Military watches are designed purely for function- Very robust with a thick steel case, good quality accurate Swiss jeweled movement, hacking function, easy to read dial, fixed strap bars & extra thick tough plexi.
This style of watch replaced the Smith's W10 & was the last general purpose mechanical watch ever issued to the military in the UK!
"Tonneau" shaped case watches were issued to all 3 branches of the M.O.D Army Navy & RAF from 1973-1980. There were originally 3 makers of this watch style - Hamilton CWC & a M.O.D own-brand. CWC proved to be the best choice & ever since have been the main supplier of watches to the M.O.D.
Movement- Swiss ETA 2750 (21,600 BPH) mechanical wind 17-Jewel with Hack feature. Hacking means when the crown is pulled to the time setting position the second hand stops allowing you to set the time to the exact second or synchronize it with other watches.
Dial- Fully original and is marked- CWC = (Cabot Watch Company) Circled "T" indicates the luminous material is Tritium, The arrow (Pheon) = Crown property, Swiss made = movement made in Switzerland.
Hands - Original military Sword/Gladiator type.
Crown- Original stainless steel, with split stem.
Case- Stainless steel front loader, size excluding crown is 35 mm. including crown 37.5 mm, from top-bottom 41 mm & the lug/strap size 18.5 mm.
Lens- Made from a very tough thick plastic composite, scratches can be easily polished out with fine Wet & Dry paper + a polish like Brasso, saving you having to replace the lens,
Case-back markings explained - W10 indicates Army issue. 6645 Nato code for Timepiece. 99 country code for UK. 523-8290 = General Purpose wristwatch. /|\ Arrow = M.O.D property, and the last set of numbers (e.g.) 1234 / 76 are the serial number & year of issue.
