# British Royal Navy dive watches



## Foggy

Hi all

I thought I'd have a stab at writing a small article on the above. It's by no means the definitive work, nor exhaustive in content, but it is a start. If you spot any glaring errors or omissions, please tell me







I've included some pictures where I can, but only where I own an example of the watch talked about - so sorry, but that means no pics of the RN issued Submariner









Anyway, here follows the piece, and I hope it provides some level of interest for you all.

Cheers

Foggy

*British Royal Navy Dive Watches â€" 1960â€™s to present day*

The first specs pertaining to a dive watch for the British Royal Navy were introduced in the 1960â€™s. At that time, 2 companies produced, and indeed put forward, dive wristwatches that met the required specifications. These companies were Rolex and Omega. Here follows a brief description of the watches they offered :-

*1)	The Rolex Submariner ref 5513 & 5517*

All stainless steel case, with water resistance of 200 metres. Black dial with circle T added to signify Tritium as the source of lumionous. Screw down crown. Earlier models had a diamond shaped hour hand, with later models having the more easily recognized (to Rolex owners, at least) Mercedes hour hand. The steel case had fixed bars to lessen the danger of losing the watch through spring bar failure.

Caseback engraved with the Royal Navy stores numbers

0552/923-7697, broadarrow below (signifying government property), and then below that an issue number and issue year. Eg 175/70, signifying watch number 175 of 1970.

The above modifications were made to the civilian 5513 before the watches left the Rolex factory.

*2)	Omega Seamaster 300*

Similar to the Rolex, with all steel case and water resistance of 200m. This watch was basically the civilian model of the Seamaster 300, with subsequent modifications made after they left the Omega factory. The watches were delivered to the MODâ€™s UK agent (generally Goldsmiths) where modifications were then made. These included the braising of fixed bars onto the case, circle T added to the dial (not always the case, as MOD conversion work is rarely consistent), and the caseback engraved with the stores numbers as per the Rolex above. The dials also came in a big triangle version ie a large triangle of luminous material at the 12 oâ€™clock marker.

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...415&w=650&h=487

Onwards into the 1980â€™s, and the Royal Navy saw a few different watch brands enter the scene. Amongst them were :-

i)	Circa 1984, CWC made an automatic diver with an ETA movement. Based on the same MOD specs, so not dissimilar in looks to the SM300. Short lived though, probably due to the quartz revolution - more to follow.

ii)	Around the same time period, Precista also made an automatic diver with a 25 jewel ETA movement. Pretty scare, and one that I have not seen in person.

ii)	Cyma produced a jewelled quartz movement diver â€" again, fairly scarce in numbers. There has also been rumour of an Heuer version which appears to share the same case as the Cyma. If issued, the numbers were very small.

In more recent years, the CWC quartz divers have become the main issued dive watch for the Royal Navy. There are two versions of this watch available

1)	The standard CWC dive model. Steel case with fixed bars, screw down crown, circle T dial. Water resistance now increased to 300m. Case back marked as follows

0552/6645-99 7573314, followed by issue number and year.

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...656&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...657&w=600&h=450

2)	The SBS (Special Boat Service) version â€" same as above, but with black anodised case, and day date window on the dial. The black case is for extra stealth in special operations ie less reflections from a black case when compared with a steel case. Case back marked as follows

0552/6645-99 7995443, followed by issue number and year

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...260&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...865&w=600&h=450

http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...319&w=576&h=432

Both of the CWC dive watches are powered by a 7 jewel ETA quartz movement (cal 955.122)

In the last year, it is also reported that currently there are a number of issued versions of the current black dialled quartz Omega Seamaster. Some are still as per the stock civilian pieces spec., whilst others have been converted to include fixed bars and stores issue numbers on the case backs.

*Notes*

0552 is the prefix for Royal Navy. You may also see 0555, which relates to the Royal Marines.

6645 is the NATO stores prefix for wristwatches

99 is the NATO prefix for the UK.


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## 036

Hi Foggy

Thanks very much for that - a concise guide which I am sure many will refer to.

The Heuer: how likely is it that they supplied the forces with a diver? When you say rumoured, do you have a pic of whsat they allegedly look like?

