Building a Military-Style Titanium Field Watch 

My stepson  just bought his first home. He mentioned to my wife that he sometimes doesn't carry his mobile phone and should get a wristwatch that he could wear all the time. That was all the excuse I needed to start a new watch project with the goal of giving it for his 39th birthday in September 2024.  

This was June 2024, so I began thinking about possible designs.  He's a truck driver and an Army veteran, and my thoughts were he would prefer something rugged and readable instead of delicate and/or overly styled. Watches designed for outdoor or military-use fall into a few categories: dive, pilot, and field watches.  These can be thought of corresponding to the Navy, Air Force, and Army from a military branch point of view, so I started focusing on the field watch design.  

Wristwatches for men were not a thing until WWI, when soldiers and airmen started operating war machinery like airplanes and tanks.  The Cartier Tank design and Rolex Oyster were designed in this period and are still iconic watch models today, 100+ years later.  

In WWII, both the Allies and Axis powers issued watches specifically designed for soldiers and airmen, and the "field" watch was an easy-to-read design adapted by Allied armies, featuring a simple case, large numerals, and luminescent markers.  

1945 Elgin A-11 Field Watch from WWII

Multiple watch manufacturers in the US made field watches and continued to do so into the Vietnam War period.  Here's a web page that talks about Vietnam-era field watches. The new DoD spec added luminous markers and 24-hour numerals to the dial.

1969 Benrus MIL-W-46374 DoD Field Watch

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The Vietnam field watch above became the design target for this build.  I had a genuine Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic movement on hand from a previous project, so the case, dial and hands needed to be compatible.  At first I tried to find a larger case in the 42mm diameter range, but those were mostly dive watch designs with moving bezels.  I also wanted good water resistance (over 100m depth) and a sapphire crystal for toughness and all-weather use.  

Swiss ETA 2824-2 automatic watch movement

I found the perfect dial & hands package with nearly identical design on eBay, even down to the vintage yellow luminescent markers. The same seller offered a no-nonsense 39mm brushed titanium case with anti-reflective sapphire crystal, solid case back, 20mm lug width, screw-down crown, and 200m water resistance. The case is tough but lightweight at only 29g (1 oz).

Dial/hands combo (L) and titanium/sapphire case (R)

The last choice to make was what kind of strap or bracelet to install. Most period photos show the field watch on an olive canvas or brown leather strap, but there are new materials available now that are more durable than plain cowhide. I leaned toward a tough synthetic material strap with buckle, maybe with an olive or desert tan color, but my wife suggested it would look best with a black strap.  In the end I ordered two types, the first a hybrid sailcloth + silicone rubber and the second in thick, high quality black leather with white contrast stitching. Both have captive quick-release spring bars to make it easy to change without tools. They also both have brushed stainless steel buckles to match the brushed titanium case. I figured he could choose the one he liked best (or get something different).

  

Sailcloth/rubber (L) and black cowhide (R) straps

While waiting for the dial and case to arrive, I tested the movement to check timing and adjust the regulation rate and beat error.  Gave it a full wind and demagnetized, then put it on the Timegrapher.

Testing the regulation of the movement with the Timegrapher

This is excellent performance for an ETA 2824-2 movement.  

Mechanical movements are sensitive to the direction of gravity.  The force of friction in the geartrain and balance changes depending on whether it is lying flat (dial up, dial down) or hanging, i.e., when the dial is parallel to gravity.  Checking performance in 7 orientations (2 flat + 5 hanging) gives these results:

Measurement results for the uncased movement

Both amplitude (how strong the balance or "heart" of the movement beats) and the rate (deviation in seconds per day) are excellent.  The beat error (lower is better) refers to how evenly the balance swings in each direction. In this case they match by 0.1 millisecond.  

Bottom line is that this movement is running great and no adjustment is needed.  I will check it again after installing it in the case with the dial, hands, stem, and crown.

The dial purchased is compatible with 3 different movements from ETA, Seiko, and Miyota. As such it comes with 6 dial feet on the back instead of 2 needed to fix the dial to the movement.  I removed four of the dial feet and smoothed off the nubs with the Dremel.

Grinding down the extra dial feet with the Dremel

Next, the dial is mounted to the movement and secured with hinged clamps.

Dial being fitted to movement

Next comes installing the hands.  Some of the original field watches had red- or orange-tipped seconds hands, so I decided to paint the arrowhead on the tip of the white seconds hand with orange enamel.

Seconds hands as received (L), and after painting the tip (R)

Then I aligned and installed the hour hand, minutes hand, and the seconds hand using the hand pusher tools..

Mounting and aligning the hands: hour (L), minute (C), and second (R)

Now it's starting to look like a watch. To encase the movement, I set the case over the dial/movement and aligned the '3' to the crown tube on the right, then reinserted the stem.  By the way, the crystal (glass) looks messy because it is still covered with a protective film which I leave on until it's delivered.

Assembled watch before trimming the winding stem

The movement is now just resting inside the case with nothing to secure it, so a white plastic spacer ring is installed between the movement and the case inside.  As you can see, the stem is still too long, with the crown sitting away from the case.  The stem needs to be trimmed to length, which is tricky especially for screw-down crowns like this one.  After accidentally breaking two stems while grinding the tip with a Dremel, I did it manually and trimmed off about 3.5 mm to the right length.

Stem trimming measurements (L), broken stems and completed crown/stem (R)

Crown/stem inserted in movement

This photo shows the movement set inside the spacer ring inside the case.  The crown is trimmed and in the time setting position, which is why it isn't snug with the case in the photo.

The watch assembly is almost done save for the case back, but first I check the rate on the Timegrapher to assure that the movement is still running well.  The watch is running at a rate of 2 seconds fast per day, which is excellent for a mechanical movement.  The amplitude is high at 314, which means that the movement is well-lubricated and has plenty of power from the mainspring.  The beat error is 0.1ms, which means that the "tick" and the "tock" of the balance wheel are matched within 1/10,000 second, again excellent.

Timegrapher results after casing - dial-up

Mechanical movements are sensitive to orientation to gravity, however.  If the dial is flat to the ground, as in the dial-up photo above, there is less influence of gravity.  However if the dial is parallel to the force of gravity, the balance wheel motion can be impacted.  I tested it again in the 12-up position and saw a noisy trace on the tester instead of a smooth line. I saw varying result in other positions, so I wound it fully, demagnetized it, and checked again, and it was still noisy.

Timegrapher results after casing - 12-up

In the end, I removed the winding rotor, which was not rotating smoothly, and lubricated it. That seemed to eliminate the noise in the trace.  

Finally, the case back is installed with its silicone O-ring for water resistance.  This case is advertised to be water resistant to a depth of 200 meters.  However, I have no way of testing it, so let's just say it should be fully protected in a rain storm. Then I install a temporary strap for testing.

Wrist shot with temporary strap

I usually wear a newly built watch for up to 3 days to make sure it continues to work properly.  I set the time exactly to the second on the first day, then check the watch time against the actual time periodically to see if it winds itself and runs accurately both while worn and while sleeping. I record the Timegrapher results in 7 positions each day to see if anything changes.

Wrist tuning log results over 3 days

In this time span of 60 hours wearing the watch during the day, and setting it down at night, it gained a total of 6 seconds for a accuracy rate of +2.5 seconds every 24 hours.  Note that in that time I didn't hand wind it via the crown at all -- it wound itself via the automatic winding rotor.  This performance is quite excellent for a mechanical watch, if I do say so myself.

Here are shots of the watch with both straps, first the tan sailcloth & rubber, and second the black calfskin with white stitching.

Final product with straps: sailcloth/silicone (L) and cowhide (R)

Update 14-Aug-2024:  I had the opportunity yesterday to give Matt the watch.  Here he is wearing it with the black strap.  I had an extra NATO strap in olive that I thought might go well with the military look, so I included that in the box with the other two straps. He ended up putting on the NATO to wear, at least for now. That's why I included it!

Building the "Reprogle Ultra" Chronograph for Dawson's Graduation

Me, Dawson, and Alysa Grady at a Purdue football game in 2023

My son Dawson will be graduating from Purdue Polytechnic University this year, and per tradition I'm building him a wristwatch as a graduation present.

Originally the idea was to try to replicate an Omega Speedmaster Professional "Moonwatch".  Dawson has had a fascination and interest in the history of space exploration, and the Moonwatch was worn on the Apollo missions including the first moon landing.

For whatever reason, however, the watch parts market has not seen fit to provide the case, dial, and hands parts needed for hobbyists to put together a decent replica.  Cheap Moonwatch copies of the made in China exist, but that's not the point now, is it?

Choosing a design triggers a series of interdependent decisions constrained by availability, desired features, and technical compatibility.  Some of those questions:

1. What overall style?
2. What movement/case combinations are available?
3. Which of those fit
4. What movements are available for

Of the other options to include the Rolex Daytona, TAG Monaco, and Tudor Monte Carlo, Dawson settled on the Pilot chronograph style that originated during WWII.  Functionality and readability were the focus of the design, and the style continues to be popular 70+ years later.

Fortunately, one of my favorite watch part suppliers on eBay, SWISS-MADE-TIME, sells all of the parts needed to build and customize a watch based on the proven Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement.

Swiss Made Time also sells multiple variations of the 7750 with assorted features and complications such as: day, date (in various dial locations), moon phase, and quick set.  Besides the complications it comes in three grades: Standard, Elabore, and Top, with added decoration and timekeeping accuracy features.

