At first only acceptable for women, the wristwatch finally gained currency among men during the American bicycle craze of the late 1800s when a bevy of clever devices for strapping watches to the wrist – then called “wristlets” – were developed and marketed for hands-free time telling. During the second Boer War (1899-1902) and World War I (1914-1918), soldiers began buying these wristwatches because they believed, quite accurately, that a watch could help keep them alive by synchronizing movements at the front with the larger artillery blasts happening behind them. When service ended, some survivors of these wars began to use their wristwatches for hunting, fishing, hiking, bicycling and driving the occasional automobile. Watch manufacturers in Europe and America were quick to catch both the military and civilian trends, and advertisements readily conflated both uses into one message: rugged men doing rugged things needed a rugged wristwatch.

A first-series Rolex Oyster Perpetual Ref. 6350 with honeycomb dial from 1953 that sold for CHF 68,750 at Christie’s Geneva on May 16, 2016. The time-only Rolex Explorer was a rebranded Oyster with numerals on the dial that debuted in 1953 as a rugged tool for the era’s most aggressive adventurers.

In 1903, Dimier Frères & Cie. issued a patent for a watch case with attached lugs to hold the wrist strap, and as early as 1913, the New York-based mail order company Ingersoll – capable of churning out as many as 8,000 watches a day – was advertising these new wristwatches to “outdoor folks” and “husky sportsmen.” Other companies dubbed similar watches the “Skirmisher,” the “Campaign Watch” and the “Territorial Wrist Watch.” Before long, “Khaki” began to appear in ads for watches with straps made of beige webbing, and as early as 1917, the American company Depollier was selling moisture-proof wristwatches with luminous dials and Waltham-built movements as the “Khaki Watch.” The field watch as we know it today was thus codified over 100 years ago.

Shedding Victorian Values and Embracing the Great Outdoors

While these new wristwatches appealed to soldiers for obvious reasons, they also appealed to a whole generation that was shrugging off the high decoration and strict etiquette of the Victorian and Edwardian eras in favor of stripped down, functional designs and increasingly relaxed social norms. Between the World Wars, wristwatches also aligned with a rising obsession with the great outdoors, epitomized by the legacy of John Muir’s conservationism, Teddy Roosevelt’s formation of the American National Parks and the vast popularity of Ernest Hemingway’s stories about the contemplative WWI veteran and trout fisherman Nick Adams. This was a context within which a rugged tool watch could begin to capture the hearts of civilians.

Rolex, Tudor and the Civilian Roots of the Field Watch

In 1919, Hans Wilsdorf moved Rolex from London to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, where he began to perfect his waterproof Oyster case, and in 1946, he formed Tudor in order to offer similar but more affordable watches. A brilliant marketeer, Wilsdorf would exploit headline-grabbing explorers and athletes as watch brand testimonees, cementing the idea that a wristwatch could act as a symbol of one’s ruggedness and bravery. That symbolic power was – and still is – one of the core appeals of the field watch.

Even though Rolex took on only limited military contracts, many World War II soldiers – especially pilots – would buy Oysters for themselves because the legibility and accuracy far exceeded that of mil-spec watches. Wilsdorf couldn’t have asked for a better promotional lift, as these Rolex-wearing military personnel were fast becoming folk heroes and style icons. Capitalizing on that marketing opportunity, Wilsdorf rebranded the Rolex Oyster as the Air-King in 1945, a move that dovetailed perfectly with the emergence of the Jet Age after WWII. In 1953, Wilsdorf rebranded an Oyster with numerals on the dial as the Explorer, this time capitalizing on an Oyster having made it to the top of Mt. Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary’s team. Though neither the Air-King nor the Explorer were military issues, they brought straightforward aesthetics and battle-ready durability to the wrists of countless civilians.

The Tudor Ranger was an affordable version of the Rolex Explorer.

Reissued as the 41-mm Heritage Ranger in 2014, this watch helped Tudor achieve the vast popularity of their current line of vintage-inspired tool watches.

