CWC G10-My writeup (not a review, honest)

Ramble part 

If you're anything like me, you love a good Field Watch. They define everything I enjoy about this hobby. Tacticool, Practicool and an awesome history. These are tool watches, and most of them show it. Often entirely brushed cases, slim size, and very legible. Most of all though, what makes these watches desirable to me, is the history surrounding this subcategory.  

The history of Watches is intertwined with the Armed Forces.  Indeed, Wristwatches started adorning the Everymans wrist in the Hellish mudpits that Western Europe was reduced to during The Great War. If we were to go back a hundred and five years and ask various men about how they obtained their watch, a common theme in the answers would be ‘The Front’. Women gave husbands watches as they were leaving for France, Officers were expected to arrive at the Front with a Wristwatch, and Wristwatches were commonly stolen from the Fallen's still-warm wrist and kept by their comrades. In fact, a common joke told in the trenches was 

A soldier walks up to his CO and says ‘Sergeant! When we go over the top next, I'm going over next to you’. 

The Sergeant asks, ‘Why do you want to go next to me Private?’ 

The Private responds ‘Because Sir, I like your Watch!’ 

That’s enough rambling about the origins of Field watches, I promise I'll get to the point soon. What I am trying to get across is that Wristwatches exploded in popularity because of World War One. They had never been so popular. A pamphlet printed at the time said, “One in four men wears a wristwatch, and the other three mean to get one as soon as possible’.  And the reason they were so popular? They were just plain practical.  And the British Army realised its practicality, realised its necessity, and subsequently began issuing Wristwatches to its troops. That became The Field Watch. 

These days however, the Average British Tommy is not issued a Field Watch. It is deemed unnecessary, and so if you were to join up, you'd need to provide your own timepiece. Select roles in the Royal Navy are deemed as requiring a Wristwatch, so HM Government does still give out watches, albeit very limited numbers. CWC provide these watches. (An interesting little tidbit is that a Naval officer was actually jailed about a year ago for stealing CWC watches, so if you have an ‘issued’ Diver, you may want to check that Serial number https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10410449/Royal-Navy-sailor-jailed-three-months-selling-special-forces-diver-watches-eBay.html ) 

CWC is quite a small company in regards to Watchmaking. They're not exactly Seiko in terms of reach. They also have quite a small history, as well, only being in business since 1972. Don’t let the young history worry you though, they certainly do have their credentials. 

A brief rundown of their history 

In the late 60s, The British Army had a contract with two companies. Smiths (of Explorer fame) and Hamilton (yes, that Hamilton). Both companies were contracted to produce the W10 Field Watch, Hamiltons version being powered by the Calibre 649 and the Smiths model having the 60466E under the bonnet. Then, Hamilton decided that their British branch wasn’t worth their time so started pulling out, completing said pull-out in 1976, and Smiths started facing financial troubles in the 70s, before finally going completely under in 1980. 

One of the people who lost their jobs thanks to Hamilton saying Sayonara was Ray Mellor, Managing Director of their UK division. Ray decided to found his own company, competing for the MOD (Ministry of Defence) contract. Legend says that when driving down to Bristol, Ray saw the Cabot Tower (built in honour of the famed 15th century Italian explorer).  John Cabot set sail from Bristol Dock on a new adventure, similar to how Mellor was starting on a new venture. He then and there decided his company would be called the Cabot Watch and Clock Company (later changing the name to just Cabot Watch Company). CWC won the contract due to Mellors previous industry knowledge and in 1972 began to produce their version of the W10, powered by the ETA 2750. Then, in 1980, due to prices of the Rolex Milsub rising too high for the British Government, CWC was approached to build a diver for the Royal Navy. It was powered by an ETA 2783 and about 220 were made between 1980 and 1982.    

Also in 1980, and the main focus of this piece, was the death of the W10 field watch, and the birth of the CWC G10 as we know it today. Powered by a quartz ESA 536.121 movement, these look exactly like modern G10s, with only a few slight differences. One such is the logo. This piece has the older, no-oval logo on. This would be updated to the modern logo in 1982. These models were nicknamed the ‘Fatboy’, due to a thicker case than modern pieces thanks to the thickness of the ESA 536.121 movement. Over the next 10 or so years, the watch changed little except from thickness, getting thinner thanks to updating movements, and from 1991 right up until the end of these watches most were powered by an ETA 955.102. In total around 150,000 G10 watches were issued between 1980 and 2006, so plenty of ‘Genuinely issued’ pieces are available on Ebay and Chrono24, but if you're one of those people who demand BNIB, CWC sell watches made to the original spec, with the only difference being SuperLuminova on the face as opposed to the original Tritium. 