Simon


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## Guest

Very interesting Foggy,

I know nothing about military watches and your piece was very enlightening.

Talking of military watches I was doing a bit of businesss with a chap on thursday and he was wearing one of those Seiko military chronographs you have posted previously.

As his office had some aircraft photo's I asked him about his watch and he said he was issued it in the army where he was a helicopter pilot flying Lynx's.

Another watch goes AWOL!

Cheers,

Neil.


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## Foggy

Thanks Si & Neil

Makes it worthwhile having typed it all out 

Re the Heuer - I have seen a pic a couple of years back, but unfortuantely don't have a copy of it. There are a couple of theories I have about this watch with regard to why they don't seem to show up

1) Maybe Heuer made only a small batch for evaluation by the Navy and no subsequent orders followed ?

or

2) Maybe the order was very small for a very specific branch of the Navy ?

I do seem to recall a post from a Navy swimmer saying that he had one - I wish I'd saved the info on that one









Either way, the watch looked right, so if you spot one, go for it









Cheers

Foggy


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## Roy

Thanks for that Foggy very informative.


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## Guest

Well Ian, i enjoyed that. Well written and interesting. Keep em comin'.


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## AlexR

Excellent post Foggy,we need more like this


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## Foggy

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.

The next one I'm going to try and tackle will be

"The relationship between Seiko and the British Armed forces"

Cheers

Foggy


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## john b

Thanks from me as well, Foggy. As a relatively new collector that wtire up was great as well as timely. Thanks


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## Foggy

Further posting to add to my original post. I've now managed to find an image of the issued Heuer dive watch for those who are interested.

Cheers

Foggy


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## julian

It seems to me that the case design on many of these is similar or identical.I assume they may be outsourced.


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## guido7

Foggy said:


> Hi all
> 
> I thought I'd have a stab at writing a small article on the above. It's by no means the definitive work, nor exhaustive in content, but it is a start. If you spot any glaring errors or omissions, please tell me  I've included some pictures where I can, but only where I own an example of the watch talked about - so sorry, but that means no pics of the RN issued Submariner
> 
> Anyway, here follows the piece, and I hope it provides some level of interest for you all.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Foggy
> 
> *British Royal Navy Dive Watches â€" 1960â€™s to present day*
> 
> The first specs pertaining to a dive watch for the British Royal Navy were introduced in the 1960â€™s. At that time, 2 companies produced, and indeed put forward, dive wristwatches that met the required specifications. These companies were Rolex and Omega. Here follows a brief description of the watches they offered :-
> 
> *1)	The Rolex Submariner ref 5513 & 5517*
> 
> All stainless steel case, with water resistance of 200 metres. Black dial with circle T added to signify Tritium as the source of lumionous. Screw down crown. Earlier models had a diamond shaped hour hand, with later models having the more easily recognized (to Rolex owners, at least) Mercedes hour hand. The steel case had fixed bars to lessen the danger of losing the watch through spring bar failure.
> 
> Caseback engraved with the Royal Navy stores numbers
> 
> 0552/923-7697, broadarrow below (signifying government property), and then below that an issue number and issue year. Eg 175/70, signifying watch number 175 of 1970.
> 
> The above modifications were made to the civilian 5513 before the watches left the Rolex factory.
> 
> *2)	Omega Seamaster 300*
> 
> Similar to the Rolex, with all steel case and water resistance of 200m. This watch was basically the civilian model of the Seamaster 300, with subsequent modifications made after they left the Omega factory. The watches were delivered to the MODâ€™s UK agent (generally Goldsmiths) where modifications were then made. These included the braising of fixed bars onto the case, circle T added to the dial (not always the case, as MOD conversion work is rarely consistent), and the caseback engraved with the stores numbers as per the Rolex above. The dials also came in a big triangle version ie a large triangle of luminous material at the 12 oâ€™clock marker.
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...415&w=650&h=487
> 
> Onwards into the 1980â€™s, and the Royal Navy saw a few different watch brands enter the scene. Amongst them were :-
> 
> i)	Circa 1984, CWC made an automatic diver with an ETA movement. Based on the same MOD specs, so not dissimilar in looks to the SM300. Short lived though, probably due to the quartz revolution - more to follow.
> 
> ii)	Around the same time period, Precista also made an automatic diver with a 25 jewel ETA movement. Pretty scare, and one that I have not seen in person.
> 
> ii)	Cyma produced a jewelled quartz movement diver â€" again, fairly scarce in numbers. There has also been rumour of an Heuer version which appears to share the same case as the Cyma. If issued, the numbers were very small.
> 
> In more recent years, the CWC quartz divers have become the main issued dive watch for the Royal Navy. There are two versions of this watch available
> 
> 1)	The standard CWC dive model. Steel case with fixed bars, screw down crown, circle T dial. Water resistance now increased to 300m. Case back marked as follows
> 
> 0552/6645-99 7573314, followed by issue number and year.
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...656&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...657&w=600&h=450
> 
> 2)	The SBS (Special Boat Service) version â€" same as above, but with black anodised case, and day date window on the dial. The black case is for extra stealth in special operations ie less reflections from a black case when compared with a steel case. Case back marked as follows
> 
> 0552/6645-99 7995443, followed by issue number and year
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...260&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...865&w=600&h=450
> 
> http://hyperphoto.photoloft.com/view/expor...319&w=576&h=432
> 
> Both of the CWC dive watches are powered by a 7 jewel ETA quartz movement (cal 955.122)
> 
> In the last year, it is also reported that currently there are a number of issued versions of the current black dialled quartz Omega Seamaster. Some are still as per the stock civilian pieces spec., whilst others have been converted to include fixed bars and stores issue numbers on the case backs.
> 
> *Notes*
> 
> 0552 is the prefix for Royal Navy. You may also see 0555, which relates to the Royal Marines.
> 
> 6645 is the NATO stores prefix for wristwatches
> 
> 99 is the NATO prefix for the UK.


