# British Military Issued Seiko wristwatches



## Foggy

Hi all

I did promise this article, so I've stuck to my word, and here it is. Hope it provides some interest, and if you spot any obvious mistakes please let me know.

*British Military wristwatches supplied by the Seiko Corporation*

The Seiko Corporation began supplying the British Forces with wristwatches in the mid 1980â€™s and they continue to do so today. To my knowledge there have been 3 issued Seiko chronographs, excluding the yellow dialled â€œVulcanâ€ chronograph, and 1 issued Pulsar G10 general service wristwatch. Each of the models will be discussed in further detail below â€¦

*The first generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph*

The first RAF issued Seiko chronograph was procured between the dates of October 1984 and November 1990. During that timeframe, 11,307 pieces of this particular model were supplied by the Seiko Corporation to the British Armed Forces.

This watch, constructed in stainless steel, housed the highly regarded, fifteen jewelled, quartz powered 7A28 Seiko movement. This model has three pushers, The top right pusher starts and stops the chronograph functions of the watch. The top left pusher stops and starts the chronograph for recording split times. The bottom right pusher resets the chronograph counters to zero.

The dial registers record the following information

1)	The register at 3 records intervals of one tenth of a second. Once the chronograph has been running for 10 minutes, this hand stops revolving although does record the final one tenth of a second position once the chronograph is halted.

2)	The register at 9 is the 30 minute counter.

3)	The register at 6 is continuous seconds â€" i.e. running all of the time regardless of the chronograph function being used or not.

The dial is illuminated by Promethium. The case measures 38mm across, excluding the crown, and has a lug width of 20mm. Fixed strap bars are fitted as standard. The glass is mineral with a Seiko reference of 300WF0GN00.

The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-7683056. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback.

*The second generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph*

From January 1993, the â€œsecond generationâ€ chronograph was supplied by Seiko. The dimensions of the watch were almost identical to the first generation watch, but internally the watch was very different.

The movement was now the 7T27, an unjewelled movement of lesser quality than the previous 7A28. The dial now had a date window showing the day of the month. This version has 2 pushers, the main difference being the lack of the one tenth second counter.

The dial registers record the following information

1)	The register at 12 is the 30 minute counter.

2)	The register at 6 is the continuous seconds.

3)	The register at 9 indicates the current hour using the 24 hour clock. This is linked to the movement of the main hour hand of the watch, so cannot be independently set and used as a GMT hand.

The dial is again illuminated by Promethium. The case measures 38mm across, excluding the crown, and has a lug width of 20mm. Fixed strap bars are fitted as standard.

The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-8149181. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback.

*The second generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph â€" non luminous version*

There is also a version of this watch with a non-luminous dial and hands. This version was for use by the Royal Navy, presumably within an environment where luminous material would interfere with sensitive military equipment. Apart from the lack of luminous material, the watch is identical to that described above, exceptâ€¦

The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-7208727. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback. This particular model was supplied between 1993 and 1999.

*The fabled yellow dial Vulcan bomber crew Seiko chronograph*

A yellow dialled Seiko chronograph is said to have been supplied to Vulcan bomber crews from 1983. The movement is a 7A38, which is the same as the 7A28 but with the addition of a day date window. All examples that I have seen of this watch have been dated from October 1983. There are no military markings on the watch itself, but it does seem likely that this watch was specially put together for the MOD. Numbers are scarce indeed â€" one source suggests only 700 were produced â€" and one would assume that if this had been a commercially available model, then more would be seen.

The reasoning behind a yellow dial was that this was particularly visible in the dimly lit inside of a Vulcan bomber.

Whilst not military marked on the watch itself, I have been told (thanks, Eddie) that the watch was certainly packaged in a typically military style cardboard box, wrapped inside in wax paper, and with the inclusion of NSNâ€™s on the outside of the box.

Other than the above, little more is known about the yellow dialled Vulcan issue chronograph. My particular example came with a batch of issued 7A28 chronographs, so I have no doubts that this is a genuine military piece. When they rarely come p for sale, prices are high â€" the last one that I saw, correctly described on Ebay, made in the region of Â£1000.

*The Pulsar (a Seiko company) G10 General Service wristwatch*

In 2001, the MOD invited for tenders to replace the CWC as the general service timepiece used by the MOD. Pulsar was successful in winning a contract and produced a quartz wristwatch with fixed bars, Luminova lit black dial with a date window at three. The movement was the one jewel Seiko 7N32C calibre. This watch was found to have quality control issues surrounding it â€" poor mineral crystals and crowns prone to falling off !! Its life was therefore fairly limited, with the CWC winning back favour. The Pulsars were used in the recent events in Iraq, but mainly due to a general lack of available issue watches within the MOD stores.