So, now were all caught up on the brief history of the G10, let's do a run through of the actual watch itself.  

Review part 

Part 1- The basic specs 

The CWC G10 (the Post-Fatboy edition) has very traditional Field Watch sizing, coming in with a 36mm diameter (38mm if you want to include the crown). It has a 43mm lug to lug, and a thickness of 12mm. It has a lug width of 18.5mm, which I can't help but think is rather odd. Maybe it's to allow thicker weave NATO straps to slip through? Who knows. Good luck if you're not a fan of one-piece straps, though, as the Springbars are welded to the case to prevent failure.  

It has an acrylic crystal, domed at a similar angle to Swatch watches. The acrylic means it will accrue scratches VERY easily, although all but the most serious gouges can easily be buffed out with Polywatch. I can only assume this choice is due to Acrylic’s better impact resistance than Sapphire or Mineral crystal, whilst also being dirt cheap, keeping costs low for the MOD to purchase thousands of units. 

There is 50m of water resistance when new, although my unit is from 1998, so personally I will treat this watch as splashproof. That is not to knock on the build quality or durability of this watch, as I have no doubt that when new this piece could do the job more than sufficiently. I just wonder as to the integrity of 25-year-old seal and gaskets. Many people will complain about the 50 metres of water resistance, but I am of the ‘It worked when it invaded Afghanistan it'll work when you go to the office’ camp. If you want 200m water resistance, and the 50m rating of this piece is a deal breaker, buy a dive watch. The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical has the same rating, and many cite that as the perfect field watch. I feel that an upgraded Water resistance would bulk up the case, and I am very happy with the current dimensions. 

Part 2-The case 

The case is 316L stainless steel, with an entirely Bead blasted finish to prevent reflection of light which may give your location away to the enemy. The finishing is uniform across the entire case, and I have no complaints. The case is incredibly simplistic in shape, reminding me a little of the Marathon GPQ, only with a bit more dramatic of a curve from the lugs to around the dial and has thinner lugs than the Marathon. The crown is guarded, and the guards integrate into the case shape in a way that is very pleasing to me. The steel feels to be of a good quality and has a duller thud when struck than a Seiko 5 case does. 

The case back is one of my favourite parts of this watch. It is removable (snapback), so the case is not sealed like Swatches are, although apparently it is a pain in the neck to get the case back back on, so I have not bothered popping it off to get a movement shot. Fortunately, when the battery dies, you will not need to wrestle with the case back as there is a battery hatch a la Swatch, meaning that no tools are necessary, a 2p coin will suffice. I really appreciate this, as it means this watch can be serviced or modified and isn't throwaway. Also on the case back is the iconic pheon (also known as the Crows Foot or Broad arrow. The British Government has been using this symbol since the 1400s to denote Government property) and a plethora of numbers. Throughout the G10’s history these numbers have been in a range of configurations and orders, although all case backs carry the same information. Mine has 3 lines, consisting of 

W10/6645-99 

5415317 

1589/98 

Although some pieces have 4 lines where the year of manufacture is on its own line.  

W10 denotes that this model was made for the British Army. The next 13 digits (quite oddly it spills over to the second line) denotes the NSN or NATO Stock Number. The first 4 (6645) denotes its category, in this case ‘Time keeping instruments’. The next two numbers (99) show that this was made for the United Kingdom. The final seven numbers denote the specific type of item, in this case 5415317 means a no complication field watch. On the third line, the four numbers at the start indicate the issue number/serial number, and the two numbers at the end denote year of manufacture, in this case 98, meaning 1998.  

Part 3-The dial 

The default choice for Field watches is a black dial, and not for no good reason. White on black is the most legible colour configuration (discovered in the First World War apparently. Many Trench watches from the closing days of the war had black dials) and so naturally this Tool Watch has followed suit. Around the dial is One to Eleven in arabics, with the twelve being replaced by a lumed triangle. Interestingly, keeping with a common theme from British Army Field watches, there is no thirteen to twenty-four sub register. That is a common appearance on American Field watches, with almost every post World War Two unit having one. Marathon GPQ, Hamiltons Khaki Field line, the Bulova Hack, all have had 13 to 24 markers, yet the British field watch does not. Just a fun little thing I noticed during my research. Anyway, back to the G10. 

Since 1945 all the way up until the modern day, only about 5 field watches have been made for the British Army, so it's easy to see the ancestry and family resemblance from example to example. The font used on the Arabics, for example, looks strikingly similar to those used on the Dirty Dozen pieces. 

