Buren has produced and delivered for British Military 11’000 watches equipped with the Caliber 426. English Commander Alan Brooks recognised the value of having a general-use timepiece for the armed forces. Until then almost all service watches were personal civilian items. Given that this “general-use” timepiece was destined for a very active war zone, the MoD set specific criteria for how it should look and function. These included:

Black dial with Arabic numerals, subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and railroad-style minutes. Luminous hour and minute hands plus luminous hour markers. Movements with 15 jewels, 11.75 to 13 ligne in diameter. Shatterproof Perspex crystal. Waterproof to the standards of the era. Precision movements that had to be regulated to chronometer criteria in a variety of conditions. Rugged case capable of diminishing the impact of shocks. Water-resistant crown of good size.

In addition to the easy-to-read black and white dial layout, most dials of the dirty dozen field watches are adorned with the brand name and a so-called Broad Arrow directly below it. This term describes a stylized representation of a metal arrowhead, consisting of a tang and two barbs that meet at a point. Traditionally used in British heraldry, the Broad Arrow is considered a symbol steeped in history that was commonly used by the British government to mark its property.

The same is true for the back of the watches, where the caseback not only features the Broad Arrow, but three W’s in addition. The “W.W.W.” was engraved either on the screw-down or snap-in steel case back and stands for “Watches, Wrist, Waterproof” – in other words, nothing other than a water-resistant wristwatch. Another identifying feature is also the military serial number directly below it, consisting of a capital letter followed by up to five digits.