Name: MWC W10 1970's Pattern (Unbranded Dial) Hybrid Quartz/Mechanical Military Watch with 100m Water Resistance
SKU: W10/S/ND/MQ
Availability: InStock

MWC W10 1970’s Pattern (Unbranded Dial) Hybrid Quartz/Mechanical Military Watch with 100m Water Resistance

£214.95

SKU: W10/S/ND/MQ

The hand-wound mechanical version of this hybrid W10 was the predecessor to the quartz G10/98 models used by the armed forces of today. Interestingly in the British MOD specifications from February 1980 which invitedB B companies to submit tenders for contracts to supply watches to the British forces (see last three images), the requirement foresaw that the W10 pattern mechanical watches issued in the 1970s would continue but with a quartz movement, however, there was a major problem because at that time no quartz movement could fit the case due to beingB tooB thick. This situation led to the watches we still refer to as G10b s the descendants of which are still current military issue. This whole story has a rather interesting twist because several years ago a watch collector who was local to our office in ZCB B a W10 case and dial that was noticeably thicker than the normal W10 case, as a collector of W10 watches and as the owner of multiple variants such as Hamilton, MWC, CWC, Roamer and others he concluded this must be one of the original prototype cases that had been made in 1979/80 to take the quartz movement. The collector had some notes indicating the movement to be used in the case was an ESA 536.121 which was ultimately fitted in the first G10, the case measured 13.9 mm versus the 11 mm of the mechanical watch, it was at this stage we concluded it was worth following the measurement of this original casing and opting for this case in our own quartz model even though it could have been made slimmer it made sense to create the W10 that was never made back in 1980 and adhere as closely as possible to the dimensions that would’ve been used at the time, this enabled us to create a unique timepiece.

Our designer was looking at the W10 casing and weighing up which movement options to use, he concluded that the Swiss quartz Ronda 715li movement would work well but he then tried a sweep second-hand hybrid movement which he thought more in keeping with the 1970s design and this hybrid movement turned out to be ideally suited, this meant that while the model in the MOD specification sheet was notB able to be producedB over 40 years ago it is now and it also provided the opportunity to upgrade the watch from plexiglass to a glass crystal giving it 100m water resistance we also added a screw-on caseback and a locking crown. Although this watch is a significantly updated version of the original 1970s models it successfully retains the originals outward appearance.

Hybrid watches essentially combine the best of both contemporary and traditional watchmaking technology. They bring together features from both conventional automatic watches and quartz watches. The biggest plus of hybrid watches is that other than a battery replacement periodically there is very little maintenance required. The technology of hybrid movements employs a battery powering the movement through coils and a quartz oscillator, the hands, however, are mechanically actuated and controlled. Essentially the movement is mechanical except it’s powered by a battery and regulated by a crystal the only thing it doesn’t have is a mainspring. This watch offers the ideal choice for buyers who would prefer the sweep secondhand seen in an automatic or manual wind watch with the hassle-free maintenance of a quartz model.B

The W10 Hybrid has a heavy stainless steel satin finish case made from Military Grade 316L stainless steel, it is very robust and tough and built to endure the most extreme of conditions, sweep second hand, black dial and luminous markings. Please note The watch uses Luminous Luminova paint although the watch carries a T for historical accuracy though no radioactive material is contained within the watch.

Specification: