Military spec watches are having quite the moment of late, propelled by the recently released Marine Nationale watches (from both Yema and Tudor), and of course, the return of the Benrus Type 1 (which we reviewed at length here). When it comes to Benrus, it?s kind of their thing. Their latest release revisits another issued classic from 1964, the ?DTU? field watch in the new DTU-2A/P. Like the Type 1, this DTU stays (pretty much) true to the original, even going so far as to pass on the faux aging to keep it as close as possible to the intent of the watch.

The original DTU from 1964 featured a hand winding ETA 2372 base caliber within a slight 43mm case. It is here that the remaster deviates from the original, growing to 39.5mm and swapping over to an automatic Sellita SW200 movement. These are two considerable departures from the rather charming early references, but thankfully the overall look and feel of the watch has otherwise been preserved. Let?s call it a modern rendition of the DTU, as it would have been made were it commissioned today. 
So the new DTU-2A/P has grown a bit, both in diameter and thickness, but at under 40mm it?s still perfectly manageable and inline with similar offerings from the likes of Hamilton. The move to an automatic movement is certainly welcome for convenience’s sake, but it does contribute to the 13mm thickness, which is a lot for a time-only affair such as this. A big chunk of that can be attributed to the highly domed ac...