Some call the A-11 the “watch that won the war,” though nearly everything America fielded during that period has been called the “_ that won the war,” so the phrase has started to lose a bit of its punch. Air and ground forces synchronized their watches much like the artillerymen and trench forces of WW1. It’s sturdy, accurate, dust and waterproof, and was the perfect illustration of function over form (though the form is still pretty nice). The A-11 is what still sets the production standard for American military watches and where the distinctive style gained popularity. It was manufactured by four companies: Elgin, Bulova, Waltham, and Hamilton. The American A-11 is easily the most widespread of the field watches to come from the Second World War that you’ll find today. Wrist Watches Become Standard Issue During World War Two Advertisements from 19 took different paths, with some advertising function while others attempt to turn the service watch into a symbol of status. Officers would buy trench watches they strap to their wrist in anticipation of their deployment, either knowing from previous personal experience or from talk among troops that a trench watch was an invaluable tool in the war. It’s believed that trench officers themselves pioneered the switch from pocket watches to wrist watches (or trench watches, as they were initially known). The realities in the trenches of WWI quickly forced troops to take matters into their own hands. The British were still handing out standard issue pocket watches when they entered the war in 1914. They might be convenient for a stroll in turn-of-the-century London, but a trench on the Western Front was cramped, dirty, and fast paced. Traditional macho pocket watches were not an ideal way to tell time in the trenches. Wrist Watches Take Off During World War One In fact, it wasn’t until relatively recently that men switched en masse from the pocket watch. That order may have been the first time men and wrist watches were connected through the military, but it didn’t quite catch on. The watch face was protected with a metal grid to protect the glass, and the bands used chains like pocket watches. Though these were still a long way away from the field watches modern men are so proud of. Kaiser Wilhelm I is often credited for buying the first mass-adopted commercial wrist watches for men when he bought Girard-Perregaux watches for the German Imperial Navy in 1879. Regardless of the exact date, it’s clear that wrist watches were exclusively for women and were seen more as jewelry than functional timepieces. Some theories state that the first watch put into a bracelet was made in 1571 for Elizabeth I of England, while others put the date at 1810 and a watch made for the Queen of Naples. The field watch also might be the closest we’re ever going to get to a perfect wrist watch: The dials are designed to be as easy-to-read as possible, the straps don’t stretch out after a day or two, and the movements are so simple they’re nearly impossible to break. You can wear a field watch with nearly any outfit, they’ll survive anything your noncombatant life can throw at them, and they follow in a long tradition of civilian style that people adopted from the military. It’s hard to beat the classic field watch.