In Part 2 of the British installment of our series, Military Watches of the World, we are going to examine the wristwatches issued to HM?s forces from the post-WWII period through the Vietnam War era.

Korean War Era
One of the most iconic of perhaps all issued military watches is the 6B/346, commonly referred to as the Mk. 11 and produced by Jaeger LeCoultre and International Watch Company. This spec was designed in the immediate aftermath of the War as a new, highly accurate navigation watch for issue to pilots by the MoD, and was in use from 1948 through 1981?quite a run for an issued timepiece.

These watches had stainless steel cases measuring 35-36 millimeters with long lugs and (generally) fixed strap bars, antimagnetic Faraday cages, and matte black iron dials. The dials have Arabic numerals from one to 12 (later, the 12 became a triangle) and minute markings in white, with the exception of the cardinal, lumed graduations at three, six, and nine. Movements were specified to be central-second, 12-ligne Swiss calibers with 36-hour power reserves and a daily rate variation of no more than +/- 4 seconds. Cases were expected to be waterproof to 20 feet and acrylic crystals were held together via a retaining screw to prevent detachment during decompression. Early versions featured radium lume, with later versions featuring tritium denoted with a circle ?T? on the dial. JLC mk. 11 variants. Images courtesy of Analog Shift.
Both versions of the Mk. 11 were eventually iss...