Military watches hold a special place in our vintage-loving hearts — especially when there’s provenance and a story built into every mark and scratch.

The story of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ watches probably needn't be repeated here. But for those who don’t know the rich history embedded in this particular collection of watches, here’s a brief bit of backstory. During the wartime years of the late 1930s and 1940s, when all industrial resources and manufacturing were used for armaments and other wartime production, the British Ministry of Defence turned to Swiss watchmakers to produce military-spec wristwatches for use on the battlefield.

Contract labeled as ‘Watch, Wristlet, Waterproof’, or ‘W.W.W.’, these watches had to meet certain specified criteria mandated by the MoD, including a black dial with Arabic numerals, luminous indices with a ‘railroad’ minute track, and a shatterproof crystal. Twelve companies were commissioned to produce these watches, ranging from humble brands like Cyma and Vertex, to more prominent brands like Longines, Jaeger-LeCoultre and IWC.

This particular member of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ comes from the Schaffhausen-based manufacture, IWC, and is one of the rarer iterations of the ‘WWW’ - as only 6,000 pieces were produced (the fourth lowest in production numbers among the twelve) and confirmed by IWC’s records. It features a 35mm stainless steel case with fixed spring bars, an acrylic crystal and a sterile winding crown. 

The dial features all the ‘WWW’ hallmarks including a set of white Arabic numerals, a railroad minute track, a matching ‘sword’ handset and a subsidiary seconds register at 6 o’clock, as well as an encircled IWC logo and the MoD broad arrow insignia at 12 o'clock.

Appropriately paired to a pass-through nylon strap and powered by a hand-cranking manual movement, this stunning piece of WWII history shows excellent patina throughout -while retaining the rugged good looks of its original specification. Don't misunderstand us - we love WWWs and usually have one or two on offer. But IWC versions do not surface often and shouldn’t be slept on!