Editor’s note: Releases of reissued heritage field watches over the last few years have been a hugely successful avenue for a number of brands, thanks to the clean design language and no-nonsense layout of the watches. But what about the original examples of these important watches? Originally produced for the Allied armed forces during the Second World War, the colloquially known Dirty Dozen are the template for the barebones time-only watch of today. Let’s take another look at the brands that helped establish this iconic style but aren’t as lauded in the history books. The “Dirty Dozen” are watches produced by the 12 British Ministry of Defence contractors during World War II who were tasked with strapping watches to the wrists of Allied forces. While some of the brands are bigger and better than ever before, a few have slid into relative obscurity or the books of insolvency firms. I wanted to take a look at which of the Dirty Dozen survive today … Which of the Dirty Dozen survive today? During the Second World War, the MoD took the opinion that civilian watches weren’t up to the task of providing accurate timekeeping to their soldiers, and decided they needed…
The post Which were the Dirty Dozen that died? appeared first on Time and Tide Watches.
Continue reading ‘Which were the Dirty Dozen that died?’