The Air-King raises questions about the differences between pilots’ watches and field watches. Though many watches were designed with pilots in mind (e.g., Charles Lindbergh’s clever Longines Hour Angle, Zeniths with billboard-sized dials, various chronographs and eventually GMTs), many WWII mil-specs covered watches for both air and ground divisions, making it difficult to draw a clear line between the two categories. Because most civilians never become pilots, commercial marketing of these watches focused on “the field,” a term which likely derives from ‘battlefield’ but which has long since become synonymous with the great outdoors. In the case of Rolex – as well as many other brands – the distinction between a pilots’ watch and a field watch may come down to naming conventions and marketing, neither of which deliver a definitive distinction.

Nonetheless, the Rolex Explorer was popular enough during the 1950s that Tudor brought out the Ranger as an affordable alternative in the early 1960s. With its black face, bold luminous markers and an impenetrable Rolex Oyster case, the Ranger epitomized the simple aesthetics and functionality of the field watch. In 2014, Tudor reissued it as the Heritage Ranger, a 41-mm field watch with a camouflage strap that helped shuttle the company back to the top of Swiss watchmaking. That camouflage strap suggests a military connection that was never really there while also capitalizing on the recent revival of camouflage in popular fashion; one can imagine that Hans Wilsdorf, the clever marketeer, would wholly approve.

The Rise of the Hamilton Khaki Field Watch

Why would a WWII-era watch design still hold sway over the popular imagination during the 1950s and ’60s, a time when fast-paced futurism promised to put the war as far behind as possible? Part of the answer is the endurance of military men as sex symbols in WWII-themed films after the war – especially 1951’s Oscar-nominated film The Frogmen, which helped cement Hamilton’s military watches into the popular imagination as symbols of masculinity and bravery.

Like most American manufacturers, Hamilton stuck to WWII-era military specifications after the war, but in 1964, the U.S. Department of Defense issued watch specification MIL-W-46374A, the template for Hamilton’s 33-mm Ref. 9219, a time-only watch with a 24-hour inner track that Hamilton would readily produce millions of. Predictably, those numbers swelled during the Vietnam War.

Today’s 38-mm Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is larger than its predecessors from the 1970s and ’80s, but the field-watch aesthetics and durability remain largely unchanged.

By the end of the 1960s, Hamilton had partnered with L.L. Bean to sell co-branded versions of the 9219 through the Maine-based mail order company’s catalog. Offered alongside Swiss Army knives, compasses, thick wool socks and other outdoorsy goods, Hamilton would repeat this co-branded marketing strategy with Orvis and Brookstone, as well as selling countless Hamilton-branded Khaki Fields to other commercial outlets. When the MIL-W-46374A specification became defunct in the 1980s – leaving massive manufacturing capability potentially inert – Hamilton began to hit the civilian market even harder with the Hamilton Khaki Field Watch, effectively transforming this military icon into an outdoorsy lifestyle accessory.

Mil-Spec Becomes Mil-Chic

In a stroke of good luck for Hamilton and other companies selling field watches, the military-influenced style was undergoing a complex journey into high fashion during the 1970s and ’80s. In 1971, Yves Saint-Laurent unexpectedly turned camouflage prints into runway chic, a gesture in perfect sync with anti-war protesters in the U.S. who sported combat uniforms with studied irony. By the 1980s, politically minded punk bands like The Clash helped make army jackets as common as blue jeans, while Andy Warhol started painting huge canvases with camouflage patterns. Camo had become a fashion statement, which in turn fueled a significant uptick in army surplus stores at the time.

It was in this milieu that the preppy weekender look – which has always borrowed liberally from military garb – would ascend to great heights. Paul Newman and the ever-outdoorsy Robert Redford sported aviator sunglasses, khaki pants and field jackets with effortless aplomb and massive sex appeal. Meanwhile Andy Warhol – somewhat confusingly as a glamorous, gay, urban art star – complemented his Levi’s, Chelsea boots and horned-rimmed glasses with a red L.L. Bean down-filled puffy vest. Passing away in 1987, this would be one of Warhol’s last looks, one so elemental and iconic that’s it’s been a men’s fashion staple ever since.

