The Military Watch Company finally got the contract it sought after for many years.

“Every dog has its day” is an old phrase that means that “if you continue trying then one day you may succeed” Never has this had more meaning than in the following tale. The quartz “G10”  was the first quartz watch supplied to the British military, with the name coming from the G1098 form which was completed before one was issued. The correct term is General Service Watch. it is a simple 36mm no-date 3-handed Quartz with fixed lug pins as per the standards required by the M.O.D.

The defense standard can be found here.

An original CWC G10.

MWC (The Military Watch Company)  was founded in 1974 by Wolfgang Obrigheimer, although he manufactured a limited number of watches in the mid-1960s and branded the movement” Military Watch Company” it was not until 1974 following a conversation with another famous watchmaker Albert Wajs of Ollech and Wajs who also lived in Zürich that he decided to run the business full time. They have spread the narrative of supplying the armed forces for years but, without any substantial evidence were generally mocked by the watch community. There is a certain well-respected military watch forum who have an automatic block set up for people who mention this particular company. The original G10 has a plexi crystal is only 50m water-resistant, and has a none screw down crown. the battery is accessible via a small hatch. The new MWC G10 has 100m / 330ft water resistance and for this specific updated model, it has been allocated the NATO Stock number NSN: 6645-99-472-3228 by the Ministry of Defense codification agency making this currently the most up-to-date approved specification.

The new MWC G10.

The watch has a highly scratch-resistant sapphire crystal and an incredible 10-year battery life. Although this G10/GS Specification watch like many of our other variants traces its origins back to our earliest G10 designs in the 1980’s this model is totally updated. Whilst the screw down crown and screw caseback greatly improve the water resistance the Swiss Ronda 715li movement with 10-year battery life significantly reduces the maintenance requirements of the watch. The watch has a light sandblasted non-reflective case, sandblasting is a process that has been used for many years by military watch manufacturers. The finish gives the watch case a matt appearance, and consequently, barely reflects any light. This finish is created by blasting the watch case with tiny glass or sand particles hence the reason it is referred to as sandblasted. When they secured a contract to produce this model it was specified alongside the requirements that it be covert that it have a screw case back, 100m water resistance, sapphire crystal, and screw-down crown, the result was a low maintenance and highly durable timepiece. The watch comes supplied with a current issue heat welded grey NATO webbing strap in admiralty grey. The back of the case bears various contract markings in addition to the unique serial number.

Important Note: from MWC.  We frequently receive inquiries regarding which G10 model we supply for use by the British Army, for clarification we can confirm that this is the model which they currently issue.”The price difference between the CWC and MWC is £100 (retail), not a small difference, so as the quality of MWC’s previous watches has come into question by certain enthusiasts it will be interesting to see how this new model shapes up.

Specification

• Case diameter measuring from 2 o’clock to 8 o’clock: 38.5mm
• Case Diameter: 40mm Excluding the crown
• Case diameter including crown guard and crown: 43mm
• Lug to Lug: 45.8mm
• Thickness: 13.3mm
• Weight: 66g
• Fixed Solid Strap Bars
• Dial Color: Black
• Luminosity: Super Luminova C5
• Case Material: 316L Stainless Steel
• Caseback: Screw down, 316L Stainless Steel
• Crown: Screw Down 316L Stainless Steel
• Water Resistance: 10atm (100m/330ft)
• Battery: CR2016 Lithium – Estimated life 10 years
• Crystal: Sapphire with two layers of anti-reflective coating *
• Movement: Swiss Ronda 715li
• Strap: Admiralty, Grey 20mm Heat Welded NATO Strap