What Watches do Special Forces Operators Use?

   Special Forces units often operate in incredibly harsh conditions. These conditions change drastically depending on the mission, and may require long stints away from civilized society and as such, the watches worn by these operators must be as rough and tough as the seasoned operators relying on them.

   Special Forces around the time of World War II used to be equipped with standard watches that the military chose for them but this has since been phased out, allowing the operators to choose the watch of their liking. Most Special Forces operators have received enough training and experience to know exactly what they’re looking for and in this quick guide, we’ll go over the attributes that make a watch “Special Forces approved” and which watches are most commonly utilized in the field today.

   Even if you aren’t a part of the US Special Forces, getting a watch that has seen combat and is tried and true through what I could only describe as a trial by fire will ensure you have something on your wrist that you can truly rely on, whether that's for your hiking trip in the mountains of Russia or just everyday abuse from a physically demanding occupation, like law enforcement.

   What Makes a Watch Tough Enough for a Special Forces Operator?

   Reliability: Reliability focused on a watches ability to continue its operation for long durations of time despite what environment or stress it endures. It’s hard to tell exactly how reliable a watch is from marketing material but some of things you can look out for is it’s shock resistance and actual operating mechanisms.

   A great example of a reliable class of mechanical mechanisms is found in Marine Chronometers. First developed in 1730 by John Harrison, wrist watches wouldn’t be equipped with Marine Chronometer technology until 1914 when Rolex was the first company to both engineer, manufacturer, and receive the Marine Chronometer certification with a wrist watch. Watches with this certification must have less than a tenth of a second of time loss per day.

   Now, the term Marine Chronometer used to be reserved for timepieces physically outfitted to a ship and were always set to Greenwich time. Normally, wrist watches do not have this certification, however, in modern day times many brands such as Tag Heuer, Tissot, Ball, and several others have obtained the proper standards for Marine Chronometer wrist watch certification.

   Other notable movements include the Zenith Defy Lab which, in 2017, was widely considered the most reliable and accurate movement for a wrist watch. Of course, the Japanese also have an excellent track record of building incredibly reliable products and the category of watches is not sitting this one out. The Seiko Spring Drive movement was released in 2004 but had a long history of similar designs dating back to 1969. These watches utilize a rather new technology called the Tri-Synchro Regulator which ensures the unwinding of the internal springs cannot deviate even over long periods of time, far exceeding the accuracy and reliability of an automatic movement watch.

   Durability: How much abuse can a watch sustain before it becomes unusable? Of course, no watch is technically indestructible, but if you’re reading this page, you’re looking for something that can survive diving to great depths, traversing harsh terrain, sustaining physical damage during combat, and being strapped on for some good old fashion high altitude low opening (HALO) jumping and still being functional behind enemy lines even after crashing back into Earth.

   Starting with the face of the watch, because let's face it, if you can’t read the time, it doesn’t matter if it works, the watch face is by far going to bear the brunt of most physical damage as well as weathering. Watch faces that are highly regarded for their incredible resistance to damage include hardened mineral crystals and sapphire faces. The watch face must be extremely hard so that it resists scratching and there aren’t many things that can make a mess of a hard sapphire watch face.

   Now, the materials the face is constructed of are only part of the equation as coatings also play a role. Manufacturers usually have their own proprietary names for face coatings so we won’t try to name a bunch here but at the end of the day, you get what you pay for and high quality watch face coatings are expensive, just like they are in the world of optics.

   Of course, if the watchband breaks or falls apart, it’s going to be pretty tough to keep it on your wrist and conveniently find the time when needed. Leather does look great and in normal day-to-day life for just the average Joe, high quality leather would be just fine, however, nowadays, most watches found in combat are going to be using really strong synthetic bands made out of woven ballistic nylon. Metal bands can be strong too but they make noise when they brush against your equipment and are often heavier than a nylon band with no real benefits other than aesthetics.

