If you have any interest in military watches, then the name Cabot Watch Company (otherwise known as CWC) will probably be familiar to you. CWC was founded in 1972 by Ray Mellor?who for some time worked for Hamilton Watch Company?and the brand started out by taking on contracts with the UK Ministry of Defence to supply watches to the British Armed Forces.  The Rolex Submariner Mil-Sub had been the watch issued to Royal Navy divers until the early 1980s when it was replaced by the CWC Auto Diver first for a short run, and then the quartz version of the same watch from 1982/83.
Initially, these watches were not available or intended for public sale, but UK Army Surplus store Silvermans began purchasing watches from CWC to sell directly to the public. When its former owner decided to retire, CWC was sold to Silvermans, which still produces watches under the CWC name, selling them directly to the public and to the British Armed Forces today. CWC is planning to release a reissue of the 1980 Royal Navy automatic diver later this year to the same specifications as the original, but this time updated with a sapphire crystal and vintage lume markings. The CWC Royal Navy Black Diver Automatic Mk. 2 reviewed here (and currently available for £949, or about $1,220) is offered in several variants.  The case can either be finished in matte stainless steel or with a black PVD coating, there is an option for either an automatic or a quartz movement, and date or no-date variants are a...