MWC A-17 Classic 1950s Pattern US Korean War Issue Watch with Hybrid Mechanical/Quartz Movement and 100m Water Resistance

SKU Code: A-17/100/HYQ

This hybrid A-17 pattern watch is a classic design based on the typical designs used in the Korean War during the 1950s, it has been brought up to modern standards with a glass crystal and 100m water resistance.

MWC hybrid watches essentially combine the best of new and traditional watchmaking technology. They encompass features from both our conventional automatic and quartz models resulting in a hybrid ultra-low maintenance movement. The hybrid movement has a battery powering the movement through coils and a quartz oscillator, but the hands are mechanically actuated and controlled. Essentially the movement is mechanical except it’s powered by a battery and regulated by a crystal the only thing it doesn’t have is a spring. This watch offers the ideal choice for buyers who would prefer the sweep secondhand as seen in automatic watches with the hassle-free maintenance benefits of a quartz watch.. The watch offers the benefit of retaining the classic 1950s outward appearance whilst having the advantage of a few important updates to improve its suitability for use on a day to day basis, the main upgrades are an increase from 30m to 100m water resistance and a screw-down crown and caseback. 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.

All the original watches regardless of whether they were an A-11, A-17 or GG-W-113 used plexiglass which was fine for the time but does not come anywhere near meeting modern standards for either water resistance or scratch resistance. The updates mean that rather than just being splash-proof like the original models this watch is fine for swimming and other activities involving use in water, although the updates vastly improve the watch in terms of performance it still retains the historical retro appearance which was achieved by manufacturing a special curved glass crystal which closely mimics the original.

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 original watches to examine and also the original specification sheets the resulting watches were very close to the original in appearance and used a high grade fully jeweled hand-wound movement, this watch was the GG-W-113 which is still made by MWC in updated variants but retaining the plexiglass crystal. 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 the MWC A-11s made in solid stainless steel.

The final watch to join the range was the A-17, this 1950s based model sits between the 1940s A-11s and 1960s/70s GG-W-113s.

The most recent change to this range was the introduction of the 100m water-resistant series of models (of which this is an example) in 2019, these watches encompass the best of both traditional appearance whilst meeting current day performance standards.

SPECIFICATION

•     Width Inc Crown: 40mm
•     Width Exc Crown: 38mm
•     Hardened Crystal
•     Thickness: 11.5mm
•     Weight: 52g
•     Lug Size: 20mm
•     Lug to lug is 45mm
•     100m Water Resistance
•     Screw caseback and crown
•     Hybrid Quartz/Mechanical Movement
•     20mm Strap