The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-6052627. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the snap-on caseback.

(Thanks to Ned & Ale for the research on NSN numbers, which I have gratefully included in the above work.)

*Images*

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...144&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...554&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...591&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...023&w=450&h=600

Cheers

Foggy


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## 036

Hello Foggy!

That really is an excellent article, informative and well written. Thankyou for putting in the time to do it.

Its good to see you back. The article is a good example of the sort of thing we rarely see in your absence.

Simon


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## Garry

Good to have you back Foggy.

G.


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## DavidH

Well done, Foggy.

Certainly very interesting.

David


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## Foggy

Thank you, Si, Garry & David.

Regards

Foggy


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## Roy

Good stuff Foggy,


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## Guest

Hello Foggy,

Very enjoyable and informative read.

Welcome back.

Neil.


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## Foggy

Thanks again

I am going to stick to these type of, hopefully informative, posts here on the Military forum (my favourite area).

My next post will be "Omega and the British Forces from WWI to the present day". Not sure when that will be, but that's the plan.....

If there any sugestions for future topics, please give me a shout. At present, I'd prefer to stick to British Issued pieces, as my knowledge of other nations military watches is somewhat lacking in detail (plus I think others have already covered these in much beter detail than I could manage)

Cheers

Foggy


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## Guest

Great stuff Mr F! Look forward to your Omega post. I'm off to Norfolk tomorrow so i'll be able to pour over it when i return. I nearly said i'm looking forward to that seiko military chrono your sending me, but i wont coz i dont wanna make anyone jealous







Take care.


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## 036




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## pg tips

Nice to see you back Foggy,

Keep these posts coming, invaluable for newbies like me.

btw love the yellow dial Vulcan. Had a look in a Vulcan once when I was in the mob and I can remember that they were very dimly lit and also very cramped inside.


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## Foggy

A couple of pics to update my article. Today I received my RN version of the Seiko. This is the non-luminous version of the later RAF Seiko chrono.

First off, a picture dial side.


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## Foggy

And secondly, the military marked caseback.

Cheers

Foggy


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## Andy

I'm feeling really hard done by now.

I spent nearly 10 years in the Army and NEVER got issued with a Seiko or any watch for that matter.


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## Foggy

Hi Andy

You've summed it up nicely. Most servicemen and women will never be issued a watch during their military careers. Ain't that the truth









Cheers

Foggy


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## MikeM

Great info Foggy.

I have the 8149181.but I need anew movement.Have you any idea if and where i can get one.

Cheers

MikeM


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## Foggy

Hello Mike

As far as I know the 7T27 movement is still available from the parts suppliers. Therefore, any watchmaker should be able to source a new movement and fit in to your watch. Another option would be to send the watch to Seiko for repair. If you are adept at home repairs, you could try finding a civilian watch using the 7T27 movement and carry out the swap yourself. Ebay would be a decent source, for example.

Best Regards

Foggy


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## 036

Hi Foggy

Is a 7A38 the same size as a 7A28?

I was wondering if in the absence of any 7A28 Seikos at reasonable prices, a 7A38 could be used, as the day date would just be hidden behind the 10th s subdial?

Simon


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## Foggy

Hello Si

Yes, as far as I aware they are identical save for the date functions.

Cheers

Foggy


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## 036

Thanks Foggy.

(To put the disjointed ravings above into context, I was looking for a donor movement in case the 7A28 in my RAF Seiko gave up. The other Seikos that used the 7A28 are becoming hard to get, there seem to be afew more of the 38 about).

Simon


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## MikeM

Thanks for the info Foggy.

I will see if I can find one.

Rehards

Mike


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## Iansky

Hi Foggy,

I know this reply is 3yrs after you wrote the article, but 2yrs ago I managed to find one of the last remaining versions of the Seiko second generation RAF issue chronographs (the civilian market version which I was assured by Seiko UK is identical except that it does not have Promethius? but Luminova as the illumination source)

The watch is fantastic, and very accurate so far so I am more than delighted as I picked it up with a good discount from original Â£250.00 price tag.

I have no intentions of selling it as I love evrything about it too much, but I am curious as to it's current collectors value, and also I am interested in finding out when it was in issue from - to and why it was replaced.

I would greatly appreciate any info you can give me on this watch, and I do have a photo that I took of it if you need to confirm the model.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me,

Regards to all

Iansky



Foggy said:


> Hi all
> 
> I did promise this article, so I've stuck to my word, and here it is. Hope it provides some interest, and if you spot any obvious mistakes please let me know.
> 
> *British Military wristwatches supplied by the Seiko Corporation*
> 
> The Seiko Corporation began supplying the British Forces with wristwatches in the mid 1980â€™s and they continue to do so today. To my knowledge there have been 3 issued Seiko chronographs, excluding the yellow dialled â€œVulcanâ€ chronograph, and 1 issued Pulsar G10 general service wristwatch. Each of the models will be discussed in further detail below â€¦
> 
> *The first generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph*
> 
> The first RAF issued Seiko chronograph was procured between the dates of October 1984 and November 1990. During that timeframe, 11,307 pieces of this particular model were supplied by the Seiko Corporation to the British Armed Forces.
> 
> This watch, constructed in stainless steel, housed the highly regarded, fifteen jewelled, quartz powered 7A28 Seiko movement. This model has three pushers, The top right pusher starts and stops the chronograph functions of the watch. The top left pusher stops and starts the chronograph for recording split times. The bottom right pusher resets the chronograph counters to zero.
> 
> The dial registers record the following information
> 
> 1)	The register at 3 records intervals of one tenth of a second. Once the chronograph has been running for 10 minutes, this hand stops revolving although does record the final one tenth of a second position once the chronograph is halted.
> 
> 2)	The register at 9 is the 30 minute counter.
> 
> 3)	The register at 6 is continuous seconds â€" i.e. running all of the time regardless of the chronograph function being used or not.
> 
> The dial is illuminated by Promethium. The case measures 38mm across, excluding the crown, and has a lug width of 20mm. Fixed strap bars are fitted as standard. The glass is mineral with a Seiko reference of 300WF0GN00.
> 
> The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-7683056. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback.
> 
> *The second generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph*
> 
> From January 1993, the â€œsecond generationâ€ chronograph was supplied by Seiko. The dimensions of the watch were almost identical to the first generation watch, but internally the watch was very different.
> 
> The movement was now the 7T27, an unjewelled movement of lesser quality than the previous 7A28. The dial now had a date window showing the day of the month. This version has 2 pushers, the main difference being the lack of the one tenth second counter.
> 
> The dial registers record the following information
> 
> 1)	The register at 12 is the 30 minute counter.
> 
> 2)	The register at 6 is the continuous seconds.
> 
> 3)	The register at 9 indicates the current hour using the 24 hour clock. This is linked to the movement of the main hour hand of the watch, so cannot be independently set and used as a GMT hand.
> 
> The dial is again illuminated by Promethium. The case measures 38mm across, excluding the crown, and has a lug width of 20mm. Fixed strap bars are fitted as standard.
> 
> The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-8149181. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback.
> 
> *The second generation RAF issued Seiko chronograph â€" non luminous version*
> 
> There is also a version of this watch with a non-luminous dial and hands. This version was for use by the Royal Navy, presumably within an environment where luminous material would interfere with sensitive military equipment. Apart from the lack of luminous material, the watch is identical to that described above, exceptâ€¦
> 
> The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-7208727. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the caseback. This particular model was supplied between 1993 and 1999.
> 
> *The fabled yellow dial Vulcan bomber crew Seiko chronograph*
> 
> A yellow dialled Seiko chronograph is said to have been supplied to Vulcan bomber crews from 1983. The movement is a 7A38, which is the same as the 7A28 but with the addition of a day date window. All examples that I have seen of this watch have been dated from October 1983. There are no military markings on the watch itself, but it does seem likely that this watch was specially put together for the MOD. Numbers are scarce indeed â€" one source suggests only 700 were produced â€" and one would assume that if this had been a commercially available model, then more would be seen.
> 
> The reasoning behind a yellow dial was that this was particularly visible in the dimly lit inside of a Vulcan bomber.
> 
> Whilst not military marked on the watch itself, I have been told (thanks, Eddie) that the watch was certainly packaged in a typically military style cardboard box, wrapped inside in wax paper, and with the inclusion of NSNâ€™s on the outside of the box.
> 
> Other than the above, little more is known about the yellow dialled Vulcan issue chronograph. My particular example came with a batch of issued 7A28 chronographs, so I have no doubts that this is a genuine military piece. When they rarely come p for sale, prices are high â€" the last one that I saw, correctly described on Ebay, made in the region of Â£1000.
> 
> *The Pulsar (a Seiko company) G10 General Service wristwatch*
> 
> In 2001, the MOD invited for tenders to replace the CWC as the general service timepiece used by the MOD. Pulsar was successful in winning a contract and produced a quartz wristwatch with fixed bars, Luminova lit black dial with a date window at three. The movement was the one jewel Seiko 7N32C calibre. This watch was found to have quality control issues surrounding it â€" poor mineral crystals and crowns prone to falling off !! Its life was therefore fairly limited, with the CWC winning back favour. The Pulsars were used in the recent events in Iraq, but mainly due to a general lack of available issue watches within the MOD stores.
> 
> The NSN for the watch is 6645-99-6052627. An issue number and year completes the military markings on the snap-on caseback.
> 
> (Thanks to Ned & Ale for the research on NSN numbers, which I have gratefully included in the above work.)
> 
> *Images*
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...144&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...554&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...591&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...023&w=450&h=600
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Foggy
> 
> 
> 
> ←
> ​


