s . military wristwatches
T
o the World War II vet this
may be a Hamilton, to the
Vietnam vet it’s a plastic Benrus, and to the soldiers in the sandbox it’s anything from a Marathon to
a Casio G-Shock.
While many of the pieces are
military specified, others are commercial watches favored by fighting
men and women. What is a military
specified timepiece? Essentially it’s
a United States Defense standard,
often called a military standard and
abbreviated MIL-STD, MIL-SPEC
or (informally) MilSpecs. These
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are used to help achieve standardization objectives by the U.S. Department of Defense. Standardization
helps ensure that products meet
certain requirements, commonality,
reliability, total cost of ownership
and compatibility with logistics systems.
The military has been “specifying” equipment standards for well
over a century. Virtually any company can make a product that conforms
to published military specifications;
however, there’s a difference between
military spec and military issued.
A military issued product is one
that has been selected and awarded a
contract for manufacture by the Department of Defense and becomes a
line item on a government budget.
Many commercially available watches conform to MIL-SPEC and may
even appear in combat, but were never procured by the government. With
MIL-PRF (Military Performance
Specification), an off-the-shelf product that meets a performance requirement may find its way to the troops.
As a result, today’s soldiers can
purchase virtually any watch that
OCTOBER 2009INTERNATIONAL WATCH
SWAT team member
wears a Luminox
1908 Waltham
WWI Elgin
Photography BY N. Green & Sons Chicago
meets these standards, essentially creating a marketing loophole that you
can drive a tank through!
Pre -WWI watches
A cupped leather case for a pocket
watch may actually be the first wristbased timekeeper to appear in combat. These began to show up in the
middle 19th century; check your
local European military history museum for examples.
In the late 1870s a German naval
officer was having trouble carrying
out his duties with a watch clutched
in one hand, so he attached it to his
INTERNATIONAL WATCHOCTOBER 2009
coat sleeve. One story holds that this
resulted in the German admiralty
awarding a contract to Girard-Perregaux of La Chaux-de-Fonds for the
development of a watch to be worn
on the wrist. Another story maintains
that Germany’s Wilhelm I saw some
experimental watches developed by
Girard-Perregaux at the Berlin trade
show and ordered up to 2,000 for the
Imperial Navy.
Wristwatches from Girard-Perregaux and other Swiss companies
appeared during the Boer War (18981902), thereby establishing a military
precedent for a mechanism that, un-
like a pocket watch, could be read
without engaging a hand.
WWI soldiers
WWI really marked the emergence of
the wristwatch as a piece of the military kit. Troops on all sides found it
an encumbrance to unbutton a heavy
coat to check pocket watches. These
new wristwatches were typically 13ligne with luminous numerals and
hands, enameled dial , wire-strap lugs
and fitted with protective grills. They
were made by Girard-Perregaux,
Movado, Waltham, Elgin, Solerex
and Ingersoll and were referred to as
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history
Left to right: 1940’s Cartier tank, WWII Elgin A-11, USN BuShips Elgin Canteen (farfo.com)
“Soldier” watches in their ads to the
general public. When the war ended
and soldiers returned with horrific
tales of trench warfare, they came to
be known as Trench watches, with a
more ornate covered variant referred
to as a “hunter” watch, a pocket
watch carryover that was also useful
for the civilian sporting market.
Waltham circa 1918 was indicitative of the watches of the era. It
featured a porcelain dial, seven-jewel
movement and a nickel case.
It was in 1922, however, that the
watch most associated with the Great
War was developed by the house of
Cartier: the flat 35 mm by 25 mm
“Tank” watch. Its design paid homage to its name: the American tank
corps and their work in World War I.
The tank watch is today considered a
timeless horological classic.
WWII Watches
In 1940 the U.S. Army released specification number 55-1B that would
become the model for U.S. military
wristwatches during World War II.
The Army specified a movement of
no less than seven jewels, a dial with
luminescent hands and markers, a
stainless steel case, olive drab strap,
and a 90-day warranty. The watches
were to have been accurate within
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+/- 30 seconds every day. It was to be
“reasonably shock resistant and waterproof.”
