Wow! What a beast! This is a current Royal Navy issue military diver's watch by CWC. Water resistant to 300 meters, it is built like a tank. The baton shaped tritium coated hands and hour markers built to British military specification makes this watch extremely legible during both underwater and night time operations.
The polished stainless steel case feels tough and heavy, just the way military dive watches should be. It has a screw down crown protected by curved shoulders that is similar in design to vintage Heuer dive watches. The fully indexed time elapse bezel clicks very tight and rotates in counter-clock wise direction.
I have seen photos of similar dive watches manufactured by CWC in the eighties with a mechanical movement. This one supercedes that model with an extremely accurate quartz movement. No, I did not transplant an automatic movement this time. It would feel out of place considering the fact that the dial is marked "QUARTZ" above the six o'clock position. There is also a British "T" mark on the dial to denote the presence of tritium.
The rigid strap bars takes a 20mm NATO band. I had mine equipped with a gray NATO band I had purchased separately while on a business trip to London last September. These NATO bands are great! I am beginning to fall in love with them. Their mere presence transforms the watch in a class of its own!
Okay, for all you military specification freaks, here is the full inscriptions found on the back of the case:
0555 / 6645-99
7573314
220
95Once again, if there is anyone who knows what all the above specification and serial numbers mean, please let me know. I could tell that the watch was issued in 1995 and numbered 220 of that year. There is also the famous British Broad Arrow mark in the middle of the inscriptions, as can be seen from the photo above.
This has been a busy week for me. I have photographed most (not all) of my military watches during precious lunch hours on the roof of my office building. I'm not sure why I'm doing this. My officemate thinks I'm crazy. I think I am. Well, who cares... It's for my own pleasure. Well, I got a bit bored so I took the following picture. It's a view of downtown Seoul from the rooftop of my office building... obstructed by (what else?) the CWC Royal Navy Dive Watch:
