Cabot Watch Company was founded in 1972 by Ray Mellor and became an important supplier of watches to the British Armed Forces. Rather than producing civilian watches that merely borrowed from military design, CWC supplied watches built specifically to meet Ministry of Defence requirements, ranging from general service watches and pilot's chronographs to some of the most recognisable British military dive watches of the late 20th century.

CWC's military diving watches emerged at the beginning of the 1980s, following the era of the now highly collectable Rolex military Submariners. Early CWC divers were mechanically powered, before quartz movements were adopted during the 1980s. Quartz offered obvious advantages for military service: accuracy, reliability and considerably less day-to-day maintenance than a mechanical movement.

By the 1990s, the CWC quartz diver had evolved into the form represented by this watch. The distinctive asymmetrical stainless-steel case protected the crown, while fixed strap bars, a rotating timing bezel and an exceptionally clear black dial reflected its purpose as a working military instrument rather than a civilian luxury watch.

The 0555 designation appeared on British military CWC divers during this period, with examples associated with Royal Navy, Royal Marines and specialist military use. Together with the NATO stock number, Broad Arrow and individual issue markings, these casebacks provide an unmistakable record of their British military origins.

What's on Offer

Here we have an excellent 1994 CWC 0555 British military-issued quartz diver, complete with the military markings that make these watches so appealing to collectors.

The matt black dial is particularly attractive, with large luminous hour markers providing superb contrast against the white minute track. Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9 and the oversized triangular marker at 12 create the unmistakable CWC military diver layout.

Beneath the oval CWC signature sits the circled T, denoting the use of tritium luminous material. Over the past three decades, the tritium hour markers have developed a wonderful creamy-yellow patina, contrasting beautifully with the black dial. The hands have aged to a slightly paler tone, giving the watch plenty of genuine vintage military character without compromising the clarity of the display.

Surrounding the dial is the black rotating dive bezel with its luminous pip at 12. The bezel shows sympathetic marks of wear accumulated during the watch's life, while its slightly faded detailing works particularly well with the aged tritium.

The substantial stainless-steel asymmetric case measures approximately 41mm across and 47mm lug-to-lug, giving this a far more contemporary wrist presence than many earlier British military watches. The protected screw-down crown sits neatly within the pronounced crown guards, while the original military-specification fixed strap bars remain in place.

The case itself remains in very good condition, showing the expected marks of wear associated with a military watch of this age without detracting from its strong overall appearance.

Most importantly, the caseback retains its military markings, including 0555/6645-99-7573314, the British Government Broad Arrow, and the 1994 issue designation. These markings establish this as a genuine British military-issued CWC rather than one of the later civilian watches produced in the same distinctive style.

Inside is the 7-jewel ETA 955.122 quartz movement, an appropriately robust and accurate movement for a watch designed primarily as a piece of military equipment.