BRITISH G10 WATCH MARKINGS

This blog entry is on the markings on the case back of the G10 field watch issued by the British Ministry Of Defense. This is based on my readings and on the case back of my small collection of G10 watches. I have G10 watches made by CWC and Precista.

Typical British W10 markings:

W10-6645-99

541-5317

(Pheon/ Broad Arrow)

14234/82

The first of characters indicates that the watches were ordered by the respective branch of the military, i.e. they paid for it but the watches were not exclusive to the branch. A 0552 watch could and can be issued to the Army or Royal Marines.

The Codes:

W10: Army (photograph above)

0552: Royal Navy

0555: Royal Marines

6B or 6BB: RAF

The second set of characters:

6645 is part of the NSN. It is the NATO Supply Classification identifier for timekeeping instruments.

The third set of characters:

99 is part of the NSN. It is the country code.

The Country Codes:

00 United States

01 United States

11 NATO

12 Germany

13 Belgium

14 France

15 Italy

17 Netherlands

18 South Africa

21 Canada

22 Denmark

23 Greece

24 Iceland

25 Norway

26 Portugal

27 Turkey

28 Luxembourg

29 Argentina

30 Japan

31 Israel

32 Singapore

66 Australia

98 New Zealand

99 United Kingdom

The second line of characters, 541-5317, are the rest of the NSN. This is followed by the Pheon (Broad Arrow) and the last line will be the serial number/ two digit year.

Location of the Pheon. Generally in quartz watches, the pheon will point towards the crown and in mechanical, it will be between the second and third line. But as can be seen in the first photograph, on the Precista, the Pheon is between the second and third line.

There are variations. Look at the 6BB photograph.

6BB/ 6645-99-5415317

Pheon

29382/84

The NSN is all in one row and there is no hyphen between 541 and 5317. The location of the Pheon is between the first line and the second. This is on a CWC thick case.

Both the 0552 and 0555 have the same markings,

0552/ 6645-99

5415317

44519

89

where the third line is the serial number and the forth is the two digit year. The Pheon is pointing towards the crown. The photograph below show a 6BB in the same configuration.

Photograph: Anchor Supplies

Other variations:

W10/ 6645-99

5415317

XXXX 97

There is no slash between the serial number and the two digit year. Pheon pointing towards the crown.

W10/ 6645-99

5415317

XXXX/XX

There is a slash between the serial number and the two digit year.