What makes a good military watch? Back in World War II that meant slim simplicity and readability. If you were the Ministry of Defence, it also meant a small seconds a la the Dirty Dozen. But, as times have changed so has technology, both in the theatre of battle and among the watchmakers equipping those on the ground. And you know what makes a good military watch now? ProTek.
ProTek is the second brainchild of industry vet Barry Cohen, a guy whose first project you may have heard of before: Luminox. Luminox were one of the few brands to promote tritium gas as a type of lume, radioactive gas used by very few other brands. In fact, other than Luminox and ProTek the only one I can think of is Ball. And the genesis of Luminox certainly made a splash in overtly rugged tool watches.
ProTek Field Series 3000 uses a swiss self-powered Pro-Glo T100 illumination system
But times change and over the years Luminox (according to Barry, at least) began to compromise on their initial mission. And so, he left his baby behind. Now, he’s back in force with ProTek with a renewed mission to build the best military tool watches in the world. Not that Barry set out on this endeavour by himself. He’d be the first to admit that he’s not a watch designer by trade. And so, he enlisted the help of Eddy Burgener. If that name sounds familiar, you likely read my recent piece on the history of TAG Heuer’s newly relaunched Formula 1 collection. Eddy is the man not just behind that, but behind the brand’s dive watch progenitors of the Aquaracer.
ProTek Dive Series 1000
You can see similar design language in the chunky notched bezels of the ProTek Series 1000 and Series 2000 dive watches and the similarly named TAG Heuer Series 2000. If something works, why change it? That’s about all ProTek’s watches have in common with TAG Heuer though. After all, where they were more mass-market, ProTek’s all about one thing and one thing only: tool watch survivability.
To that end, Barry took what he learned from Luminox about tritium gas and has once again incorporated the ultra-bright, self-illuminating tubes into his watch dials. ProTek’s diving watches use those tubes parallel to the dial circumference, inset into the chapter ring. This almost floodlights the dial, reflecting off the polished numerals.
ProTek Titanium Field Series 3000
On ProTek’s second genre of watchmaking, the Series 3000 field watch however, those oversized radioactive tubes are the main feature. In keeping with utilitarian field watches of yore, everything unnecessary has been stripped away from the dials in the name of readability, with nothing but those softly glowing indexes. Indeed, in low light the Series 3000 and 3100 are even easier to make out, with orange at 12 o’clock, green at three, six and nine and the hands and blue everywhere else.
ProTek Automatic Carbon Composite USMC Dive Series 1210
Tritium isn’t the only advanced material ProTek employ, even if it is the most unusual. Military watches need to not only be rugged but light weight. When you’re carrying 20kg on your back mid-mission, who wants a watch weighing them down? That’s why the Series 3000 utilises lightweight titanium and many of the Series 2000 divers opt for even more extreme carbon composite. That carbon composite also hammers home those military associations. Nothing says ready for action like a tactically blacked out case and dial – so much so in fact that ProTek have an entire collection designed for the USMC. That’s the United States Marine Corps, servicemen who go through some of the most demanding situations ever conceived.
The bottom line is that while I can wax lyrical about why ProTek watches are among the most fit-for-purpose mil-spec watches around, that the USMC have embraced them says more than I ever could. They’re also the main reason ProTek opt for quartz movements in the majority of their models. You don’t want to rely on a delicate balance spring when you’re up to your waist in rocky river water.
Granted, us civvies don’t have quite the same demands for our watches. That’s why the Series 2000 Steel Dive is a welcome addition, a bit weightier and traditional with a more-than-solidly built steel case. There are also a few automatic models with workhorse Seiko calibres, less reliable than quartz but more to the tastes of horological snobs like us.
But regardless of carbon or steel, quartz or mechanical, when it comes to big, bold, punchy watches with enough machismo for an 80s action star, there aren’t many watches out there like these. And if you were expecting all that big, boisterous character and military specs to come at a premium… think again. Your personal quartermaster will be happy to hear that the Series 1210 Automatic Carbon USMC Dive will set you back just $695 – just under £520 in British money. For a full carbon case, tritium gas illumination, 300m water resistance and yes, an automatic movement, that’s a price that punches up like a Tyson uppercut.
More details at ProTek.
Nice field watch, but… Who wants to wear a watch on a combat mission where the glow of the tritium tubes can be seen for hundreds of meters, maybe even kilometers?
Most watches have some Tritium most not as bright as these tubes. But when in combat most wear a watch cover to prevent that very issue.