Posts Tagged ‘Military’
Rolex 5512 PCG Milsub
If a watch could speak, some of them would have lived rather mundane lives. This one would have stories to tell. The 5512 with pointed crown guards is a very rare milsub variant. Produced in two runs between 1960 and 1961, the total run is an estimated thirty examples. All were supplied to the British…
Read MoreKAF-Issued Heuer 73663 Autavia
When you think military-issued pieces, you probably think milsub for the Royal Navy, MN Tudors, or the dirty dozen. You probably do not imagine Heuers for the Kenyan Air Force. And yet, funky-vintage-cool does not come much more funky-vintage-cool than this KAF-issued 73663. The Autavia was, as I’m sure you know, a contraction of automotive-aviation.…
Read MoreHamilton 1813 6B RAF-Issued
Although field watch is somewhat ambiguous and meaningless designation, I think this RAF Hamilton could be a perfect working definition. The watch is completely without pretense, function over all other considerations. Mildly undersized for comfort, tritium for legibility, an uncluttered dial, and simple (easily fixable) movement. I long for simplicity in the era of the…
Read MoreA 1940s Gallet Field Watch
Racine was the historic US label for Gallet watches. Although probably best known for the ‘Flying Officer’ chronograph, Gallet’s illustrious history runs all the way back to 1826. In 1877 a relative of the Gallet family relocated from Switzerland to the US and the Racine line was born. This is not unlike Wakmann for Breitling…
Read MoreA Lemania RAF Monopusher Series 3
Aviator’s chronographs are certainly some of the more sought-after pieces in military collecting. The humble complication is a tool with an important purpose in aviation, but still useful outside of it. Lemania, in collaboration with Omega and Tissot, created some of the most robust, widespread military chronographs. Also, arguably, some of the most handsome. There…
Read More2998 Pre-Moon Military Speedmaster
Give me alpha hands, a dot over 90, caliber 321 and I’m a happy man. However, when you add an interesting history I’m not happy, I’m obsessed. This 2998 is simply as good as they come for me. I don’t look for pristine safe queens or box and papers. I like pieces that tell a…
Read MoreMilsub Alternative: Omega Seamaster 300 Royal Navy
The are very few divers I love more than the 165.024 generation of Seamaster 300s. There’s something extremely special about the purposeful design and simplicity it offers, not to mention its fairly bulletproof caliber 552. If you know your SM300s, there is one undisputed king of the reference. This is it. Or rather, this is…
Read MoreTudor 9401/0 Marine Nationale 80 Submariner
For those who lament the days when 5517s could be found south of 100K, listen up. Today we have one of the few ‘Rolex’ references (arguably) with issued military origins. The Marine Nationale (Division of French Navy) used a wide range of references, but a majority came from Rolex & its more experimental sister. Tudor Submariner…
Read MorePorsche Design 3H Military Chronograph in Factory Green PVD
Porsche and military are words not often combined. Granted, the VW people’s car does have a tenuous connection to certain German politics but let’s gloss over that very quickly. In the 1980s, Orfina was contracted to provide a watch for the Bundeswehr. They turned to the newly established Porsche Design to style a chronograph dial.…
Read MoreOne Seamaster to Rule them All
There are more accurate, more ornate, and more complicated Seamasters. But there isn’t a more significant Seamaster than this military 165.024 T-dial. This is a watch that is invisible to almost everyone. No one will mug you for it in East London. But if you know, you really know. This mil-spec Seamaster varies from the…
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