Watchlords

Much has been written already about the world’s iconic military watches and their origins, with numerous articles on individual watches appearing over the years right here on Worn & Wound. In this series, we aim to do things a little differently by taking the reader on a world tour, stopping at a different country in each installment and discussing that particular nation’s military wristwatches, and for our first installment (released in two parts), we’re going to be covering the good ol’ U.S. of A.

World War I & Inter-War Years

America entered World War I in April of 1917, one year before the conflict ended, and it has been recorded that many doughboys arriving on the continent were in fact issued wristwatches. Though these watches were not given mil-spec markings like their counterparts issued to, say, the British Expeditionary Forces, certain models were produced specifically for military use and officially issued to U.S. soldiers.

American watch manufacturing firms such as Waltham and Elgin produced watches for U.S. forces, and some were even given “ORD” (ordnance) markings upon being turned in for service after the war and later saw action during World War II. A War Department Technical Manual from 1942 even depicts these “trench watches” among its inventory.

https://wornandwound.com/military-watch ... -s-part-1/



MILITARY WATCHES OF THE WORLD: U.S.A. PART 2

Vietnam War

With the release of the MIL-W-3818B spec in 1962, the fog lifts once again and there is a clear, traceable history of issued watches. This revision was meant to simplify the requirements for a 17-jewel, hacking wristwatch with an extended service life, and the watch ultimately produced under this spec was the Benrus DTU-2A/P. It featured a parkerized steel case, a black dial with numerals and indices in white and an inner ring with military time, hands filled with green luminescent paint (tritium), an acrylic crystal, and an orange-tipped second hand also painted with tritium. The movement featured 17 jewels, hacking, a 36-hour power reserve, and accuracy of +/- 30 seconds per day.

https://wornandwound.com/military-watch ... -s-part-2/


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