CWC has been selling field watches to civilians since the 1990s. The 38-mm General Service model pictured here is just one of many mil-spec models CWC offers today.

These outdoorsy styles became so widespread and have endured for so long that today we hardly notice the military origins of camouflage-print Louis Vuitton handbags, $500 Prada aviators, or the epaulets and ammunition holders on a Ralph Lauren jacket. Following yet another resurgence of the preppy outdoorsy look, today’s so-called heritage brands (L.L. Bean among them) are reissuing items from their back catalogs as the latest styles. Accordingly, in 2018, Hamilton was able to bring out the Khaki Field Mechanical, a hand-wound version that’s become a hit all over again – including, for the first time, fashionable camouflage straps.

Today’s Khaki Field series ranges from blacked-out 50-mm giants to svelte 38-mm steel versions with aged lume and olive green NATO straps. The latter are largely faithful to the aesthetics of the early Khaki Field Watch, and – following current trends down into the sub-40-mm zone – some of the most popular. The resurgence of the Hamilton Khaki Field proves once again that, while technology marches more or less forward, fashion will perennially circle back on itself.

The Mechanical Field Watch in the 21st Century

Beyond Tudor and Hamilton, the field watch is seeing a broad resurgence among many brands, old and new. Below are a few examples that demonstrate how brands today are playing with field-watch style, mixing up various features to create new models that scratch that old itch for durability, simple design and the symbolic power of sporting a tough little tool watch.

CWC General Service (£199-£449) – In the 1970s, the Cabot Watch Company, or CWC, established itself in order to snatch up newly available contracts with Britain’s Ministry of Defense as Rolex and Hamilton relinquished these shrinking partnerships. By the 1990s, CWC was starting to sell mil-spec watches to civilians, and today, CWC’s blocky, utilitarian General Service models are available in a range of compelling and affordable models. The CWC W10 GS, for example, sports an ETA 2824 automatic mechanical movement, a rounded, 38-mm stainless-steel case and a classic mil-spec dial that could easily pass for a WWII-era watch. Other CWC GS models recreate the quartz units of the 1980s and ’90s in a number of military-inspired colorways.

No two of the Longines Heritage Military’s “aged” dials will be the same. With its simple 38-mm steel case and minimal dial text, it captures the stripped-down appeal of a classic field watch.

At just 38 mm across, the Bell & Ross BR V1-92 Black Steel is one of the smallest watches in the Bell & Ross catalog, but its striking, straightforward dial gives it massive wrist presence.

Longines Heritage Military Watch ($2,150) – Despite its somewhat ordinary name, the Longines Military Watch was one of the most alarming watches in all categories for 2018 because it included an intentionally “aged” dial. That aging was achieved by randomly splashing flecks of dark paint onto the cream dial, creating what many call “fauxtina.” That dial may look a little odd against the otherwise unblemished case and the brand new blued steel hands, but these speckles add depth and warmth to the simple elegance of this 38.5-mm time-only field watch. The L888 movement (built on an ETA A31 base) beats a little slower than today’s standard, but in so doing offers up a robust 65-hour power reserve.

Bell & Ross BR V1-92 Military and BR V1-92 Black Steel ($1,990) – Where CWC and Longines can draw on their own heritage, younger brands don’t let that stand in the way of producing some of today’s most compelling field watches. Consider the Bell & Ross BR V1-92 Military and BR V1-92 Black Steel, two 38.5-mm automatic mechanical field watches released in 2017. Bell & Ross excels at playfully patching together preexisting design elements to create their own concoctions, and with the BR V1-92 Military they’ve done so with characteristic grace: aged lume, a minutes track around the dial (no hours), a “mouse pip” at noon, a red “MT” logo (stands for Military Type) and a decidedly plain brushed steel case. For those seeking something more straightforward, the Black Steel’s monochromatic dial offers eye-grabbing legibility and classic military style. Though neither model resembles any historical reference, both the Military and the Black Steel look just like field watches ought to; as such, they are brilliant examples of how functional military design elements have become fashionable aesthetic cues over time.