   The internals of your watch must be extremely shock resistant. One of the most popular brands to achieve such internal durability is the G-Shock line. Yes, G-Shock has become a bit consumer oriented and there are cheaper models that simply won’t survive harsh abuse, but those hefty G-Shocks like the G9300 Mudman still incorporates incredible levels of physical damage resistance and are almost always sealed up tightly to protect against any moisture or dirt entering the watch.

   Water-Resistance: Obviously a minimal resistance to rain is going to be our baseline here but as a Special Forces operator, a watch may need to survive intense pressure at depths normally not visited by humans. Remember, if you have to open the watch up to replace its battery, the seal can become stretched or damaged, sacrificing the water resistance of the watch. If possible, watches should always be serviced by a professional even if you have the tools and knowledge to replace a battery on your own.

   A watch rated for just general “water resistance” is only going to protect your timepiece from splashes of water or rain and will not survive complete submersion.

   Watches rated at 3 BAR or 3 ATM are technically rated for 30 Meters but still are not advisable for deep diving operations where the watch will endure submersion for long periods of time. All in all, watches with this rating or lower really aren’t technically resistant to water at all, but more so just capable of withstanding that level of pressure. A watch with this rating or less is not considered a military watch and should be avoided. You can wash your hands with it and that's about it, don’t expect these to survive even being tossed into a cup of water.

   Watches with the rating 5 BAR or 5 ATM are good down to 50 Meters and just like a 3 BAR watch, they can withstand submersion for small amounts of time but are not recommended for actual swimming or diving.

   10 BAR or 10 ATM watches can be submerged down to 100 Meters. These are excellent for long swims and exposure to water but still, not advisable for long and deep dives even though they are rated for entry level diving.

   20 BAR or 20 ATM ratings are good for 200 Meters and is where diving watch certifications truly begin. These watches should survive most diving operations and all water sports or water exposure but are still not recommended for maritime operations.

   30 BAR+ rated watches can exceed 300 meters of submersion and is where you’ll find coveted military use watches such as the Rolex Submariner. If you’re still alive, your watch is still working.

   A Special Forces operator should be utilizing a watch with a minimum of 20 BAR/20 ATM rating with preferably 30 BAR/30ATM or beyond ratings. You may be thinking that you’ll never exceed 100 meters of depth and you might be right, but having watches rated for much more than that ensures they are built to withstand a lot of pressure, meaning they are extremely tightly sealed and overbuilt for the average maritime incursion. This high standard of engineering and manufacturing makes the watch very durable and tough, even to other types of exposure and abuse such as shock and physical damage.

   Low-Profile Characteristics: A watch being used in combat is meant to help you, not hurt you, and as such, it's important to consider how your watch may make you stand out while on recon. Bright flashy watches with over the top backlit displays will give away your position and draw unwarranted attention to you and those around you. A black matte finish is going to be what you’re looking for with a band that is relatively thin, light, and doesn’t produce any glare glint when hit with external light.

   Minimal Maintenance: Simply put, you must be able to maintain the watch without special tools or access to watch batteries and as such, an operator will be utilizing a watch with incredible battery life and little need of any maintenance whatsoever. If your watch stops working in the field, it is highly unlikely you’ll have the time or tools necessary to repair it.

   Visibility: The watch face must be uncluttered and easy to read in both high and low visibility settings. Military watches are now equipped with tritium, a radioactive material that can remain bright enough to read for over eight hours without needing to be recharged by an external light source.

   The watch must also not be visible to the enemy, meaning bright colors, bright backlights, etc, are a no go as they would give away your position if activated, so you’ll need to find something you can read easily but something that also does not stand out. Also, silver and gold metallic accents on a watch or the watchband may reflect light and cause glare, just like a scope's objective lens, which is yet another reason why synthetic nylon bands are recommended or at the very least, metal bands with a dark matte finish or rubberized coating.