Another trend carried on all the way down from the 40s and adding a bit of retro charm to this piece, is the railway minute track going right the way round the dial. Very legible, and a lot easier to count the seconds than with some other quartz watches I own. Every fifth point on the track has a blob of Tritium paint, and at 3, 6, 9, and 12, is a rectangle instead of the standard circular blob on the other markers. The Tritium has patina’d into quite a nice creamy yellow colour, making them stand out from the white indices. Above the pinion is the newer CWC logo, and so it has the oval and a different typeface compared to the early logo. Below the CWC logo is the circled T, denoting Tritium lume. I would have preferred it if this T wasn’t on the dial as I feel it clutters up the dial and is one of the only things that stops this watch being readable without having to actually look for the hands. I do know, though, that that is required by law, so I just have to live with it. If it has to be there (and it does) I would have rather had the T below the pinion, replacing the QUARTZ text, and just go without the QUARTZ script. That’s just me though. Below the six o clock marker is the Swiss made text, which (to make a change from the norm) isn't lying to you as these watches are actually put together in Switzerland using Swiss movements.  

Thin white Sword hands tell the hour and minutes, both with a thick helping of Tritium paint. Unfortunately, due to my units age the Tritium paint has started to peel away, giving the minute hand an uneven tone. The second's hand is just a simple pointer, also white, although with no lume to be seen. These are of perfect length, reaching their respective markers, and there is very little if any possibility that you may confuse the two. The seconds hand hits every single marker, so that’s nice to see. 

Part 4- Movement and crown 

As mentioned earlier, most units (this one included) are powered by an ETA 955.102. This is a fairly decent movement, with a central second's hand, 7 jewels and a date indicator. The G10 design doesn’t come with a date window as standard, nor was a date version issued as standard-although some very early fatboys nickname 'Navis' had one. These are incredibly rare with only 600 or so being produced. If you're desperate for a date complication you can buy a civilian version with a date window The ETA 955.101 has a date complication, and so it has a ghost date position. Fortunately, CWC take out the calendar wheel and associated parts, so when you turn the crown in that ghost date position you don’t get that clickclickclick that other ghost date watches have as the hidden calendar wheel still cycles through. To be entirely honest though, until doing the research for this writeup, I didn’t even realise this piece had a ghost date, and I'm willing to wager that several of you didn’t either. Of course, it is entirely possible that you have all known this and I just have caveman hands. 

For the price you're paying, I really can't complain about the movement. Much more expensive pieces than this also have these movements in, including the Hamilton Khaki Navy Sub Ref. Number H74551913 and the Rado D-star Ref.number R15518152. 

The crown is a push-pull, responsive, smooth to operate and quite grippy. My crown has a semi-shiny head, different in tone to the rest of the case, although that may be polish from wear. This is why in the title I didn’t put review, as YMMV. 

Part 5- Lume 

Its dead. Or at least mine is. Tritium has a half-life of 12.5 years, and my unit is 25 years old. This lume is a quarter as bright as it was new, and as of right now unless you are in pitch black conditions, its practically useless. It'll glow for about five minutes after I blast it with a UV torch but it's pretty much unusable. Modern reissues from the brand come with SuperLuminova as mentioned previously so that wouldn’t be an issue if you did buy BNIB. 

This was taken immediately after removing the torch. 

Conclusion 

Well, there you have it. 2870 words later we have a (brief) introduction to CWC, an (incredibly brief) history of the G10 Field watch, and a semi-review of said CWC G10. I can't call it a review as its not BNIB, so I can't say for sure whether the wear and issues with this watch will be there on your unit as well, so I hope this ‘write up’ is acceptable. 

 Overall, I'm very happy with this watch. It feels decent quality, it is comfortable on my T-rex wrists, seems to match any NATO I care to put it on, is very legible, and it has a heck of an ‘impress the normies’ factor. As I'm sure many of you are as well, I am the only ‘Watch guy’ in my friend group and I showed them this watch. I explained that it was a genuinely issued British army watch with radioactive lume and one of my friends admitted ‘Wow. Ok now that is cool’. Few other watches have that. Are there things I wish could change? Of course. I would prefer a dial with the changes I explained earlier, but overall, I see no glaring issues, which is quite rare when buying a watch these days.  

If you're still here, thank you so much for reading, and any tips to make my writing better is greatly appreciated. 

So, what are your thoughts? Do you own a CWC? Did you use one when serving? Let me know in the comments. 

PS. Heres a document stating the British Governments specificiations. I thought some of you may find it interesting.  

https://www.h-spot.net/watches/mod/general_service_electronic_wristwatches_1980.pdf