Weiss 38-mm Standard Issue Field Watch ($950-$1,995) – Another interesting riff on the field watch comes from California-based Weiss Watches, a recent phenomenon in the American watch scene. We might catch a bit of irony in the name Standard Issue Field Watch, as this design is neither standard nor issued; instead, like the Bell & Ross, Weiss has combined classic field-watch details to excellent effect. With a 38-mm steel case, a subdial for running seconds at 6 and a railroad minutes track, this watch exudes classic field-watch style. Meanwhile, the “Los Angeles, CA” label across the dial announces that there’s no bona fide military connection whatsoever. Two movements are available: the manually wound Caliber 1005 built on an ETA 7001 base and the automatic Caliber 2100 built on an Eterna 39 base. Those looking for a bigger watch will want to jump up to the 42-mm model that features Weiss’s in-house manually wound Caliber 2005 (starting at $2,250 for steel and going up to $8,950 for the solid 18k yellow-gold models).

Seals Model C Field Explorer ($640) – Affordable, funky and inspired by seemingly everything from WWII at once, the Seals Model C Field Explorer combines various field-watch elements into a wholly original-looking watch. The blocky case and wire lugs are reminiscent of a Panerai Radiomir, while the generously lumed numerals and markers, broad hands and high contrast outer track offer classic field-watch legibility. Inside is a Swiss Technology Production 1-11 automatic mechanical movement capable of storing 44 hours of power. For the funkiest version, go for the aged stainless-steel finish with the blue dial.

Weiss Standard issue Field Watch

Seals Model C Field Explorer

The Future of the Field Watch

Where complicated watches draw us into nuanced engineering feats and bejeweled watches dazzle us with diamonds, the field watch must stick to the simplest design formula without succumbing to banality. Witnessing and judging attempts by watchmakers to meet that design challenge is surprisingly rewarding, enough so that over a century after its inception, simple field watches are some of the most highly anticipated iterations each year. Despite the slow pace of their evolution – or perhaps because of it – we can count on field watches to hold our imaginations, not only as companions for life’s various adventures, but as symbols of who we’d like to be as we explore, scout, range and traverse whatever it is we consider to be the field.

The Breguet Type XX holds a place of paramount importance in the world of horology and aviation. This iconic timepiece, with its roots dating back to the 1950s, has not only been a trusted companion to pilots and military personnel but also a symbol of precision and durability. Its enduring legacy as a robust chronograph designed for aviation purposes has made it a coveted collector’s item. With its latest iteration, Breguet continues to pay homage to its rich heritage while incorporating modern innovations, ensuring that the Type XX remains a symbol of precision, functionality, and timeless elegance in the world of aviation watches.

The new Breguet Type XX continues the legacy of the collection with its robustness and precision. Featuring a 42mm steel case with a thickness of 14.1 mm, it’s designed to withstand the rigors of aviation and daily wear, maintaining a water resistance of 100m. The non-engraved fluted bidirectional bezel pays homage to its military heritage, and the crown with its distinctive pear shape is adjustable in three positions for ease of use.

The new Type XX boasts a black dial that combines modernity with the classic Type 20 identity. Arabic numerals and a triangle on the bezel feature luminescent mint green accents, ensuring excellent legibility in various lighting conditions. The dial houses a 30-minute totalizer at 3 o’clock, a 60-second totalizer at 9 o’clock, and a discreet date window between 4 and 5 o’clock.

Under the hood, the watch is powered by the self-winding Calibre 728 for the civilian version and Calibre 7281 for the military edition. These movements are a testament to Breguet’s commitment to precision and innovation. They feature a column wheel, vertical clutch, and operate at a frequency of 5 Hz (36,000 vph). Notably, the balance-spring, escape-wheel, and pallet-lever horns are crafted from silicon, providing resistance to corrosion and magnetic fields while improving accuracy. With a 60-hour power reserve and a “flyback” function, these movements are designed for pilots who demand precision and reliability.