Hello!

Thanks for the precious information!

If the 0552/6645-99 7995443 is followed only by SP (without any arrow)? By the way, the year is not the 99 which is coming after 6645?

The did so many variant and you have to be in the mil. system to know precisely what they do mean 

Thanks!

Please, could you contact me at: [email protected] ?

I would greatly appreciate, if you like I can provide a pic for your perusal.

Cheers!

Guido


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## Andy the Squirrel

Thanks for the post, interesting information. The Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamaster 300 have different dials, of which so many of todays diver watches are descendant from. Who came up with the dial designs, rolex/omega or the MOD?


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## pg tips

6 years old thread revival!


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## zed4130

good review, but i cant get any pics to work :down:

paul


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## ditchdiger

very good read thanks


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## Kai

Nice info about divers... cool...


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## weaselid

Seven year thread revival. Excellent concise outline of mod divers.


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## antony

Yes very interesting, as someone said I also can not get the pictures to work.

A friend of mine has one of the 300 watches, so it's nice to know what all the letters and numbers mean, although not all of the issued watches carried the markings, I know they were supposed to.


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## trident-7

Foggy said:


> *1) The Rolex Submariner ref 5513 & 5517*
> 
> All stainless steel case, with water resistance of 200 metres. Black dial with circle T added to signify Tritium as the source of lumionous. Screw down crown. Earlier models had a diamond shaped hour hand, with later models having the more easily recognized (to Rolex owners, at least) Mercedes hour hand. The steel case had fixed bars to lessen the danger of losing the watch through spring bar failure.
> 
> Caseback engraved with the Royal Navy stores numbers
> 
> *0552/923-7697*, broadarrow below (signifying government property), and then below that an issue number and issue year. Eg 175/70, signifying watch number 175 of 1970.
> 
> *ii) Around the same time period, Precista also made an automatic diver with a 25 jewel ETA movement. Pretty scarce, and one that I have not seen in person.*


 Very interesting. Here is a picture of my 1982 issued Precista. It's interesting to note that it is engraved with exactly the same RN stores numbers as the Rolex milsub i.e. 0552/923-7697. I believe that this watch was the last mechanical issued RN watch. Everything after that was quartz.


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## Chromejob

You've only posted twice in 2 years @trident-7, but both have been delightful. Maybe make us wait less than 24 months before your next?


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## trident-7

Chromejob said:


> You've only posted twice in 2 years @trident-7, but both have been delightful. Maybe make us wait less than 24 months before your next?


 Here you go then. 1993 issued Precista alongside the 1982. It has a quartz ISA 1198 one jewel movement. On the back it's numbered 6645-99 737-3314 224/93


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## Chromejob

VERY interesting ... your left hand Precista has a Benrus Type 1 style case, and the numbering you mention is the US Armed Forces style NSN (national stock number), beginning in 6645-xx-xxx-xxxx. :hmmm9uh:

http://wornandwound.com/benrus-type-i-and-type-ii-mil-w-50717-military-dive-watches/
https://www.ssongwatches.com/products/benrus-type-ii-class-a
http://www.thedivewatchconnection.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16770

I'm not an expert in either, that US NSN format just leapt out at me. :blush:


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## trident-7

The case is very like the Benrus. Interesting what you say about the numbering. 6645 is the NATO stores number denoting wristwatch. The next number, 99, is the number denoting UK. I guess that the next two numbers for US issue will be different at this point?


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## brummie1875

trident-7 said:


> The case is very like the Benrus. Interesting what you say about the numbering. 6645 is the NATO stores number denoting wristwatch. The next number, 99, is the number denoting UK. I guess that the next two numbers for US issue will be different at this point?


 http://www.military-watches.net/NATO__NSN__Stock_Numbers.html


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## trident-7

trident-7 said:


> Very interesting. Here is a picture of my 1982 issued Precista. It's interesting to note that it is engraved with exactly the same RN stores numbers as the Rolex milsub i.e. 0552/923-7697. I believe that this watch was the last mechanical issued RN watch. Everything after that was quartz.


 Approximately 250 of these watches were produced in one batch in 1982 by a Swiss companyRacine. The bezel, being produced of a light alloy was prone to being knocked off because it overhangs the case between the 40 & 50 markers. There are only about 20 known survivors in the world & 8 of these are without bezels. This makes the watch one of, if not the rarest, of the issued RN divers watches.


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## bridgeman

trident-7 said:


> Approximately 250 of these watches were produced in one batch in 1982 by a Swiss companyRacine. The bezel, being produced of a light alloy was prone to being knocked off because it overhangs the case between the 40 & 50 markers. There are only about 20 known survivors in the world & 8 of these are without bezels. This makes the watch one of, if not the rarest, of the issued RN divers watches.





trident-7 said:


> Approximately 250 of these watches were produced in one batch in 1982 by a Swiss companyRacine. The bezel, being produced of a light alloy was prone to being knocked off because it overhangs the case between the 40 & 50 markers. There are only about 20 known survivors in the world & 8 of these are without bezels. This makes the watch one of, if not the rarest, of the issued RN divers watches.


 Looking at the name Precista,,,,been trying to find out some history.....you say Racine ....is this Enicar? Perhaps more well known. And was the actual Precista name in use already from a watch sports specialist dealer in the U.K. called

Southerns and company who subsequently went out of business around 1997 but do appear to have made up or ordered in watches with the Precista name?


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## trident-7

bridgeman said:


> Looking at the name Precista,,,,been trying to find out some history.....you say Racine ....is this Enicar? Perhaps more well known. And was the actual Precista name in use already from a watch sports specialist dealer in the U.K. called
> 
> Southerns and company who subsequently went out of business around 1997 but do appear to have made up or ordered in watches with the Precista name?


 Racine is from the same family as Enicar, Racine being Enicar backwards. Racine, an affiliated company of Gallet & Co. Switzerland, manufactured the watch. Southern Watch & Clock Supplies Ltd of Orpington Kent was the UK distributor of Precista and supplied watches to the MOD.


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## bridgeman

trident-7 said:


> Racine is from the same family as Enicar, Racine being Enicar backwards. Racine, an affiliated company of Gallet & Co. Switzerland, manufactured the watch. Southern Watch & Clock Supplies Ltd of Orpington Kent was the UK distributor of Precista and supplied watches to the MOD.


 Thank you,clears that up nicely. :thumbsup:


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