CWC won the contract to supply an automatic dive watch to replace the Rolex milsub in 1980, and in 1980 and 1981 they supplied watches with a dial similar to the Omega Seamaster 300 from the 1960s and an acrylic bezel insert. In 1983, the watch was changed to a quartz movement and was issued sporadically up until 2000, with most of the watches being issued during the 1990s. The case was similar to the Monnin case popularised by the Heuer reference 844 from the late 1970s, although with some small variations across the years. The automatic dive watch NSN ends 9237697, and the quartz dive watch NSN ends 7573314.
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1981 – Case switches to an M.R.P. SA case. Dial signed with slightly larger CWC logo with medium circled T below the hands; SWISS MADE below the 6 index; luminous indices and 3, 6 and 9 numerals; acrylic bezel insert with luminous triangle and numbers. Fitted with an ETA 2872 automatic movement. Approximately 100 watches were issued in this year.
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The watch began to be replaced in the early 2000s with the SBS watch, which became the standard issue of dive watch for anyone in the British military; although the RN watches continued in use for some years, when the RN watches were returned to stores or were broken, a new SBS was issued instead.
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In all, over the 20 years between 1980 and 2000, CWC supplied probably around 3,000 dive watches to the Royal Navy.
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Above taken from the excellent CWC Addict Website.
As you can see from the excellent article above, there were only 100 of these Watches issued in 1981, to find one is rare, to find an example in super condition is almost unheard of.
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The Interest in CWC Issued Watches, I have found to be growing at a supersonic rate and these early automatic models are so seldom seen these days as they are mainly all in your serious Collectors Collection. They are a huge part of the history of CWC. I would go as far as saying that these are probably one of the most sought after Military Watches.
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This represents a fantastic opportunity and investment.
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The Specs
Age: c.1981.
Reference: 0552, Royal Navy.
Movement: Automatic.
Calibre: ETA 2872.
Dial: Original MoD Spec CWC Dial.
Crystal: Original.
Getting Acquainted
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Bits that stand out:
- Dial in Fantastic Condition.
- Incredible Opportunity to Invest in part of the early history of CWC.
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Nitty Gritty:
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Overall the Diver is in Superb Vintage condition.