Dirty Dozen Field Watch

Thursday, 31 August 2017

Dirty Dozen Field Watch

The "Dirty Dozen" field watches are a legendary set of 12 military timepieces commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence (via the War Office) during World War II. [1, 2, 3, 4]

History and Original Specifications

The Origin: In 1945, the British Army needed a standardized, highly accurate wristwatch for troops. [1, 2]

The 12 Makers: Twelve Swiss manufacturers met the strict specifications: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, Vertex, and Jaeger-LeCoultre.

The "WWW" Code: They were stamped with "WWW" on the caseback, standing for "Wrist Watch Waterproof". [1]

Key Visual Traits: Black dials, Arabic numerals, a railroad minute track, luminous hands and hour markers, a small seconds sub-dial at the 6 o'clock position, and a broad arrow symbol on the dial and case. [1, 2]

The Broad Arrow (^): Etched onto the dial, the inner case back, and the outer case back, this symbol has been used by the British Crown and government since the 16th century to denote government-owned property.

All 12 original "Dirty Dozen" military watches used hand-wound (manual-wind) mechanical movements.

all original "Dirty Dozen" watches used radioactive radium luminous paint on their dials and hands. (Watches, Wristlet, Waterproof). These specifications explicitly required luminous hands and hour markers so soldiers could read the time in total darkness. The Material: Radium-226 was the industry standard for luminous paint during World War II. Many surviving Dirty Dozen watches still retain their original radioactive radium "lume plots" today, though some were professionally cleaned, re-lumed, or stripped of their radium during post-war military servicing and updates

Modern Homages and Recreations

Because original vintage Dirty Dozen watches are rare and costly collector's items, several modern brands build faithful tributes or upgraded remakes:

Vario offers the Vario 1945 D12 Field Watch (around $388 USD / $562 AUD), featuring modern sapphire crystal and reliable automatic or hand-wound movements styled after the 1945 originals. [1]

Praesidus makes the DD-45 Field Olive (around $545 AUD), offering a rugged 21st-century spin with modern water resistance and reliable high-precision movements. [1]

Baltany and Vaer also produce popular vintage-accurate 36mm to 40mm mechanical or quartz homages inspired by the historical Teddy Baldassarre overview of Dirty Dozen watches. [1, 2]

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