This model was designated the
B-1 and featured a manual-wound
movement. Primarily Bulova, Elgin,
Hamilton and Waltham executed the
B-1 watch for the Army, Army Air
Corps, Russian Government, Royal
Canadian Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. As the war progressed,
watches were called on for more than
just telling time. They had become
an integral part of troop deployments,
operation synchronization and gunfire pinpointing.
In 1943 specifications were issued
by the Army for a navigation hack
watch, designated the U.S. A.A.F
A-11. The A-11 was more complicated than the B-1, beginning with
specifications for a 15-jewel movement. This model was put through
a program to meet certain standards
of abuse tolerance and accuracy and
was put out for contract with a much
more detailed specification sheet. It
represented the military’s acknowledgement that timekeeping was a
critical element of modern warfare.
The hack feature meant that the seconds hand jumps from one second
mark to the next, rather than moving smoothly. This makes it more
accurate to synchronize with other
watches. Both black and white dial
models were made, typically with a
dull stainless steel and olive drab or
black cotton band.
The Navy’s formation of frogmen
Naval Combat Demolition Units
(NCDUs) in 1944 to clear mines from
beaches during the D-Day invasion
lead to the requirement for a watch
that could withstand rough underwater duty. When it issued FSX-797 in
1944 the Navy set a new benchmark
for technical specifications for a dust
and moisture-proof watches that required submerged pressure testing.
This spec resulted in the production of the Navy BuShips divers
watch, featuring a stem cover attached with a small chain over the
crown. It has a black dial with luminous numbers and hands and has
markings for USN and BuShips on
the dial and USN or USN BuShips on the back of the case (several
styles). These models, made primarily by Elgin and Hamilton, came to
be called the Navy Canteen military
dive watch and is the most collectible
of all U.S. WWII watches.
Today, B-1 and A-11 watches
are a popular collectibles, and many
are available on auction and vintage
watch websites. Expect to pay under
OCTOBER 2009INTERNATIONAL WATCH
history
Rare Bulova A-17A with canteen cover
President Kennedy
addresses UDT team
$50 for a non-functioning B-1 and
over $400 for a clean, working watch
from a dealer.
“Expect to pay more for any of
these models from a reputable dealer, but you’ll also have his expertise
standing behind the product,” offers
Jeff Cohen of Green and Sons in
Chicago. The best bet? “Local estate sales; there were so many made
you’re bound to find a real example
that has been handed down,” offers
Candace of Candace’s Antiques
and Collectables Estate Experts
in Chicago. “I’ve actually sold
working models for less than
$50, but it’s strictly hit or miss.”
The top of the collectible pack
is the Navy Canteen watch. These
can command $1,550 to $2,500 for
a rough model and over $4,000 for a
clean, working model. Quartz knockoffs are available for under $200.
Post -WWII and Korea
This period saw the emergence of
more specialized timepieces, specifically for the Air Force and the
Navy. The A-17 watch produced
by Waltham was issued to U.S.
Air Force pilots before and during
the Korean War. It was similar to
the World War II A-11 but with red
luminous markings on the numbers
and hands and a 24-hour dial.
The Elgin and Hamilton canteen
watches issued to the underwater demolition teams had outlived their
usefulness by the 1950s. Winding of
these watches lead to a reduction in
their water resistance and they were
not pressure proof beyond 49 feet.
When the Navy re-defined the mission of these teams as a permanent
part of the arsenal, it required deeper
diving under more rigorous conditions, and it required a new watch to
be sourced.
Onward to the ‘Nam
During the Korean War the mission of
the UDT’s changed to more of a commando role, and the teams began to
train with sophisticated underwater
breathing apparatus (UBA), the use
of advanced weapons and airborne
insertion techniques. Additionally,
the Army Special Forces SCUBA
personnel, Army Rangers and CIA
Maritime Units saw their roles expand. These new fighting groups
required a watch that was pressure
proof past 165 feet with elapsed time
capabilities for tracking air, bottom
time and decompression stops.
