MWC G10 LM Military Watch (Grey Strap) 50M

Product Information

The definitive military field watch, supplied to MOD over many years for issue to British servicemen

There are those that would lament the cheapification of such a badge of godliness, but it is allyness on the cheap nevertheless, so no bad thing. Rumour has it that it was Argos's most popular timepiece. I wonder why? This watch like some MWC G10's uses tritium GTLS light sources for first-rate nighttime performance, all the leading manufacturers of military watches with GTLS tritium tubes namely Marathon, Nite and MWC would all be buying the tubes from the same Swiss manufacturer because there are no other high-quality sources of supply hence performance would be the same between all three brands. Another high-quality option if you are looking for a G10 pattern watch is the Precista PRS10 this is another watch very much in the same type of design as some of the CWC and MWC watches. I particularly like this watch personally because the crystal whilst Sapphire that would be looks visually very close to the old original plexiglass G10 watches. There have been many manufacturers over the years, notably: Buren, Ebel, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger Le Coultre (JLC), Longines, Cortebert, Enicar, FHF, Limi, Moeris, Montillier, Reconvillier, Rotary, Unitas, Kurth, Thommen, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor and Vertex. These were not 'G10s' in the modern sense and are referred to either as ATPs (Army Type Pattern) or the WWWs: Wrist Watch Waterproof.Using the same components and Swiss suppliers as Hamilton, CWC began supplying an essentially identical watch to the Hamilton W10, except with CWC instead of Hamilton on the dial. CWC would go on to become one the most famous later producers of British military watches. The G10 story is quite interesting, many people are surprised that most serving military personal (referred to in the UK as squaddies) never get issued with a watch contrary to what many people think hence they often buy watches from manufacturers such as CWC, MWC, Nite or Marathon although Casio is also quite popular due to the fact it's virtually indestructible. The reason many serving military buy a watch even if they qualify to have one issued is that whilst they can sometimes draw a watch on a temporary issue and receipt voucher Form G1033 many of them prefer to own their own watch.

The last CWC G10 issued was around 2008 and is the same watch today, just as rugged, reliable, accurate and dependable as it has always been. (Super-luminova is now used instead of Tritium)

Fixed bars, supplied with18mm grey CWC issue military strap. Please advise if you prefer a different colour Marathon watches are similar in many ways to the Nite and MWC watches because they use the same tritium GTLS tubes. Marathon like MWC produce a very large range of slightly varying models with slightly different specifications but targeted at infantry and law-enforcement personnel. The WWWs had a surprisingly long shelf life and were in and out of storage on an as & when basis - usually when the shooting started. Though many items were deliberately destroyed after WW2 (under the insistance of the various manufacturers to avoid flooding the market with quality Swiss-made watches) some (notably Vertex) were still being stored (and signed out) right up until the Gulf War. By the late 1970s Hamilton itself was on the ropes due to the Quartz crisis engulfing the industry, and pulled out of the military watch supply business. However, an enterprising British employee of Hamilton, Mr Ray Mellor, their contracts director, recognised that there was still a significant demand for these watches from the Ministry of Defence. Accordingly, in the 1970s he established the Cabot Watch Company (CWC) to take over where Hamilton left off.

What I find particularly appealing about the Precista is the fact it closely resembles one of the early G10 watches whilst having the benefits of modern usability. Of late, certain Sneaky-Beaky types have been issued Nite MX10s. Whilst they're an issue item, they're not really of the classic G10 format. Rumours also abound of all manner of Gucci high-end shiny stuff being trialed and tested. G10s' can be found both with and (generally) without date windows and whilst the earlier ATP & WWW issues were either mechanical or (in some cases) self-winding automatics, more modern watches are battery powered quartz. The glass - or 'crystal' - can also differ from contract to contract but G10s are generally acrylic.Today, dive watches are not quite the essential item they once were. These days, the chances are that it will be a dive computer rather than your trusty Omega Seamaster that will inform you that you're about to die horribly whilst spear fishing trout in a flooded quarry in Leicestershire.