More than a century ago, wristwatches strapped over the wrist for battlefield use first appeared — but it was the Great War that turned them from a rare curiosity into a necessity, and gave them the name that stuck: the WW1 trench watch. A soldier simply needed to tell the time on his military wristwatch, and he needed to do it fast.
No watches in this category yet.
It was the ordinary infantryman who needed the trench watch first. In the trenches, checking the time on a WW1 watch meant coordinating artillery barrages and going over the top at an exact minute, in sync with units you could not see. Fumbling for a pocket watch with frozen or gloved fingers, a rifle in your other hand, was not an option — a watch strapped to the wrist could be read at a glance, hands free.
The convenience over pocket watches proved so colossal that trench watches spread quickly, and their variations multiplied. Pilots adopted them, then drivers, and eventually ordinary people. It is another vivid example that war has two sides of the same coin: on one side, the most horrific act of violence — on the other, an unbelievable engine of progress.
I regularly receive requests to restore trench watches, and I do it with the greatest pleasure. Below you can browse my work from 14 years of experience — the pieces currently for sale. And I assure you: the work is done to the highest standard.