Individually they purchased a vast
array of watches that all bore similar
characteristics: Black dial with luminous hands, rotating marked bezel,
17 or more jewels, automatic movement, stainless steel case, domed
crystal, screw down crown, pressure
proof to more than 330 feet. The
following watches fit these specifications and could be found on soldiers
within these U.S. military units: Benrus 7951/52, Blancpain 50 Fathoms,
Doxa 300T, Rolex Oyster Perpetual
and Submariner, Seiko DEO-95, Tudor Oyster Prince and Submariner
and Zodiac‘s Sea Wolf.
It was the Blancpain, however,
that made the biggest impact.
Specification 22716A (superseding several previous iterations) was
issued in 1961 and set the standard
for these “special forces” watches.
It called for submersible (400-foot)
nonmagnetic models with manual
or automatic movements with many
specifications for accuracy, pressure,
construction, crystal, case thickness,
and dial, even a paper moisture indicator. The first watch was developed by
Allen V. Tornek of the Rayville factory,
the sole representative of Blancpain in
the U.S. The Tornek-Rayville TR900
has since become one of the most collectible military dive watches of all
time. One thousand were made and
an example recently sold for $16,000
at a Christie’s auction.
Tornek Rayville. (Dr.
Strong)
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms (Dr. Strong)
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history
New and inexpensive
During the early years of military
presence in Vietnam, the defense
department began ramping up equipment acquisitions. The grunt in the
field received the exact opposite of a
Tornek-Rayville watch in the MILW-46374, which was introduced in
1964 as an inexpensive alternative to
the MIL-W-3818B specification.
Per the original documents:
“This specification covers one type
of plastic-cased wrist watch intended
for use where a high degree of accuracy is not required. The watch is
not intended to receive maintenance
support within the military supply
system.” It represented the DOD’s
ultimate embrace of the concept of
“disposable.” It was made by Benrus
and can today be found for $99.
Pilots were issued a GG-W-113
specification watch, produced by Benrus, Hamilton, and Waltham. These
were made to a higher standard and
featured a steel case, 24-hour markings on a black dial, manual-wind 17jewel movements and a hack feature.
The most sought after watch by
Vietnam-era collectors is the Benrus
Type I Class A Dive Watch, MIL-W50717, issued to Navy UDT teams
and other special forces from the mid1970s forward. Its Rolex-like case
measures 47.5 mm lug to lug, 42.4
mm across the crown, with thickness
reaching 15.3 mm. It houses a 17-jewel automatic movement. Type II Class
A and Type II Class B (which differed
by having a 12/24 hour numerically
indexed dial) were later developed for
use by non-special ops Armed Forces.
(These today fetch between $2,000
and $4,000 on Ebay, rivaling the price
of a Rolex Submariner.)
But if you’re in the market for
this particular vintage, be wary.
The Benrus Type 1 watches are
being faked, says vintage watch specialist Derek Dier at watchestobuy.
com. “If the price is ‘too good to be
true’ it’s likely a fake or “Frankenstein” put together. The more desirable a watch becomes, the faster the
Far East produces imitations. These
watches are hot, buy with caution.”
War often serves as a catalyst for
innovation, explaining the paucity of
watch specifications issued between
the end of Vietnam, through the Cold
War and up to 1991 when the U.S. began its Middle East activities. The basic DOD watch for this period was the
Stocker and Yale SandY 184, featuring
a non-hacking mechanical movement
with tritium hands and markers, fiberglass/composite case, stainless steel
bezel and flat mineral crystal.
The level of tritium paint on these
MIL-W-4637
(H. Seung)
watches caused the military to cancel
all contracts for this type of luminescent treatment, opening the door for
a new technology: the gaseous tritium
light source. This lead to MIL-W46374E (1989) that required a change
from tritium luminous paint to gas
luminescence. The specifications also
updated the design of the dial and the
hands and required an H3 mark plus
the symbol for radioactivity.
The standard MIL-W-46374F, issued in 1991, added a Type 6 Navigator watch. Stocker & Yale provided
the P650 and P660 designs while
Marathon Watch Company produced
the Navigator 211. These rather nondescript watches featured plastic cases with a quartz hack movement and
rotating bezels.