The Breguet Type XX Chronograph 2057ST/92/3WU (civilian version) and the Type XX Chronograph 2067ST/92/3WU (military version) come with a set of two interchangeable straps, one in calfskin leather and the other in NATO fabric. Both editions have their pricing marked at $18,000. Don’t miss the chance to explore these modern icons of aviation horology at WatchTime New York 2023.

To learn more, visit Breguet, here.

And to purchase your tickets for WatchTime New York 2023, click here.

The French term torpilleur stands for a small boat designed to carry torpedoes into battle against larger, more heavily armed battleships. The name was reintroduced at Ulysse Nardin in 2017, fittingly chosen for a combatively priced watch with an in-house movement. For 2021, Ulysse Nardin’s 175th anniversary, the Swiss watchmaker is feeling combative again, and has launched a whole fleet of Torpilleur watches as a horological tribute to its storied past as a supplier of chronometers to many of the world’s navies in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Ulysse Nardin President of America François-Xavier Hotier explained, “Chronometry has been our mantra for 175 years. These new Marine limited editions are designed for our friends and collectors worldwide. We pay tribute to our past as supplier of most of the admiralties in the world. It’s a wonderful way to showcase this chapter of the manufacture’s past, and a fitting addition to the many cutting-edge pieces we’ve introduced in the last two years. In short, we can now travel back in time with this collection, focus on the present with the recent releases, or even look into the brand’s future with the UFO deck clock.”

Speaking of time travel, established in 1846 by a 23-year-old Ulysse Nardin (Jan. 22, 1823 – Feb. 20, 1876), the Le Locle-based company quickly spotted the rising demand for pocket and marine chronometers that could measure time with the highest level of precision. As a consequence, Ulysse Nardin was awarded over 4,300 distinctions, including 18 gold medals, for the precision of its timekeepers over the following decades. Among its clients was also the U.S. Navy. In 1905, the Washington Naval Observatory began organizing a competition to find a manufacturer that could supply its torpedo boat officers with superior chronometers. Ulysse Nardin won the competition several years in a row, and established an ongoing relationship as an official supplier to the U.S. Navy that lasted until the 1950s.

The seven new models of the Marine Torpilleur anniversary collection (which we covered at their launch here) highlight different aspects of the brand’s current competencies: in-house movements, silicon components, tourbillon and moon-phase, enamel dials and, in the case of the chronograph shown here, also the additional measurement of elapsed time and an annual calendar. Ulysse Nardin has decided to equip only the watches powered by the automatic UN-118 (Enamel Blue and Panda) and UN-119 (Moonphase) with a COSC certificate. Hotier commented, “With the invention and use of new materials in our timepieces, such as silicon, we think it is more important to test the performance of the movement in its ready-to-wear state, i.e. once it has been put into the case with the dial and hands on it, in the same conditions the owner will wear the watch. That’s why we mostly focus on our own Ulysse Nardin certification; not only [do] we test the movement’s performance, but also the additional functions such as calendar, chronograph and power-reserve indicator. We may get some of our watches COSC-certified, but believe me, our own UN certification should be even more reassuring for collectors.”

The Marine Torpilleur Chronograph with annual calendar is available with either a varnished white or a matte blue dial, and is powered by the UN-153 manufacture movement that has replaced the earlier UN-150 movement. The dial is adorned with silvered counters at 9 and 3 o’clock, with the annual calendar being positioned at 9 o’clock. The date at 6 o’clock changes automatically (in sync with the month), and the annual calendar system (first used in the perpetual calendar model of 1996) is adjustable both forward and backward by using the large crown (which means that the month and day can be conveniently adjusted in both directions, should its owner have accidentally gone too far). Ulysse Nardin’s Caliber UN-153 is visible through a sapphire exhibition caseback, and the partially openworked rotor is decorated with the brand’s nautically inspired anchor motif surrounded by a frosted, textured surface.

The version shown here (Ref. 1533-320LE-0A-175/1A) boasts a crisp white dial showcasing Roman numeral hour markers, blued “pear” steel hands, and a well-balanced bicompax chronograph layout. The watch is mounted on a brown leather strap with four oversized white stitches; a blue strap is also available for this version (Ref. 1533-320LE-0A-175/1B).

