18mm Black 1950s Pattern Leather Military Watch Strap with Protective Face Cover

SKUB Code: 50COVL18B

These leather covered watch straps are available in both 18 mm and 20mm and measureB 240 mm in length.B Straps with aB face protector were very widely used from the 1950s onwardsB and remain popular today, the reason many serving military personnel tend to chooseB themB is that not only do they offer a high degree of protection to the watch itself but during nighttime operations, they also prevent image intensifiers from picking up the glow of the watches dial.B One interesting user of the straps in the past wasB theB Rhodesian ArmyB Selous ScoutsB who were a special forces unit that operated during the Rhodesian Bush War from 1973 until the reconstitution of the country as Zimbabwe in 1980. The Scouts were formed from a combination of theB Rhodesian Special Air ServiceB (SAS), and theB Rhodesian African RiflesB they operated very covertly in small groups of five or 10 men as an elite counter-insurgency unit. One of our clients whoB served with the unit sent usB anB image ofB theB strap onB aB W10 watch used by theB Selous ScoutsB this isB the last image after the cap badge.

Interestingly with the increasing use of self-luminous watches – which use GTLSB tritium light sources – these straps along with their modern nylon-coveredB equivalentsB have become extremely popular among currently serving military personnel who are keen for obvious reasons to conceal their locationB when on activeB deployment.