5 military watches to splurge on

Have you seen a military watch? They are usually round, have large, legible superluminescent numerals, a 24-hour track for all-night operations and matte or bead-blasted cases because shiny surfaces reflect light. With GPS installed, the military watches could give away your position.

The military watch styles are also divided into three categories – ‘field’, which are basic, usually cheap, three-handers; ‘pilots‘ which have more accurate movements, bigger dials and extra complications such as a chronograph or details such as tachymeter scales, and finally ‘diving watches‘. Let’s dive into some of the best military watches:

1.Traser P66 Automatic Pro

This is a brand born because of the armed forces. In 1989, the US military approached asked mb-microtec, the company founded by inventor Oskar Thüler in 1969, to create a mil-spec watch using trigalight – the self-illumination technology Thüler had invented. Since then its rugged no-nonsense design has become popular with the British military and is one of the few brands servicemen and women buy for themselves. And it’s easy to see why. The case is robust, the dial is easy to read, is good to 300m and the trigalight technology means that it is luminescent 24 hours a day without the need for external light.

2. Bremont Argonaut

The military’s love of Bremont has never been a secret, but the pair have finally made it official with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) recently announcing it as its luxury watch partner. Alongside the Broadsword for the Army and the Arrow for the RAF, there’s this gorgeous slice of retro diver cool for the Navy – the aptly named Argonaut.

Rather than a chunky outer bezel, it has an inner rotating one, which keeps its case more streamlined, while the black dial with custom Superluminova in a mint shade is straight out of the Dirty Dozen (the name given to a small battalion of watches commissioned by the British Army during World War II – not the Lee Marvin D-Day romp). Despite being a tool watch, this feels like a timepiece more for a gentleman than officer. Naval dress whites optional.

3. Omega Seamaster 300

This might seem like a strange inclusion but, as well as being worn by everyone’s favourite double 0, the Omega Seamaster 300 has military provenance. The first generation – the ref.CK2913-1– was originally launched in two versions – date and no date.

The British armed forces took a shine to the former and, between 1967 and 1971 the Ministry of Defence took delivery of Seamasters that had been mil-specced with different hands and a screw-down crown and distributed them among the Royal Navy and the Army. So, strap on a Seamaster and imagine that whatever you do while wearing it is for Queen and country.

4. Timex Expedition Ranger Solar

Although it tends to opt for the phrase “military inspired” in its descriptions, a quick Google search reveals that Timex was issued to the US Army back in the 1990s and even today the brand is seen on the wrists of serving personnel.

This Expedition is particularly popular because it is hard-wearing, solar-powered so no worries about the battery running out when you’re out on ops in the middle of nowhere, and reasonably priced, so you won’t be precious about it getting knocked about. All that and it’s stylish enough to wear on Civvy Street too.

5. Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical

While brands such as IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Omega were supplying watches to the British Forces, in the US it was all about Hamilton. During World War II, the Pennsylvania-based brand made nearly 10,000 marine chronometers for the US Navy and supplied over one million of its Hack watches to servicemen.

Mud, rain, snow, tropical humidity – nothing could stop these resilient timepieces and the Khaki is the Hack’s direct descendent. The 21st century version is still just as basic and functional, and the addition of the NATO-style strap gives it a bit of on-trend, yet historically accurate flair.