With a diameter of 44 mm for its 50-meter water-resistant stainless-steel case, the chronograph is the largest member of the Torpilleur collection, but doesn’t wear too big on the wrist, thanks to a comparatively compact length (lug-to-lug) of 49 mm. On top of that, its white dial and blued hands make it rather versatile, sailing easily between an elegant and an almost sporty appearance. Dial legibility is generally good (and most likely better as with the blue dial version), but, unsurprisingly, the lack of luminous material on the hands and dial does reduce its capability for a cruise after dark.

In comparison, the Torpilleur Chronograph is 0.66 mm taller than an IWC Portugieser chronograph measuring 13.00 mm, and has a diameter of 44 mm compared to the 41-mm steel case from IWC. Its main advantage, however, is probably the added annual calendar function, which is, next to the power-reserve indicator, an equally user-friendly as well as a convenient feature. Add to that an in-house movement, a distinctive nautical design, and a comparatively small number of watches produced, and you’ll get a lot of reasons to embark on a horological cruise with Ulysse Nardin this year.

For nostalgic reasons, we would certainly not have been opposed to a boat christening ceremony with a “Chronometer” on the dial of the chronograph, given the company’s stellar performance at the Neuchâtel Observatory, but, overall, the chronograph and the new Torpilleur collection do appear to have hit their target.

SPECS:
Manufacturer: Ulysse Nardin SA, Rue du Jardin 3, 2400 Le Locle, Switzerland
Reference number: 1533-320LE-0A-175/1A
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, date and annual calendar; chronograph: minutes and seconds
Movement: Self-winding mechanical Caliber UN-153, 406 components,
escapement wheel, balance spring and anchor in silicon, 28,800 vph (4Hz), 52-hour power reserve
Case: Polished steel case (the curving lugs and the bezel are satin-finished) with transparent caseback, sapphire crystal on both sides, screw-down crown, dial with silvered subdials and blued hands, water resistant to 50 m
Strap and clasp: Brown alligator leather strap with folding clasp
Dimensions: Diameter = 44.0 mm, height = 13.66 mm, lug to lug = 49 mm
Variations: With blue leather strap (Ref. 1533-320LE-0A-175/1B); with blue PVD-coated dial (Ref. 1533-320LE-3A-175/1A on brown strap, 1533-320LE-3A-175/1B on blue strap)
Price: $12,100

The Hanhart 417 started its career as a tool watch for German Air Force pilots shortly after the rearmament of West Germany and its accession to NATO. Hanhart supplied the German armed forces with the watch for almost ten years. Today, the few surviving examples are considered coveted collector’s items. Actor and racing driver Steve McQueen also wore the chronograph and was seen with it at numerous motorbike races, as well in the 1962 film “The War Lover.” There were two different versions of the model: the 417 made of nickel-plated brass and the 417 ES made of stainless steel.

Old models radiate a special beauty, where the nickel layer became thinner over time due to the many uses of pushers, crown, and rotating bezel, and the rose gold color of the brass was revealed. Hanhart achieved this look in the new model with case parts made of steel and bronze.

The light patina of bronze gives the watch even more retro charm when worn. The dial under the highly domed sapphire crystal with the bi-compax division, as well as the hand shape and the historic Hanhart logo, are also authentic.

As with the original, the case measures 39 millimeters, and it comes with a manual-winding caliber with column-wheel control and flyback function. The mechanism allows a new time interval to be measured immediately by pressing the reset pusher. The new AMT5100 M caliber can be viewed through the sapphire crystal case back. It comes from the Manufacture AMT department of the Swiss specialist Sellita and has a power reserve of 58 hours. The column wheel and the screws have been blued, and the plate shows a striped finish. The chronograph is worn on a choice of brown or black leather strap with an underlay.

The new Hanhart 417 C Flyback LE is limited to 150 pieces and costs $2,860 or €2,490.

You can learn more and order the new model, here.

