First off, lemme say, the original trench watches? Genius. Pure freakin’ genius. See, before WW1, wristwatches were, like, a *girl* thing. Seriously! Called “wristlets” and all that jazz. But then you got blokes stuck in trenches, mud up to their eyeballs, trying to coordinate attacks. Pulling out a pocket watch? Forget about it! Too clunky, too slow, you’d get yer head blown off. So, someone (probably a really smart officer, or maybe just a desperate grunt) figured out: slap a pocket watch onto a leather strap, bam! Instant wrist-mounted time-telling convenience.
And Swiss companies? Oh, they jumped on *that* bandwagon quicker than you can say “shellshock.” Rolex, especially. Suddenly, everyone wanted one. A symbol of bravery, courage, all that good stuff.
Now, fast forward to today. Finding a *real* WW1 trench watch? Expensive. Like, REALLY expensive. And probably needing a good bit of TLC to even run, let alone keep accurate time. Hence… the replica.
You can find ’em all over the place. eBay’s a good start. You’ll see “Ww1 Trench Watch” plastered all over the place. Just be careful, okay? Some are good, some are… well, let’s just say they wouldn’t last five minutes in an actual trench. (Not that you’d *be* in a trench, hopefully. Unless you’re into reenactments, which, hey, no judgement here).
Personally, I’m a sucker for the ones that try to get the details right. Like, the aged lume (that glow-in-the-dark stuff), the wire lugs (those weird little bars that hold the strap), even the font on the dial. But I’ve seen some that are just… ugh. Like, a modern quartz movement slapped into a vaguely “trench-y” looking case. That’s just… wrong. It’s an insult to history, I tell ya!
And the straps! Oh, the straps. You *gotta* get a good leather strap. That’s half the battle. A cheap, plastic-y strap will ruin the whole look. Get yourself a nice, thick, vintage-style leather band. 14mm seems to be the common size, but always double-check.
Now, there are different *types* of replicas, too. Some are straight-up copies of specific models. Others are more “inspired by” the era. Baltany makes some pretty cool ones, I gotta say. They do a “Retro Automatic Military Style WW1 Trench Watch” that looks pretty sharp. It uses an automatic movement, which is a nice upgrade from the original hand-wound ones, but it still keeps that vintage vibe.
Look, at the end of the day, it’s a replica. It’s not the real deal. But it’s a way to connect with history, to appreciate the ingenuity of those early wristwatches. And hey, it looks pretty darn cool on the wrist, too. Just do your research, don’t get ripped off, and find one that you really dig. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll feel a little bit closer to those brave blokes who wore the originals, all those years ago. Ya know?
