A Brief History of Military Watches

Military watches, as their name suggests, were developed for use in the armed forces. The first military watches were naval pieces, chronometers that worked well for their purposes, but as other branches of the military – aviation in particular – made major technological advances around the time of the Second World War, precise seconds became critical. As the saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention,” and Navigator (also known as “Pilot”) watches were born.

In Navigator watch design, the seconds bezel allowed the pilot to synchronize the seconds hand with correct reference time before takeoff, and to make manual corrections to radio time signals while in flight, thus eliminating any “chronometer error” and the navigational errors that could result.

Great War, Great Technological Advances

Seconds continued to be of the essence in both military technology and military watches. “Center-seconds” hands, (also called a “hack seconds feature”) – the feature that allowed for synchronization between two timepieces – continued to improve and advance.

The definitive Navigator “hack” watches feature a black dial and white Arabic numerals and indices, hour, minute, and center-seconds hands. Sizing is all over the board; historically, such notable companies as Elgin, Waltham, and Bulova Watches crafted watches (for the renamed Army Air Force in 1941), as small as 31mm in diameter. The German army tended toward larger faces, often in the 55mm range. These watches were worn on the outside of a flight jacket or on the navigator’s thigh. The Germans also added antimagnetic protection to their chronometers.

Within another major Axis power, Seiko produced a staggering number of military watches for the Japanese Imperial Army and Navy. These watches averaged around 49mm in diameter.

Navigating The Cold War

As the days of WWII faded into memory and the strained peace of the “Cold War” became reality, military budgets and military technology boomed. In the era of nuclear bombs the airplane ascended to its most powerful military and political role in history. Watchmakers rose to the call by designing an instrument worthy of going into battle with humankind’s most powerful weapon. Those were the Glory Days of the military watch, although no one design house can claim full credit for the strides made in the industry during that time.

Cold War-era military watches were much larger in size than the average American navigators before them. Averaging 36mm in diameter, the crafting of these timepieces was moved to Switzerland and Swiss military watch companies with centuries’ old reputations for precision. Like those before them, these Navigators also featured a matte black dial marked with white Arabic numerals 1-12, and with white indices. The new designs did not have white numerals at cardinal 3, 6, 9, and 12. Another new addition was a shatterproof Perspex acrylic crystal, which protected its large 12 ligne movement from magnetic fields. These hand-wound watches were expected to be water-resistant to 20 feet, including water-resistance under low-pressure at operational altitudes.

Own A Piece of History – At A Reasonable Price

While several of the top-tier watchmakers are reviving this classic style, vintage quality does not have to break the bank. Seiko watches established a reputation for the brand, recognized by watch collectors. You can buy watches from Seiko for reasonable prices, classic Navigator-style watches can be enjoyed by all.

Watches have evolved over the centuries and become almost a necessity. There are many types of watches all with different functions. If you are looking for a watch there are a few things to keep in mind. Your budget is important here. The amount you can spend on a watch will dictate what type of watch and what features or functions you will be able to have. Watches can range in price from $2.00 or $3.00 all the way up to thousands of dollars and more.

An analog watch is a watch that has hands. There may be a second hand or not. The second hand moves in continuous sweeping motion. Some second hands will move in two second intervals to indicate the batteries need to be replaced. Digital watches have the time displayed in numerals. Digital watches are very popular.

An LCD watch uses liquid crystal display to show the time. The numbers are usually gray or black on a lighter background. An LED watch uses a diode that emanates light. There is usually a button to push to display the time. The numbers in the display are red in color.

A quartz watch is very popular in the market place today as well and it runs on batteries. A tiny quartz crystal in the watch vibrates at a very stable frequency. This keeps the time instead of the traditional mechanical movement.

Other watches include a mechanical watch. It operates with the movement of a set of gears. A spring inside the watch is wound to power the gears. A jewel watch uses gems such as rubies at points of friction inside the movement.

A diving watch is water resistant through a depth of between fifty to one hundred meters and it is marked on the dial. Instead of the usual push/pull crown, a diving watch has a ***** down crown. This creates a better water tight seal. The band is made of rubber or similar material because the salt water won’t cause deterioration.

Functions on watches include calendars, time zones, stop watches, and alarms. Many have the option of being set to standard or military time. Still others have indigo lights that when a button is pressed will light up and make the numbers more visible. This is especially good in a hospital or nursing home setting where you need the light to read the second hand while checking pulses. There are some watches that have removable face plates so that you can have your watch match what you are wearing. The shape of a watch can be almost any shape as well such a round or rectangular. There are ring watches and pendant watches. Pocket watches are making a come back as well.

The bands on watches are as varied in material and design as the watches themselves. There are metal bands that stretch, there are bands made of material similar to the straps on backpacks and that fasten with Velcro. There are bands of cloth, hemp, metal links and bands that come in one or two pieces.