Manufacturer of military watches for the British Army during World War II

May 1, 2022

In 1940, the British Ministry of Defense announced a new standard for military watches, W.W.W, and reached an agreement with twelve arms manufacturers to produce this watch, which was also called the Mark 10. The watch is equipped with luminous hour markers and hands, and there is an arrow sign representing the British Ministry of Defense at twelve o'clock. After production, the British Air Force and Army have carried out a lot of equipment.

A total of 12 manufacturers participated in the production of military watches of the British Ministry of Defense during World War II:

BUREN, CYMA, ETERNA, GRANA, JAEGER LECOULTRE, LEMANIA, LONGINES, IWC, OMEGA, RECORD, TIMOR, VERTEX.

These watches bear the WWW logo and are specially designed and custom-made for the British Army.

WWW stands for watch, wrist watch, waterproof and is a descriptive code used by the British army to identify it as a piece of equipment.

The watches were manufactured and distributed to the British Army in early 1945.

The aforementioned 12 Swiss-based W.W.W. manufacturers, therefore, collectors and dealers often refer to the collection as "The Dirty Dozen."

The watches need to fit the below criterias:

Diameter need to between 35 to 38m, not including the crown
Using stainless steel case
Using a shatterproof crystal
Using a black dial with luminous hour markers and hands, and a railroad minute track
Watch need to be waterproof

During World War II, Buren produced around 11,000 Buren WWW watches for the British Army.

Cyma produced around 20,000 WWW watches for the British Army.

Eterna produced around 5,000 WWW watches for the British Army.

GRANA only produced around 1500 WWW watches for the British Army alone. As such, the GRANA is considered the "Holy Grail" by many military watch collectors, and this watch is from Frank Hudson, who served in the RAF from 1938 to 1946.