The most interesting and recognizable watch of this period was the
Stocker & Yale P650, standard issue to Army Rangers, Army Special
Forces, the Navy SEALs (Sea, Air,
Land), and the multi-service EOD
(Explosives Ordnance Demolition)
teams. To date there have been three
rounds of P650s: 1995, 1999, and
2000. Stocker & Yale made 500 of
these watches over and above their
government contract, which also
specifies they cannot be sold commercially in the U.S. (though they
are available online). A civilian version of this watch is made by Luminox (USA) and Traser (UK).
In the 1990s and into the
21st century, the U.S.
military changed
its specification
parameters to the
“performance standard” (based on
results) and moved away from detailing things like case materials and
appearance. This was the MIL-PRF46374G specification, and it opened
the door for commercial watches to
enter the government procurement
game, theoretically providing watches at a lower cost and eliminating
the need for expensive research and
development. Several models, from
navigation to dive, were purchased
for the military.
Stocker and Yale SandY P650
Vintage GI Joes in action
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OCTOBER 2009INTERNATIONAL WATCH
MTM Stryker
Reactor Trident in action
Marathon Navigator is a utilitarian, composite-cased quartz watch
available from online vendors for
$135 to $175. A step up is the Marathon GSAR Dive Watch with an
ETA 2824-A2 automatic movement
with steel case (available online for
$700 and up.)
Now in the field
Current military regulations allow decentralized watch purchases for U.S.
ground forces. This means that individual units can buy watches for their
personnel or can specify standards for
private purchase. What this has done
is (officially) allowed many different
watches to appear on the wrists of
field personnel.
Nick North is a Retired SEAL
from UDT 12 (1971) who currently
works with the SEAL Special Warfare and Combat Craft.
“In the 1970’s I was issued a
Zodiac dive watch. We called it the
‘poor man’s oyster’ and it flooded,”
he recalls. “Casio entered the market and I purchased one of their dive
watches. Today, SEAL teams wear
whatever they want; you’ll find everything from G Shocks to Oysters
on their wrists. I see a lot of guys
wearing Luminox today.”
Luminox
The Luminox 3050 is based on the Mil
Spec MIL-W-46374F that produced
INTERNATIONAL WATCHOCTOBER 2009
the Stocker and Yale P650.
These watches are available
on military bases and are often selected by soldiers for their
personal use. Some models go beyond mil spec, offering features like
chronometers. Luminox watches
have been procured by the likes of
SEAL teams as well as several groups
of USAF pilots.
Reactor
One hot new watch that has already
captured the attention of several
military units is the Reactor Trident.
The Trident features the firm’s own
Never Dark dial illumination technology, which it says combines the
brightness of SuperLuminova with
the multi-year longevity of tritium.
A ten-year battery and robust case
have lead to rave reviews from troops.
Reactor reciprocated by sponsoring
Operation Catch Fish 2009, a fishing
competition designed to boost morale
in the Middle East (see accompanying story).
Rogue Warrior Watch
Company Red Cell
Developed with input from SEAL
Team commander Richard Marcinko,
Rogue Warrior is a new brand of military tough timepieces.
“I wanted the watch to be both usable and affordable for the serviceman,”
says Marcinko, who adds that the first
shipment of these watches sold out in
just days. One model, the Red Cell, is a
tough- looking customer with its movement protected by d30, a flexible nano
material that turns rock hard on impact.
The watch is filled with Krypton gas,
effectively removing all moisture from
the case, eliminating the possibility
of condensation through temperature
change, and enhancing the luminosity
of its SuperLuminova markers.
Special Ops Strykers
The MTM Special Ops Stryker is a
new entry into the military/police
watch field that is sure to find its
way onto wrists in combat. It’s a solid
chunk of 316L stainless steel with
black PVD plating. What makes this
product unique are its dual movements: Swiss analogue and a multi
function digital display. It tracks multiple global time zones, has an alarm,
timer and electroluminescent backlighting. It is water resistant to 660
feet with a sapphire crystal. C
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