Blancpain has an excellent history in dive watches, and among the most coveted are the military-issued pieces. In this already hyper-specialised niche, the MIL-SPEC I and MIL-SPEC II watches stand head and shoulders above the rest. These watches were first created in 1957 to meet the very specific needs of the United States Navy. In fact, if you really want to nerd out we’d highly recommend reading the actual military specification – MIL-W-22176A(SHIPS). The most distinctive feature of this watch is the hemispheric moisture indicator on the bottom half of the dial. It’s this feature that Blancpain has celebrated with the MIL-SPEC, and that lies at the heart of its charm. Before we dive into the current model, let’s first look back at the Tornek-Rayville. Created to meet MIL-SPEC II, this watch is a great example of what makes watches in general, and vintage in particular, so cool. Roughly 1000 of these watches were issued to the United States Navy in the early 1960s, as part of a tender won by Allen Tornek’s company Rayville. Now, American naval divers had been using the Fifty Fathoms for some time, but the Buy American Act required government bodies to prefer US-made products.…
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