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## Roger

I recently saw these in a jewellry chain in Cheltenham ( I think) in their sale.

Â£150 on a nato


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## jasonm

Are you sure Roger?????

PM me there address quick!!


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## Iansky

Hi Roger,

You must let me know what store, I live in Cirencester so can get there easily.

I suspect these were not genuine Seiko versions, but lookalike, they stopped making the Seiko version about 3yrs ago so either the store has some old staock at basement prices, or they are copies.

Please let me know at [email protected]

Thanks

Ian


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## N_B

Roger said:


> I recently saw these in a jewellry chain in Cheltenham ( I think) in their sale.
> 
> Â£150 on a nato


ref - MkII Seiko 7T27 RAF/RN Chrono

The 7T32-7E70 (SDWC31P see pic) Seiko Mil style chrono that resemble the Mk2 MoD models (apart from the alarm, gmt inner bezel & date position) seemed to be doing the rounds in the very late 90's up until 2002. My orig NATO strapped one was obained from a Legionaire during a drunken bet one evening, beyond that i got another for Â£75 new in France and friend here in the UK located one at Â£135 new.

It's poss at Â£150 its a 7T32, a lesser watch to the 7T27 some would say but just as attractive when dressed in a nato strap. These are now discontinued and i've not yet seen any secondhand or NOS avaialble in recent years. If the one in Chelt was a civvy version of the RAF/RN then one lucky bugger got a nice purchase at Â£150.










As for the Pulsar G10 6645-99-6052627 i've got one heading my way as i type. As for the quality control issues.....hmmmm....guess i'lll have to keep her in cotton wool eh lol.


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## dex

QUOTE(N_B @ Feb 17 2006, 12:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
As for the Pulsar G10 6645-99-6052627 i've got one heading my way as i type. As for the quality control issues.....hmmmm....guess i'lll have to keep her in cotton wool eh lol.










I've had mine (issued) for 5 years now, it's given sterling service, including a tour of Iraq, amazed me with how shockingly accurately it's kept time (maybe a second or two a month if that) and to my mind looks pretty much good as new - no damage to crystal etc.

Mine is dated '01 - so I'd imagine it to be an early one - maybe QC went downhill with later ones?

out of interest - may I ask what it cost?


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## Andy the Squirrel

There's a CWC version of this watch now, called the GS2000 with the same NSN 6645-99-6052627. Any information about this one?


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## itsguy

The Seiko is a great looking watch! But the links form the beginning of the thread are broken sadly.


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## itsguy

...guess that's what you get for replying to a six year old thread!


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## river rat

I know some one that has one of these for sell what is the price one of these sell for? It could be in US or English Pounds.I do collect seiko and military watches it would be great to have it together military and a seiko just don't want to over pay for one.Thanks for any help.Hows the qaurtz movement in these chronograph's.It has all the right military marks.


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## river rat

No one ever got back to me on what these sell for but at the MWR Forum I got the info.So I know I got a good deal here are some of the seller's photo's It's a Gen 2 I know the Gen 1 is bettter but the price was right on this one it's coming from England so should have it in a week.



















It's a 1997 issue one.I collect Seiko's and military now I have best of both worlds in one watch.


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## river rat

river rat said:


> No one ever got back to me on what these sell for but at the MWR Forum I got the info.So I know I got a good deal here are some of the seller's photo's It's a Gen 2 I know the Gen 1 is bettter but the price was right on this one it's coming from England so should have it in a week.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's a 1997 issue one.I collect Seiko's and military now I have best of both worlds in one watch.


He had a few for sell one was a civilian model that the one with the L on the dial here is the correct dial on the one I got the military one has a P on the dial.


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