The term “military-grade” can bring to mind images of near-indestructible items. From cars to boots, there is a plethora of everyday objects that have been co-opted by the armed forces over the years, leading them evolving into their purest utilitarian form. While the Dirty Dozen might be synonymous with World War II and the British Army, they were only introduced near the end of the war – and, as such, did not see as much action as we might imagine. But the legacy of these watches lived on, with similar designs and forms that had to adhere to strict military specifications manifesting in watches released after World War II.

We previously covered the original Dirty Dozen in some depth, but we wanted to investigate the pieces that this select group of watches spawned. The 1950s and 1960s saw the creation of increasingly specialised timepieces for different branches of the militaries of the world, and classifications such as field, pilots’ and divers’ watches became even more pronounced, with an emphasis on specific needs like accuracy and water resistance. These pieces bridged the gap between World War II and the use of quartz wristwatches in the military, making use of new technologies and designs, becoming sharper and more keenly attuned to the needs of servicemen.

While perhaps not as drastically different from the original Watch, Wristlet, and Waterproof, (W.W.W.) guidelines, the specifications had to keep up with the growing technological developments of the time, each mirroring and anticipating the other’s needs.

According to the 1947 Defence Standard (Def Stan) set out by the British Ministry of Defence, the watch essentially had to “be of the luminous wristlet type in a stainless steel or other approved metal waterproof case, and shall be capable of withstanding tropical conditions”. The document goes on to specify in detail the types of dials that were acceptable, in addition to type of material, and down to the exact measurements of the distance between lugs and the case size

Alex Barter, an expert who ran Sotheby’s watch department in Geneva for over a decade, and the author of The Watch: A Twentieth-Century Style History, notes that some of the most crucial elements that were shared across these different types of military watches included a legible dial and anti-magnetic properties.

Oren Hartov, watch editor at Gear Patrol and a reserve paratrooper in