HOT ! A-17 U.S 1950s Korean War Pattern Military Watch with Shatter and Scratch Resistant Box Sapphire Crystal

This automatic self-winding A-17 pattern watch is a classic design based on the typical designs used in the Korean War during the 1950s, but has the advantage that it is now equipped with a high-performance self-winding 24 jewel mechanical movement and has also been upgraded to a box sapphire crystal, which is both shatter and scratch resistant although outwardly identical in appearance to the original plexiglass crystal which would have been used on the original watches, the mechanical movement is automatic with the option to hand-wind if desired. The other watches in this family of watches are the A-11 based on the WW2 USAAF pilots watch and the GG-W-113 based on the Vietnam War issue model.This watch has a heavy stainless steel satin finish case made from Military Grade 316L stainless steel, sweep second hand, hacking function, black dial, and Luminova or the markings and hands for first-rate night-time performance.The entire range of A-11, A-17, and GG-W-113 watches came into being because in January 2009 MWC was approached by a US veterans association who were keen to examine the viability of making a GG-W-113 watch which was identical in appearance to the original watches which were made by Hamilton, Bulova and Benrus during the Vietnam war. After receiving samples of watches to examine and also the original specification sheets the resulting watch was very close to the original and used a high grade fully jeweled hand-wound movement, this watch was the GG-W-113 which is still made by MWC. As a result of making that watch another order was placed with a view to recreating the A-11 which is an even earlier model, the original A-11 is now virtually impossible to find in good sound condition, this is primarily because most originals were made from 1943 onwards when resources were very limited due to the war and hence cheap metal was used which meant they were not very durable and the wartime alloy watches could not get close to a watch like these models in solid stainless steel. This 1950s pattern A-17 watch sits between the 1940s A-11 and the 1960s GG-W-113.

* A lot of people ask us what are the benefits of sapphire crystal over a standard mineral crystal? The answer is that synthetic sapphire is by far the best material for watch crystals because it is very strong and also shatter and scratch-resistant, these characteristics make it very appealing to military and security personnel, police officers and people who lead active outdoor lifestyles, these groups account for over 70% of our customers. To get things into perspective we find that when clients have accidents with watches resulting in a cracked crystal over 90% usually watches with mineral glass crystals, even factoring in that we use hardened mineral crystals they still do not come close to sapphire for durability under adverse conditions. The reason that sapphire crystals are so strong is that after the sapphire glass is manufactured it is also heat-treated to remove its internal stresses—which can cause weakness—it is then made into the watch crystals and two layers of anti-reflective coating are applied, interestingly sapphire crystal is now used on the latest iPhone. Of course, sapphire crystal comes at a price hence you find that it\'s normally only fitted to higher-end watches.