   MIL-PRF-46374G: This is the official military standard for watches. We won’t go into detail here because there is a ton of information and this standard has been revised several times in the past and will likely continue to be revised in the future. If you’re in the military and searching for a new watch, there are many options nowadays that adhere to these specifications and encompass approval from the US military.

   Examples of Watches Used by Special Forces:

   In this section we’ll provide a few examples of watches you may find equipped to an operator across several different classes of watches. These lists will be sorted alphabetically and their position in no manner reflects their quality or any type of arbitrary ranking system. If you want to learn more about some of the more popular models out there right now, I found a good article by a Marine on military watches that are currently being used in the field.

   Analog Watches: These are simple watches that have withstood the test of time, telling the time, and that’s about it. High quality analog watches are extremely durable and a lot of them nowadays have incredible duration of use, and in some cases, have unlimited durations of use. If longevity, simplicity, and ruggedness are your primary focus, analog watches are still king.

   1.   Ball Engineer Pioneer II
   2.   Citizen Eco-Drive Military
   3.   Luminox Navy Seal Blackout
   4.   Luminox Nighthawk F-117 6400
   5.   Marathon GSAR
   6.   Marathon Navigator
   7.   Marathon Search & Rescue
   8.   Military Watch Company (MWC) G10SL MKVI
   9.   Rolex Submariner 5513, 5514 or 5517
   10. Seiko 5 Automatic
   11. Seiko Prospex
   12. Tag Heuer Aquaracer
   13. Timex Allied Tide-Temp-Compass
   14. Timex Expedition Field Chronograph
   15. Victorinox Swiss Army Alpnach

   Hybrid Watches: A hybrid watch is utilizing both Analog movement alongside digital technology. The analog does what it does best, tells the time, while the digital aspects of the watch often offer supplementary information, like calendar, alarms, timers, and even sometimes basic navigational data. (Not to be confused with hybrid movement watches).

   1. Breitling Chronospace Military Edition
   2. Casio G-Shock Mudman GG-1000
   3. Casio G-Shock Mudmaster GWG-1000
   4. MTM Special Ops RAD

   Sport Watches: These are digital watches that are specifically designed to be extremely lightweight and resistant to harsh climates. Sport watches have an emphasis on being water and mud resistant and usually host a strong polymer plastic housing that is far lighter than a metal housing but very close in terms of durability. Sport watches usually have a digital timepiece running off of a battery but they also come with additional features such as timers, alarms, activity trackers, and more.

   1. Casino Pathfinder
   2. Casio G-Shock DW-6900
   3. Casio G-Shock GD400
   4. Casio G-Shock Rangeman GW-9400
   5. Cressi Leonardo
   6. Suunto Core
   7. Timex Ironman Rugged Edition

   GPS Watches: These watches were designed to provide GPS related information while telling the time as a secondary feature. GPS Watches are often not allowed inside classified buildings but are often used by Special Forces out in the field.

   1. Casio G-Shock Rangeman GPR-B1000
   2. Casio Pro Trek
   3. Garmin Foretrex
   4. Garmin Tactix Bravo
   5. Suunto Traverse Alpha

   Smart Watches: Bluetooth enabled technology rich units that are capable of providing exceptional levels of data including O2, sleep data, activity data, GPS, SOS functions, and even sometimes communications. Bluetooth enabled watches are not allowed in highly classified areas or buildings due to their ability of recording and storing large amounts of personal and environmental data. To this day, most smart watches still suffer from lack of battery life and for the most part, any smart watch you plan to use often will require charging after about a day or so which is obviously not ideal for a Special Forces operator. Some of the following do have a “low power” mode, enabling them to be used without their highest power draining features such as GPS for several days without charging.

   1. Casio G-Shock Move GBDH1000
   2. Garmin Fenix Sapphire
   3. Garmin Instinct Tactical
   4. Garmin Tactix Charlie
   5. Samsung Gear Frontier
   6. Suunto Ambit3