Valjoux 7750 Top movement with blued screws and day/date

but in the end Dawson chose the original configuration with 6 hands plus the day and date windows at 3 o'clock.  The closest watch on the market to the final look is the IWC Pilot Chronograph 41 Blue Dial (reference IW3881).

For the hands, we looked at several options, and Dawson liked the look of chronographs like Tudor Monte Carlo and Breitling Chronomat with one or more orange hands.  So we decided on an orange sweep seconds hand and an orange running seconds subdial hand.  He made a mock-up in MS Paint with the two orange hands, and that became the design. The only other change was to make the day and date indicators black on white like the IWC above.

One other option Dawson chose was to add a bit of "pop" to the rear view by swapping out the winding rotor.

The final part of the watch design to decide was the strap or bracelet.  The classic pilot watch look includes a leather strap, often with rivets and contrasting stitching.

I had previously purchased custom leather goods from Etsy shops, and in particular I had a watch strap made from kangaroo leather which is very supple.   I ended up custom ordering the strap from TkachenkoLeather in Ukraine.  

Evgeniy makes goods from a variety of exotic leathers, and he was able to meet all of the requirements, except he did not have a buckle to match the matte titanium finish of the case.  After not finding an actual titanium buckle, I found a shop in the UK selling a sandblasted stainless steel buckle that should be a good match per the photo. I had suggested a deployant style clasp to Dawson, but he preferred the basic pin buckle instead.

Besides the watch itself, I ordered a gift/storage box, plus I picked up a nice watch winder I saw on an auction site.  Next comes the waiting for everything to arrive...

Update: 03-Jul-2024

Welp, assembly should have been straightforward, and obviously this update is about 6 months coming.  I received all of the parts (case, movement, hands, gold rotor, custom strap) plus a small jar of orange enamel paint.  I was able to do a passable job of painting the sweep and seconds hands orange, then moved on to building the watch, starting with the dial, then hands.

I was able to mount the dial with no problem.  Being the first chronograph watch I had assembled, I had to install all six hands aligned properly.  And of course the subdial hands are closest to the dial, so it made sense to install them first, then the hour hand, minute hand, and sweep chronograph seconds hand. 

Despite trying over and over, spending hours using different tools and optics, I could not get any of the 3 subdial hands to mount properly.  I began to suspect that the mounting holes on the hands were too small, out of spec, to fit onto the pivots.  I ended up breaking the mounting pin on the time seconds subdial at 9 by using too much pressure with the hand tool.  I ordered a replacement wheel, and in the meantime wrote a message to the ebay seller (S-M-T) and asked for a new set of hands, which they sent for the cost of shipping.  I also ordered a special movement holder for the 7750 to secure it while allowing me to work the chronograph start/stop & reset buttons.

When the replacement wheel arrived, I then had to disassemble part of the movement to install the new part.  Of course, this was not part of the original plan, but I was able to replace the wheel with only a little problem.  Back to square 1.

Then, I tried again to install the hour counting hand at 6.  It was just as difficult and seemingly impossible as the seconds subdial hand.  And I ended up breaking that wheel pin as well.  At this point, I was totally discouraged.  I ordered and received a replacement wheel, but didn't have the stomach to tear apart the other side of the movement to swap the part.  I just put the project down for about 4 months.

I swallowed my pride and decided to seek professional help.  I called a watchmaker in Cincinnati, but he does not like to take on DIY hobbyist disasters like mine. I then contacted S-M-T to see if they would assemble the watch since they will do is as an option when you buy parts.  Julien there said they could do it for $40 and would also be able to replace the broken wheel. The big expense involved is shipping all of the parts to Switzerland, but in the end I bit the bullet and sent all of the parts (minus the strap) to him on June 13, 2024

Part 2

Swiss Made Time completed the repair and assembly and shipped the completed watch on July 17. I received it on July 23, and it looked exactly like I hoped.  I thought they were going to charge me for the assembly and return shipping, but as of 2 days later they had not.  That fact makes me suspect they found something wrong with the hands and concluded my assembly troubles were at least partly their fault.  But it's possible they will ask for some payment later, I suppose.

I set the time, day, and date then put on the custom leather strap to get the full look. SMT also sent a blue leather-ish strap (2nd photo) at no charge.  Dial and hands look very nice.  (Just don't inspect the hands I painted orange under a microscope.)

I did some preliminary Timegrapher runs, and it measured very good with an average +5 seconds per day overall rate with a range of 0 to +11, and strong amplitude in the 280 range.  Overall the performance is close to COSC chronometer spec, which is -4 to +6 seconds.  Movements tend to slow down a bit in the first few weeks, so I don't think it's necessary to change the regulation.  I'll wear it for a couple of days as usual and take some real-world readings of accuracy while being auto-wound and stationary during sleep.

