CWC: The history of military watches made by businessmen
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If you know about CWC watches, you're already quite the enthusiast.
This is because CWC is a watch brand that basically supplies exclusively to the British Military.
But how did the CWC brand come about?
I guess not many people know this.
In this article, we will explain this mysterious CWC.
What kind of brand is CWC?
Although it is not a very well-known brand in Japan, it is a British watch brand that has been providing military watches to the British Army since 1972.
Speaking of watches, it's "Swiss," but it's a British brand.
However, the entire production process, from the movement to all of the components, is Swiss made.
Basically, the country of Great Britain has a Royal Warrant, which means that only items approved by the Royal Family can be used in important places.
This also includes military watches, and there is no doubt that a watch for the mighty British Army, headed by the Queen of England, requires a level of technical prowess that can be trusted.
CWC watches are still used by soldiers on the front lines today, and what sets CWC apart is the combination of precision and durability to support flawless operational execution.
CWCs were provided to all parts of the British military, including the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force.
Some models remain in service today and continue to keep time on the arms of soldiers on the front lines.
In short, unlike standards such as chronometer certification, this watch has already been used in actual combat, and it can be said that its "practical use in the harsh battlefields" guarantees the precision of the watch.
History of CWC
The founder was a man named Raymond Mellor, and the company was founded relatively recently in 1972.
* Raymond Mellor, founder of CWC
Early CWC predecessor
1940s
Raymond Mellor was a young man during World War II, living in Bristol with relatives to escape the Blitz .
He served on the staff of the troopship Queen Elizabeth, which was in the wartime trading convoy and made hundreds of trips between New York and Scotland.
1950s to 1970s
After the war, Raymond worked for various watch brands.
A small job advertisement in a watch magazine caught his eye and he was tasked with creating a network of watch retailers in the UK.
This is the Hamilton that is still popular today.
He rose to become Managing Director of Hamilton UK, managing a number of retail stores and successfully winning numerous government contracts.
It seems likely that his connections with military personnel in New York as a transport ship crew member during the war, and from there he went on to join Hamilton in the US, where he gained knowledge, experience and information about watches, which later led to CWC.
The Beginnings of CWC
Source: CWC official website Facebook
1970 to 1972
Like most Swiss watch brands, the quartz crisis of the early 70s led to Hamilton America publicly announcing the closure of all its stores and offices.
Over the next few months, Raymond closed all of his stores and offices in the UK and left Hamilton.
In this state of despair, Raymond saw something.
Bristol has a famous tower that is 32 metres high.
Cabot Tower was built in 1897 to commemorate the voyage of John Cabot.
By the way, Cabot was the man who discovered America and was a famous figure in England.
Isn't he similar to the Sakamoto Ryoma of Japan?
When Ray saw the tower, he assumed that Cabot, like him, had started a new business in Bristol.
"A place like this is no time to despair.
I think he thought, "I want to try something new!"
This incident prompted him to name the company Cabot, which is the first initial of CWC.
The official name is "Cabot Watch and Clock Company."
1972 to 1980: W10 for the Army, Air Force and Navy chronographs
The Cabot Watch & Clock Company was founded and the company soon became a leader in military watches.
The weapon adopted at this time was the British Army's mechanical W10.
This is all thanks to the vast knowledge and experience that Raymond has accumulated over the years.
The W10's military contract lasted until 1980.
This W10 may look simple, but it is well designed.
The Army has the largest number of military forces, so they need to make a huge number of watches.
For this reason, a one-piece case made by hollowing out a block of stainless steel is used, which is inexpensive to produce and highly waterproof.
The movement is equipped with an Incabloc shock-proof device, so it met the specifications required by the Army.
In the 1970s and 1980s, mechanical pilot watches
Two-register chronographs powered by the Valjoux 7733 were also issued to the Air Force.
This has the same shape as the Precista, Hamilton, and Newmark versions and has become a collector's item known as the "Fab Four."
The case back is engraved with 6BB, which stands for Air Force.
By the way, this was also issued to the Navy, and the code for the Navy is 0552.
1980: Delivery of the first quartz watch, the G10, and an evolution of the chronograph
In the 1980s, CWC manufactured and delivered the first quartz watch, the G10 Quartz (commonly known as the Fat Boy), which was an evolution of the W10 mechanical watch.
W10 Quartz Fatboy
In the late 1980s, watches for the Air Force were further evolved, with the movement changed from 7733 to 7765, resulting in more robust models.
CWC supplied the first two generations of watches using this Valjoux movement, after which Seiko quartz watches were adopted.
For more details, please watch this video if you are interested.
(SBS) Delivered diver's watches to the Special Boat Unit
In the same year, Rolex also won an official contract to produce watches for divers, replacing the Rolex MilSubs ( Submariners ) that had been supplied to the Special Boat Service (SBS) of the Royal Navy since the 1950s.
That is this watch.
This is a quartz diver's watch that is waterproof to 300m and was issued to the Special Boat Unit.
CWC was the only company awarded this contract and continues to supply some of the British military with these watches to this day.
This is an automatic diver's watch that was manufactured and delivered in small numbers in the 1980s, but since quartz types were soon produced, automatic versions are rare.
By the way, the movement is the sturdy ETA2783.
And here is the evolved quartz type.
It featured a rotating phenolic resin bezel, tritium luminescent hands and dial, a 32mm mineral glass crystal, and a fixed strap bar with a pull-through nylon strap.
Generally, if you were to look for one, you would come across this quartz type, but because it is so popular, it is hard to come across.
By the way, the control code for this watch is "0555", which indicates that it is a Marine Corps watch under the control of the Navy.
In the 1990s, it evolved even further.
Something like this.
The PDV black case ( matte black case) has been replaced with Luminova luminous paint, which does not emit radioactive substances, and it also has a day-date function.
The first half of the watches have a round T mark under the 12 o'clock position and use tritium, while the second half of the watches use Luminova.
This was due to the discontinuation of tritium paint production in 2006, which led to the end of tritium use in the watch industry, and CWC then transitioning to Luminova.
summary
Many of these early watches are still in use today, despite having served in the military.
This is a testament to its durability.
Some CWC watches have become so rare that they have become desirable collector's items and extremely rare watches that enthusiasts are reluctant to sell.
Given this, I think that the watches that you can get your hands on now will eventually become extremely rare items.
And perhaps this is just one step in the process of transforming the brand from one that is only known by enthusiasts to one that is known by everyone.
A brief history of CWC by era
1982: Change of logo
The CWC logo has been changed to a simpler typeface.
Since 1982, all CWC watches have been released with the new oval logo.
1990s <br>Alongside quartz Royal Navy diver's watches, SBS, stopwatches, marine and aviation watches, the company issued over 20,000 G10 service watches in 1991.
1996 <br>Ray was keeping very busy with contracts for the MOD, BBC, ITV and Commonwealth countries.
Meanwhile, with his wife's health declining and him having undergone major heart surgery, he began looking for a buyer for his company.
Ray has been supplying retail G10 to Silvermans since the late '80s.
This Silvermans Company acquired CWC.
Even after the acquisition, we continued to build a very good partnership with Ray and Silvermans.
This enabled us to transfer watch industry know-how and knowledge of MOD contracts to Richard and Malcolm at Silverman.
They already had many years of experience selling CWC watches and purchasing CWC watches through MOD auctions.
Although Ray was in an advisory role, it seems his love for military watches kept him deeply involved with Silvermans.
It is known that for the next 15 years or so, Ray attended Silvermans' Cabot office three or more days a week.
Late 1990s
CWC has reintroduced the mechanical W10 with a tritium dial and a mechanical ETA movement, and also added an automatic version using the ETA2824-2.
Ray, Richard and Malcolm also developed the then sought-after RN quartz automatic version of the Mk Diver Automatic.
Thanks to Silvermans' extensive retail expertise, the CWC model was made available to a wider retail market.
However, the quality and Swiss manufacturing remained largely the same as those issued to the military, and remain so to this day.
CWC also won the rights to issue RAF quartz chronographs with metal bands to the Bangladesh Air Force.
the year of 2000
The CWC obtained the right to issue the GS2000 to the German Red Army.
The GS2000 issued to the German Red Army is very similar to the G10, but with a closed case back and no battery hatch, and uses a Ronda movement.
I was instructed that this should be an L dial (Super-LumiNova) for use on aircraft.
Delivery of chronographs to the Bangladesh Air Force ended in the early 2000s.
2003
CWC has produced a re-edition of the 1970s mechanical chronograph in a limited edition of 415 pieces.
It uses an improved version of the Valjoux 7760 movement and a tritium dial, and is currently a very popular product.
Year 2005
CWC supplied SBS diver's watches under contract to the Royal Engineers.
They are engraved with the NATO number 6645 and are unique to this year, making them highly collectable.
2006 to 2014
CWC's history and reputation as an authentic military watch has evolved with the spread of the internet and mobile technology.
Around this time, major government funding cuts meant there was a demand for cheaper digital watches, and military supply contracts almost completely disappeared.
However, what the military needed was a military watch that was sturdy, accurate and reliable.
