1976 CWC W10 British Military Issued 35mm Watch
Ref: W10-6645-99 523-8290
Specification
Lugs : 19mm
Condition : Pre-Owned
Box & Papers : None
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
Points of Mention
This watch is sold as "Watch Only" and, therefore, comes with no original CWC box or paperwork. The watch comes paired with a well-suited 19mm NATO strap. The watch is from Circa. 1976 and is sold in worn vintage unpolished condition, but overall, it is very fair for its age, with an even patina across the dial and hands, as you can see. The watch comes with our 12-Months Non-Waterproof Warranty.
For more photos see here - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cJyqj0fchG-I6J51TsnPEZ68CWq8li_z?usp=drive_link
4K YouTube video, skip to 15:10 - https://youtu.be/ni-4KPv5KMc
The Watch
Our 1976 CWC W10 Military Watch has a 35mm tonneau Monocoque (monocoque in French means hull or single shell) brushed stainless steel case. Roughly 10,000 units were issued to the British Army. The curve of the case ends with fixed spring bars, and its curved flanks lead to a lug-to-lug length of 41mm and a case thickness of 10.5mm, ensuring a comfortable fit on your wrist. An original worn domed crystal sits above a matte black dial. The outer minute track has lumed batons and pips at the hours, with lumed Arabic numerals marking the hours. Long sword hands coated in lume are complemented by a tapered second hand. Text is minimal with “CWC” and a “T” in a circle, indicating the lume is Tritium. The Broad Arrow {pheon} has been used to mark property of the government or Crown since the 17th century, sitting at the 6 o’clock position, signifying its Military DNA. On the reverse a case back with the reference codes: W10 British Army. The 13-digit number is the NATO Stock Number (NSN). 66 refers to Instruments and Laboratory equipment, and the 45 refines that to Time Measuring Instruments. The next 9-digit number makes up the NATO Item Identification Number (NIIN). 523-8290 refers specifically to the CWC manually wound-powered general service issue watch. The final two digits refer to the date of issue, this one was issued in 1976. Inside, we have a manually wound ETA 2750, 17 jewels, beating at 21,600 beats per hour, and it comes paired with a well-suited 19mm NATO strap
Personal Note
The CWC W10 is a true piece of British military history that you can own and wear. With an approximate 10,000 issued examples they are surprisingly rare in the world of watches with Rolex producing that many watches in a few days today. This is a super honest example from 1976 featuring an unpolished case, original tritium dial and hands, manually wound ETA calibre 2750 and even features its original crystal which is showing wear and only adds to the character in my opinion. I would not hesitate to add this watch to your collection today, they are still grossly undervalued in my opinion!
The Brand
CWC (Cabot Watch Company) was founded by Mr. Ray Mellor in 1972. He was formerly the Contracts director of Hamilton Watch. He quickly secured contracts to supply the British MOD and has supplied them with many thousands of watches. In 1996, on Ray’s retirement, he sold the company to Silvermans Ltd, which sold CWC watches to the public, since that time and due to the increased costs of producing watches in Switzerland, the British MOD requirements of buying cheap has meant they have ceased using Silvermans. Inspired by the quartz version made for the Royal Marines SBS, formed at the height of WW2, The Special Boat Service is the maritime elite counter-terrorism unit of the Royal Navy.