The latest addition to Bulova’s “Archive Series” is a reissue based on the design of one of the brand’s rarest pieces, a hand-wound military dive watch from the late 1950s that never made it to production. WatchTime was able to get both variants of the MIL-SHIPS for an editorial morning roll call, ahead of their release in 2021.

The original version from 1957 was intended to become the standard diving watch for the U.S. Navy. According to the official diving manual from that period, the task was clear: “A pressure-proof wrist watch is essential to the scuba diver for computing time of dive, controlling rate of descent and ascent, and for timing various operations. […] A pressure-proof, nonmagnetic, wrist watch that incorporates certain desirable features not available in the present watch is under development. The watch will probably be available for service test during 1958.” And it indeed was.

Completing Basic Training in 1958
According to the unclassified reports, on Feb. 5, 1958, representatives of the United States Navy’s Bureau of Ships (BuShips), “Code 565, delivered by hand, three Bulova submersible wrist watches (preproduction samples) for test in accordance with contract NObs 73016.” The three watches had been “designed and developed under the above contract to conform to ‘Bureau of Ships Contract Specification, Wrist Watch, Submersible,’ SHIPS-W-2181 of 5 December 1955,” which included, among requirements relating to water resistance, moisture indicator and legibility, a bezel “designed to be rotated and set by hand without tools” and “protected against unintentional movement caused by abrasion, shock and vibration.”

Bulova had already provided three dive watches a year before, all of which had to be returned to the manufacturer after having been “found to leak at depth.” Although the following “three watches evaluated […] were definitely more watertight than the watches submitted originally in May 1957,” moisture had still entered the case, “though in small, and possibly, insignificant quantity,” the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit’s final report from March 10, 1958, stated. More precisely, “Three pre-production samples of a Bulova submersible wrist watch manufactured under BuShips contract in accordance with MIL-SHIPS-W-2181 are evaluated.

Watertightness, readability-in-darkness and various subjective tests are reported. The specified test depth is 392 feet (175 psi), held for one hour. The watch face includes a moisture color-indicator and also a control color patch and change in color has been used as an acceptance criterion for watertightness. Two of the three watches indicated moisture, one during testing and the other several days after testing. No water or moisture was noted in the case. Readability of the watch in darkness, underwater, was satisfactory with the exception of the second hand which was too thin to be seen. Several physical improvements are recommended for acceptance in that the specified watertightness test has not been met.” The report also recommended that “the second hand be made wider,” an “improved [shorter] strap be furnished,” and that more “protection be provided [for] the stem.” Lastly, the evaluation report concluded that the “watch’s outer, rotatable ring” appeared to have a tendency “to clog and become inoperable when working in sand or silt.” In short, it was recommended “that the watch not be accepted until it is definitely determined that no water or moisture is entering the case.”

Therefore, on April 3, 1958, representatives of BuShips, Codes 538 and 565, and of Bulova Corporation delivered another five “Bulova submersible wrist watches” with “minor modifications towards final acceptance.” And, according to the next evaluation report, dated May 7, 1958, this batch of watches appears to have performed significantly better. “Of three watches tested, one failed in that positive indication was recorded on the color indicator. The watch which failed, however, continued to run and did not show evidence of moisture, fog, or droplets on the underside of the crystal or on the face. It is suspected that the watch which failed was water-tight and that the indicator was faulty.”

Despite the positive result, the American watchmaker made the decision not to continue with the production of its “submersible wrist watch” and “to focus on the development of The Accutron” instead. The United States Navy therefore went with the Fifty Fathoms, which had already provided the blueprint for the modern dive watch in 1953 (due to the 1933 “Buy American Act” the U.S. Navy could not purchase Swiss watches directly, so Allen V. Tornek Co., then importer of Blancpain, became the American supplier of Blancpain for the U.S. Navy).