By the way, according to the Timegrapher results, the best position to lay the watch when you take it off is on its edge with the crown up (3U) because the rate is closest to 0 s/d.

Two-day wrist tuning results

Final results of the on-wrist testing show an overall rate of +2 seconds per day over 48 hours.  This included night-time resting in crown-up position.

I purchased a 2-watch travel wallet as the gift box.

Watch in dual slot travel case.

I think he likes it!

Auction find: Patek Philippe Top Hat, reference 1450

When I began this pursuit of repairing, restoring, and building watches, I never thought it might one day involve any kind of high-end watch such as a Patek Philippe.  But with the help of Karen, my treasure-hunting wife, a vintage Patek Philippe 1450 "Top Hat" manual wind watch became ours.

The watch was posted on the estate auction service Everything But the House (EBTH) and listed as "not running".  The posting photos showed that the case, crystal, hands, and dial seemed to be in very fine condition.  The movement appeared clean, without corrosion or damage, and the only really degraded part was the strap, which was black alligator with a (probably plated) yellow gold finish clasp.  The rectangular case is 18k rose/pink gold with hooded lugs and matching dial and hands.  The movement is a caliber 9-90, tonneau/barrel shaped, and manual wind.  The crystal did not appear to match the cylindrical shape fitted to the original Top Hat per photos and images from the period Patek catalog.  Despite much searching, I was unable to determine whether or not it might be original.

During the auction we researched the model and based on the movement serial number determined it was produced from 1940-1945, with this one likely in 1940.  Listings for 5 matching items on Chrono24 were priced from $10,000 to $19,000, and the auction stood at $2200 with 2 days to go.  We judged that many people would not want to risk investing in a watch with a bad movement, but I thought I would have a better chance than most to recover a reasonable price.  In the end, we decided to go for it and won the auction at $4810 plus tax and fees.  That weekend we drove the EBTH in Cincinnati to pick up the watch instead of having it shipped.

Once at home, I inspected it under the microscope looking for flaws.  The case, dial, crown, and hands still looked excellent with very few scratches at all and no blemishes on the dial.  Overall, amazing for an 83-year old watch.  The strap and buckles were okay, but we would likely replace it anyway.  

The one puzzling part was the crystal.  Under examination I could see the face of the crystal was perfectly flat with squared, sharp edges and vertical sides. The underside, however, was concave, distorting (shrinking) any image seen through the crystal.  No other online image of a Top Hat appeared to have this shape of crystal.  Also, the material felt like glass or possibly sapphire, but definitely was not acrylic or other plastic as I understood the original model was.

I measured the crystal to see if I could find a close match from the sources I had identified back when I was working on the Hamilton Myron and the pendant watch.  That's when I made a mistake -- I used my digital calipers to measure the outline of the crystal while mounted in the case, and the stainless steel jaws of the calipers scratched the very soft 18k solid gold of the watch case.  

That was frustrating and led me down a path of researching how to polish scratches out of gold.  It also led me to order a new digital caliper with plastic jaws.

I researched replacement crystals and found that G-S has an exact match acrylic model CX770 with cylindrical profile and correct dimensions (21.6 x 19.5 mm) 

The price for the crystal itself is only $12, but for an additional $25 plus shipping Crystal-fit will install it.  I haven't yet decided which I want to do.  I have replaced crystals twice before on vintage Hamiltons, and it was not that difficult.

To try and diagnose why the movement was not running, I removed the balance with the intent of reinstalling it correctly engaging the pallet fork.  However when I pulled it it was obvious that there was no power reaching the escape wheel.  I let down the mainspring power using the curved slot access to the click mechanism, and in doing so the crown turned only a couple of rotations.  This suggests that the mainspring is bound up or locked, which could be the cause of lack of power to the escapement.

Another issue I noticed with the watch is that when pulling out the crown, sometimes it will pop back in to the winding position.  Initially, I assumed it was due to the gunk built up in the keyless works, but when inspecting I noticed one of the two screws securing the detent spring to the main plate is missing (see arrow).   

I'm hoping I can repurpose a screw from one of the vintage Hamilton 980 or 75 size parts movements I have on hand.  The screw head is 0.8 mm, and some of the Hamilton screws are the same diameter, but I don't know if the thread and length match.

I ordered a replacement crystal from Crystalfit.com for $12 and a new mainspring from eBay for $35.  I'm thinking that I will go ahead and try to service the movement and refurbish the watch myself.  Through Patek, the service alone would be $900, not including parts, as I understand.  A Patek strap is $280 for calfskin or $475 for alligator, both without a buckle.  I can get a new Patek branded alligator strap on eBay for $250-300.  An 18k rose gold 14 mm buckle is listed at  $499, which is probably worth it.  Ofrei has a non-Patek 18k rose gold buckle for $340, and on eBay there are rose gold plated buckles for as low at $36.