Issue Divers Watch History

[andy_s]

Just thought this would be an interesting one for anyone that hasn't yet seen it, an article by James Dowling regarding some of the history of military diver watches.

It mainly focusses on the Rolex, Blancpain and IWC types, (there's only a brief mention of the Omega 300s, and little to none on less well known/esteemed models), but it's a great read.

Personally it was interesting to learn more about the IWC Bunds.

HERE

Andy

[Elio]

A fantastic article for very special watches....

The IWC is truly a marvel of micro engineering....one of my grails....a dream

thank you very much andy_s...

Elio

[andy_s]

Glad you enjoyed it, I'm sure there could be a 'poor-man' version with Omega, Benrus, Tudor, Precista, CWC and even G-Shock in the mix, and those are just US/Eu ones, but that would be a whole book I'm sure!

I was interested in the IWC as I'd only given them superficial attention (quite underserved) really, but they are indeed very interesting and I appreciate them a little more now.

Cheers Elio,
Andy

[Nalu]

A much appreciated contribution (full disclosure: I'm working on my own book chapter), but from the first paragraph it's apparent that Mr. D fails to understand the difference between combat swimmers and combat divers and that most military divers use SCUBA (vice the Surface Supply that working divers use or the Built in Breathing devices that some mini-subs employ). From what I know, the 'charioteers' use a combination of SCUBA and BiBs (would have to check on what the Italians and British used circa 1940s).
Also unfortunate that he skipped over the Hamilton canteen divers used by USN combat swimmer and NCDU teams in WW2 and the Elgin canteen diver used by UDTs in the post-WW2 era.
The article seems to (understandably) revolve around the watches in his collection, Rolex and British-issued watches.
Agree with Mr. D and the above that the IWC Bund is a landmark, and often under-appreciated, military dive watch.