Military-issued Rolex and Tudor watches beguile collectors, but the story of mil-Subs and other such badassery continues into the 21st century.
Once upon a time, when mechanical watches were the world’s standard timekeepers — and long before Rolex was a "luxury" brand according to the contemporary definition — certain governments and individual military units provided elite soldiers with Rolex watches as "issued" kit. Given their robustness, wide availability and the willingness of the brand (at the time) to customize them, it’s no big surprise that these timepieces, now seen as luxury items, were utilized as knockaround tools.
This is no longer really the case today.
The military-issued Rolex Submariner, or “mil-Sub,” has become one of the most legendary, sought-after, downright expensive timepieces in contemporary watch collecting. The Tudor mil-Sub, made by Rolex’s sister company, isn’t far behind.
So few of these watches exist that discovering one in good, “correct” condition — especially the Rolex variety — is like finding buried treasure. Until fairly recently, it seemed like the story of these very special pieces of kit ended in the late 1970s. But we now know that's not quite true.
Because while the world’s militaries might not issue mechanical watches anymore, certain units do place special orders from Rolex, Tudor and other companies. (Tudor certainly continues this tradition — Rolex seems to have stopped producing them in the early 2010s, though it’s difficult to know with absolute certainty, as the company doesn’t comment on, well … much of anything.)
Other watch companies — such as Bremont, which has an entire division devoted to special projects — do collaborate on these types of orders as well. But the phenomenon is particularly notable with respect to Rolex and Tudor given their long history of producing military watches, as well as their place within the modern pantheon of luxury brands.
As these watches are signed with the name of the respective unit, it’s understood that they’re mostly commemorative pieces offered for purchase to members/ex-members. (No commando is going into combat with kit that screams “I am a commando from X Unit” on it, you dig? Though those from non-special-operations units might don equipment featuring unit designations.)
Still, the fact that soldiers from top units are spending big money on professional-grade timepieces from two companies that used to provide issued watches (to some of these same units) is certainly notable.
Tudor, for its part, declined to comment on these special orders — a decision that is certainly understandable given who its customers are. But as certain of these mil-Subs have come to auction over the years, we do have information on the watches themselves available to us. The following crop of modern military watches features more than just Submariners — we’re also including other types of Rolex and Tudor dive watches, as well as some altogether different varieties of tool watch.
Before we examine the contemporary mil-Subs and others, let’s take a short detour down memory lane for those who might be unfamiliar with the original variety.
https://www.gearpatrol.com/watches/a43975041/rolex-tudor-military-watches/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic%2Fwatches
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