Rare as Hen’s Teeth
Based on the data provided by the U.S. Navy, it appears that Bulova did not produce more than a handful of prototype watches during the evaluation phase (depending on how many identical watches were submitted for the tests, the number would be anywhere between five and 11, based on the cited reports). And even fewer are currently known to have survived the last 64 years. On March 10, 2010, for example, Antiquorum auctioned off a Bulova “Prototype Diver’s Wristwatch, No. U.D.T. 21 0182” for $14,400 (Lot 280). According to Antiquorum, this particular model “was intended by the Navy to be a replacement for the obsolete Elgin ‘Canteen’ diver’s watch. The watch featured a unique two-piece water-resistant case back, a thick brass anti-magnetic case holder, and a newly designed movement — the 17 jewel manual wind 10 BPCHN. The unique movement featured a clutch mechanism that prevented the watch from being over-wound.”

In short, and looking at the current hysteria in the vintage-watch market, the existence of Bulova’s latest re-edition will most likely not have an impact on the few pieces available on the vintage market, unless the launch of the re-edition would flood out a large number of previously unknown pieces. Instead, it will finally be made officially available.

The MIL-SHIPS is the latest release in Bulova’s recently expanded roster of historical watches, which includes the Military Collection pieces launched in 2020. It also comes on the heels of other vintage-inspired Bulova models that have garnered significant attention among collectors and watch enthusiasts, like the Oceanographer Snorkel, Computron LED, Chronograph C “Stars & Stripes,” and, perhaps most notably, the Bulova Lunar Pilot “Moon Watch” chronograph in 2015.

Two Variants
Bulova decided to offer the MIL-SHIPS re-edition in two variants. The more expensive version (Ref. 98A265) is limited to 1,000 pieces; the significantly less expensive counterpart (Ref. 98A266) is going to be part of the brand’s regular production.

Both share an almost identical design with moisture indicator at 6 o’clock, a 41-mm case with sandblasted finish and 200-meter water resistance, a domed sapphire crystal, cathedral-style hands, screw-in crown and two-piece screw-down caseback, which allows the central piece’s engraved diving helmet to be perfectly aligned. While the limited edition comes with a more detailed engraving (and individual number), the unlimited version features a much simpler, etched version of the diving helmet. Regardless of that, both caseback versions are partially covered by the textile strap (black for the limited edition, blue for the unlimited version).

More importantly, the limited version offers more luminous material on both the dial and bezel (which can only be rotated when pushed down), a “Swiss Made” label on the dial, and a Sellita SW200-1, which results in a price tag of $1,990. The unlimited version, on the other hand, costs $895 and is powered by a Miyota 82S0 movement.

From a purist’s perspective, both movements offer little novelty to spice up a collection. Therefore, a hand-wound, perhaps even more exclusive limited edition (next to the Miyota-powered version) equipped with a sterile caseback might have gotten collectors even more excited than the Sellita-based version. Visually, however, both re-editions undoubtedly offer a rather unexpected take on the vintage dive watch theme in today’s environment, thanks mostly to the hands (taken from the vintage MIL-W-3818-A military model) and the unusually narrow lugs. This is a rather surprising conclusion, given the original design it was based on, and the Swiss dive watch it once had to compete against. In short, fans of modern re-editions of vintage designs can stand at ease, and enjoy the fact that this piece of Bulova’s incredible history is now, for the first time, made officially available, and that this version would have passed the evaluation phase with flying colors. Dismissed.

SPECS:
Manufacturer: Bulova Corporation, Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10118
Reference number: 98A265
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds
Movement: Self-winding mechanical Caliber Sellita SW 200-1, 26 jewels, 28,800 vph (4Hz), approx. 41-hour power reserve, diameter = 25.6 mm, height = 4.6 mm
Case: Stainless-steel case with two-piece screw-down caseback, screw-in
crown, domed sapphire crystal, water resistant to 200 m, push-down locking top ring, Super-LumiNova markers and hands, moisture
indicator strip on the dial
Strap and clasp: Black textile strap with buckle
Dimensions: Diameter = 41.00 mm, height = 15.42 mm, length = 50 mm
(lug to lug)
Variations: Ref. 98A266 with Miyota 82S0 automatic movement and blue
textile strap ($895)
Limited edition of 1,000 pieces
Price: $1,990

This article originally appeared in the September-October 2021 issue of WatchTime.