2015
CWC has begun reissuing black SBS diver's watches to the Royal Marines.
It now also supplies the Royal Navy and other branches of the British Armed Forces.
2017
A reissue of the 1980 Royal Navy clearance diver watch has been announced.
2019
CWC has announced a remake of the 1983 Quartz Royal Navy Divers and a reissue of the 1987 SBS Black Divers.
2020
CWC has produced a commemorative limited edition of the 1980RN clearance diver's watch for current and former members of the Royal Navy's submarine force.
2020 was also the year that we released a reissue of the Mellor-72 W10.
Using the same case as the Mellor, the T20 was a MOD designated watch, but the G10 case was chosen due to its earlier thick quartz movement.
2021
Today, CWC continues to supply watches and CWC straps to the British Army.
CWC's "Strap Watch Wrist Nylon" is the official name for the NATO strap.
It has been available in grey for many years and the CWC SBS watch is patented in this grey colour.
Over the last 50 years, CWC has produced hundreds of thousands of military watches in times of peace and conflict.
CWC watches are used by all branches of the British Armed Forces.
CWC watches are manufactured to military specifications, right down to the fixed strap bar.
This remains the CWC standard today.
We also provide upgrades and enhancements to improve performance.
The G10GS Sapphire is waterproof up to 200m and is equipped with sapphire crystal and an eight-year lithium battery module.
Although it is not a very well-known brand in Japan, it is a British watch brand that provides military watches to the British Army.
The founder is Ray Mellor, and the company was founded relatively recently in 1972, but in this article we will explain the history of CWC.
Early CWC predecessor
1940s
Ray Mellor (fourth from the right in the photo) was a young man during World War II and served in the Blitz. She lived in Bristol with relatives to escape the London Blitz .
He served in the trading fleet and on the staff of the troopship Queen Elizabeth, which made thousands of trips between New York and Scotland during the war.
1950s to 1970s
After the war, Ray worked for various watch brands.
He then came across a small job advertisement in a watch magazine which offered him the task of creating a network of watch retailers in the UK.
This is the Hamilton that is still popular today.
He rose through the ranks to become Managing Director of Hamilton UK, managing a number of retail stores and developing the MOD business which won many government contracts.
The Beginnings of CWC
Source: CWC official website Facebook
1970 to 1972
The Quartz Crisis of the early 1970s led Hamilton to publicly close all of its stores and offices.
A few months later, Ray closed all of his stores and offices and left Hamilton.
Bristol has a famous tower that is 32 metres high.
Cabot Tower was built in 1897 to commemorate the voyage of John Cabot.
When Ray saw the tower, he assumed that Cabot, like him, had started a new business in Bristol.
That's why he named it Cabot.
His Cabot Watch and Clock Company was later renamed Cabot Company Limited.
1972 to 1980
The Cabot Watch & Clock Company was founded and the company soon became a leader in military watches.
It was all thanks to the vast amount of knowledge that Ray had accumulated up until now.
The military contract for the mechanical W10 lasted until 1980.
During the 1970s and 1980s mechanical pilot's asymmetrical two-register chronographs were also issued to the RAF, Royal Navy and pilots.
This has become a collector's item, along with the Precista, Hamilton, and Newmark versions, known as the "Fab Four."
CWC chronographs were also issued to BBC war correspondents.
CWC manufactured many of the timers and stopwatches used by the BBC and ITV.
1980
In 1980, CWC produced the G10 Quartz (commonly known as the Fat Boy), the first quartz watch issued to the British Military.
W10 Quartz Fatboy
In the same year, it won an official contract to replace Rolex's MilSubs, which had been issued to the Royal Navy since the 1950s.
The CWC 1980 Royal Navy Diver Automatic is perhaps the rarest MilSub.
It featured a rotating phenolic resin bezel, tritium luminescent hands and dial, a 32mm mineral glass crystal, and a fixed strap bar with a pull-through nylon strap.
Inside was a sturdy ETA2783.
1982: Change of logo
The CWC logo has been changed to a simpler typeface.
Since 1982, all CWC watches have been released with the new oval logo.
1983 <br data-mce-fragment="1">The first quartz diver's watches were issued to the Royal Navy's Underwater Treatment Unit.
This watch remained in use by the Royal Navy for a very long time.
In 1987 and 1988 a special request came in from the Royal Marines based in Liverpool.
This is a quartz 300m diver's watch issued to the Special Boat Unit.
CWC was the only company awarded this contract and continues to supply some of the British military with these watches to this day.
Late 1980s
CWC made chronographs for the British Fleet Air Arm.
