A Well Travelled Watch

The Cabot Watch Company (CWC) was named after John Cabot, an explorer from Europe who famously made landfall on what would ultimately become known as the Americas back in 1497.

Ray Mellor, the founder of CWC, was inspired by Cabot’s tenacity and spirit of adventure. Rather timely then, that CWC watches would go on to become the official issued timepieces of the MOD and accompany servicemen on missions right around the globe.

Clearly intrepidity was sewn into the watch brand from its very beginnings, and we are truly lucky to be in possession of an example that couldn’t run closer to the heartline of the company. A watch with a documented history of travel and adventure, retired now from active duty and proudly boasting the battle scars of its past.

All military watches have a story to tell, but it is rare we have the opportunity to be told them first hand and with such detail. It’s no surprise then, that we were really excited to learn of the journey this watch has taken before winding up in our hands. The below information was supplied to us with the watch and comes directly from ‘the horse’s mouth’ so to speak, and what a life it has had!

“This particular CWC W10 was issued to a member of The Parachute Regiment in 1979. Soon thereafter It was worn on active service in Northern Ireland and over the course of the next few years it was worn throughout, Central America, Africa and in the early eighties, The Falkland Islands, during the conflict with Argentina.

When the serviceman in question then transitioned to the SAS Regiment in the very early nineties, the watch accompanied him to places as diverse as Ecuador and Colombia in the war against drugs, assisting local anti-narcotics agencies.

 Back in action hunting Iraqi Scud missiles in the Western Desert of Iraq, and then on to two tours of duty in Bosnia, the watch was finally retired when its wearer was wounded, dripping blood down his arm and over the watch, as a result of which, he left the Army.

It was subsequently cleaned, wrapped up and put in a box in a drawer for the next twenty five years, before being taken out and serviced at a local jewellers. It has only been worn very occasionally since its retirement on appropriate occasions such as Armistice Sunday.”

What a journey, an incredible piece of provenance and British military history. This watch is due its well-deserved retirement, hopefully in the care of somebody appreciative of its past and all that it has endured.