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Thread: British Army watches since 1967

  1. #1

    British Army watches since 1967

    Hello, newcomer here to BMW. So I would like to start collecting Military watches; but what to collect? It seems to me that it would help to limit my scope to a degree. I have a personal link to the British Army, so I thought that it would be good to start with British Army watches since my birth date (1967). This also has the advantage that these are still relatively affordable (except perhaps for the Smiths).

    So I have compiled a list. I know that there is an enormous wealth of knowledge on here, so I'd like to ask whether it's correct. Have I missed anything out?

    Mechanical watches

    1967-1970 Smiths military W10/6645-99-961-4045
    1973, 1975-1976 Hamilton mechanical 523-8290 W10-6645-99
    1976-1980 CWC mechanical W10/6645-99-523-8290

    G10 type quartz watches - all W10/6645-99-541-5317

    1980 CWC G10 quartz small logo 'fat boy' (not marked W10)
    1982 CWC G10 quartz oval logo 'fat boy'
    1982-1983 Precista G10 'fat boy'
    1983 CWC G10 'medium fat' - offset battery hatch
    1983-1988 CWC G10 'medium fat' - centre battery hatch
    1989-2010? CWC G10 thin case

    Recent Army issue

    1999-2004 Pulsar (Disposable) 'short hand version' 6645-99-605-2627
    1999-2009 Pulsar (Disposable) 'long hand version' 6645-99-605-2627
    2000?-? CWC GS2000 6645-99-605-2627
    2005-2006 CWC Army PVD Diver (some issued with 0555 lined out), marked W10/6645-99-7995-443
    Nite MX10 UKSF 6645-99-133-5227

  2. #2
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    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    thats quite a list,i think you may have missed this one :)



    http://diving-watch.org/MILSUB-MILITARY ... UBMARINER-

  3. #3

    British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by soapy
    thats quite a list,i think you may have missed this one :)



    http://diving-watch.org/MILSUB-MILITARY ... UBMARINER-
    Surely the Milsub was only RN issued, so would have been marked 0552/? To keep things within the limits of sanity, I am proposing to limit myself just to W10 marked or Army issue only.

  4. #4

    British Army watches since 1967

    ...besides which I don't have £50-odd thousand lying around spare!

  5. #5
    Grand Master SimonK's Avatar
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    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Did the Army Air Corps receive any of the mechanical chronographs (CWC, Precista, Hamilton, Newmark) in the early seventies?

  6. #6
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    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by Shuggy
    Quote Originally Posted by soapy
    thats quite a list,i think you may have missed this one :)



    http://diving-watch.org/MILSUB-MILITARY ... UBMARINER-
    Surely the Milsub was only RN issued, so would have been marked 0552/? To keep things within the limits of sanity, I am proposing to limit myself just to W10 marked or Army issue only.

    good idea,thats enough to start with anyway..

  7. #7

    British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by SimonK
    Did the Army Air Corps receive any of the mechanical chronographs (CWC, Precista, Hamilton, Newmark) in the early seventies?
    If they did, would they have been marked W10?

  8. #8

    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by Shuggy
    Surely the Milsub was only RN issued, so would have been marked 0552/? To keep things within the limits of sanity, I am proposing to limit myself just to W10 marked or Army issue only.
    Bad news. There are W-10 Rolex miliSubs..!

    :bom:

  9. #9

    British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Wood
    Quote Originally Posted by Shuggy
    Surely the Milsub was only RN issued, so would have been marked 0552/? To keep things within the limits of sanity, I am proposing to limit myself just to W10 marked or Army issue only.
    Bad news. There are W-10 Rolex miliSubs..!

    :bom:
    Wow. They must be rarer than rocking horse manure.

    At least I know what to spend my money on when I win the Euromillions.

  10. #10
    Craftsman
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    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by Shuggy
    1983 CWC G10 'medium fat' - offset battery hatch
    1983-1988 CWC G10 'medium fat' - centre battery hatch
    1989-2010? CWC G10 thin case
    I have a couple of boxed, new old stock 1987 G10s, and they have thin cases, but with dials from the older medium case watches ('Swiss' not 'Swiss Made'). They are about the same thickness and weight as the 1989-current watches but they are actually less chuncky, with thinner lugs, etc.

    Between 1989 and the present there have been slight variations over the years, and if you buy a reconditioned G10 from somewhere like Anchor Supplies, you might recieve a mix and match watch, like I did. It had a 1989 back, but a more recent front and a blue&gold movement.

    The movements should be (correct me if any are wrong) :

    1984 to 1987 - ESA 555.115 (5 jewels. Capacitor trimmer. Flatpack integrated circuit chip. Green circuit. Date function present, but hidden by dial)

    Around this time ETA took over and reduced production costs by using 'Blob on PCB' integrated circuits, instead of soldered-on chips.

    1989 to approx 1991 - ETA 955.111 (7 jewels. Capacitor trimmer. Blob on PCB. Green circuit. No date function)

    Further cost reductions were made by eliminating the capacitor trimmer, replacing it with EEPROM memory.

    approx 1992 to present - ETA 955.111 (7 jewels. EEPROM memory stores the regulation needed for the crystal. Blob on PCB. Blue circuit. No date function)

    Using EEPROM means that they will eventually suffer bit-rot, so might suddenly start running fast or slow as they approach 20-30 years old.

  11. #11

    British Army watches since 1967

    Thanks for the interesting info on your 87 'thin cases' and the movements. I wonder if this design appeared in any other years?

    I love my 1980 'fat boy'. It seems a bit better made than the 06 that I bought for my boy. For example the second hand is dead on the markers and the printing on the dial seems a little bit sharper.

  12. #12

    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    this looks like realy fun focus for a collection :)
    Where does one go to find and buy watches like this?
    t.

  13. #13

    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by timc
    this looks like realy fun focus for a collection :)
    Where does one go to find and buy watches like this?
    t.
    Very easy to get hold of - ebay, Trinity Marine, Anchor Supplies, MOD-Sales etc.

  14. #14

    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Just a bit of clarification for you. As far as I know the Precista G10 Fat boy was only stamped with 1982. There is another version from 1984 that has the Fatboy rear case but the front case is the thinnest out of all of the CWC/Precista G10 watches.

    You may also like to research and add in the G10 navigator watches which have a date window and are very much rarer.

    Peter

  15. #15

    Re: British Army watches since 1967

    Quote Originally Posted by PeterT
    Just a bit of clarification for you. As far as I know the Precista G10 Fat boy was only stamped with 1982. There is another version from 1984 that has the Fatboy rear case but the front case is the thinnest out of all of the CWC/Precista G10 watches.

    You may also like to research and add in the G10 navigator watches which have a date window and are very much rarer.

    Peter
    Thanks - I think that you might be right about the Army W10 Precistas only being made in 1982. However, I'm pretty sure that the 1984 models were all RAF issue (6BB).

    Likewise, were any of the Navigators on Army issue? I would have thought that they were all issued only to the Royal Navy or Marines.

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