It used the Valjoux 7765 movement, which was issued in very limited numbers to Royal Navy aircrew and Commonwealth pilots.
1990s <br data-mce-fragment="1">In 1991 we issued over 20,000 G10 service watches, along with quartz Royal Navy diver's watches, SBS, stopwatches, marine watches and aviation watches.
In the mid-1990s, the PDV black case and diver's watches issued to the Special Boat Forces were fitted with day and date functions.
1996 <br data-mce-fragment="1">Ray was staying extremely busy with contracts with the MOD, BBC, ITV and Commonwealth countries.
Meanwhile, with his wife's health declining and him having undergone major heart surgery, he began looking for a buyer for his company.
Ray has been supplying retail G10 to Silvermans since the late '80s.
This Silvermans Company acquired CWC.
Even after the acquisition, we continued to build a very good partnership with Ray and Silvermans.
This enabled us to transfer watch industry know-how and knowledge of MOD contracts to Richard and Malcolm at Silverman.
They already had many years of experience selling CWC watches and purchasing CWC watches through MOD auctions.
Although Ray was in an advisory role, it seems his love for military watches kept him deeply involved with Silvermans.
It is known that for the next 15 years or so, Ray attended Silvermans' Cabot office three or more days a week.
Late 1990s
CWC has reintroduced the mechanical W10 with a tritium dial and a mechanical ETA movement, and also added an automatic version using the ETA2824-2.
Ray, Richard and Malcolm also developed the then sought-after RN quartz automatic version of the Mk Diver Automatic.
Thanks to Silvermans' extensive retail expertise, the CWC model was made available to a wider retail market.
However, the quality and Swiss manufacturing remained largely the same as those issued to the military, and remain so to this day.
CWC also won the rights to issue RAF quartz chronographs with metal bands to the Bangladesh Air Force.
the year of 2000
The CWC obtained the right to issue the GS2000 to the German Red Army.
The GS2000 issued to the German Red Army is very similar to the G10, but with a closed caseback and no battery hatch, and uses a Ronda movement.
I was instructed that this should be an L dial (Super-LumiNova) for use on aircraft.
Delivery of chronographs to the Bangladesh Air Force ended in the early 2000s.
2003
CWC has produced a re-edition of the 1970s mechanical chronograph in a limited edition of 415 pieces.
It uses an improved version of the Valjoux 7760 movement and a tritium dial, and is currently a very popular product.
Year 2005
CWC supplied SBS diver's watches under contract to the Royal Engineers.
They are engraved with the NATO number 6645 and are unique to this year, making them highly collectable.
2006
With the discontinuation of T tritium paint, T tritium paint dials became scarce in the watch industry, so CWC transitioned most of its dials to L Super-LumiNova.
2006 to 2014
CWC's history and reputation as an authentic military watch has evolved with the spread of the internet and mobile technology.
Around this time, major government funding cuts meant there was a demand for cheaper digital watches, and military supply contracts almost completely disappeared.
However, what the military needed was a military watch that was sturdy, accurate and reliable.
2015
CWC has begun reissuing black SBS diver's watches to the Royal Marines.
It now also supplies the Royal Navy and other branches of the British Armed Forces.
2017
A reissue of the 1980 Royal Navy clearance diver watch has been announced.
2019
CWC has announced a remake of the 1983 Quartz Royal Navy Divers and a reissue of the 1987 SBS Black Divers.
2020
CWC has produced a commemorative limited edition of the 1980RN clearance diver's watch for current and former members of the Royal Navy's submarine force.
2020 was also the year that we released a reissue of the Mellor-72 W10.
Using the same case as the Mellor, the T20 was a MOD designated watch, but the G10 case was chosen due to its earlier thick quartz movement.
2021
Today, CWC continues to supply watches and CWC straps to the British Army.
CWC's "Strap Watch Wrist Nylon" is the official name for the NATO strap.
It has been available in grey for many years and the CWC SBS watch is patented in this grey colour.
Over the last 50 years, CWC has produced hundreds of thousands of military watches in times of peace and conflict.
CWC watches are used by all branches of the British Armed Forces.
CWC watches are manufactured to military specifications, right down to the fixed strap bar.
This remains the CWC standard today.
We also provide upgrades and enhancements to improve performance.
The G10GS Sapphire is waterproof up to 200m and is equipped with sapphire crystal and an eight-year lithium battery module.
Many early clocks are still in use today after having served in the military during wartime.
This is a testament to its durability.
Some CWC watches have become so rare that they are offered at auction as desirable collectors' items.
Today, CWC watches still boast the same quality and durability as all military watches.
