US Government Specification Field Watch

Ref. MIL-W-46374

discontinuedUS military contractDocumentedLast reviewed Not yet reviewed

Missing informationCore fields not yet documented for this reference: Caliber, Water resistance, Dial

Lineage← GG-W-113MIL-W-46374Compare with previous

Provenance of this record

Sources & Evidence

No sources have been cited for this reference yet. Its specifications should be treated as unverified until they are.

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Claim-level evidence

Researched claims

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Open questions on this reference

ResolvedMissing primary sourceLow

MIL-W-46374 revision-by-revision specification

For each lettered revision of MIL-W-46374, what case material, movement type, dial specification and lume material were required, and which contractors built to which revision?

Best current answer

First published 30 October 1964. REVISIONS: A (1968) — plastic cases by Westclox and Benrus 1970-76, metal by Hamilton. B (1975) — added the radiation symbol and H3 to the DIAL, 'Dispose Rad. Waste' to the CASEBACK, and a coating on the hands to preserve the tritium. C (1983) — Stocker & Yale admitted as a contractor. D (1986) — five variants including the higher-specification Type 1, a departure from the disposable plastic watches; Hamilton, Stocker & Yale, rarely Marathon/Gallet. E (1989) — drastic dial font changes and tritium PAINT replaced by tritium VIALS; plastic, by Stocker & Yale and Marathon. TYPES, which run orthogonally to revisions: Types 1 and 2 mechanical, Types 3, 4 and 5 quartz. Type 1 requires minimum 15 jewels and ±30 sec/day at 75°F; Type 2 has no movement requirement, ±60 sec/day, and is the characteristic plastic execution. The Rev B and Rev E changes are the useful ones for an examiner because both are visible: H3 and the trefoil cannot appear before 1975, and vials rather than painted lume indicate Rev E or later.

Scope RESOLVED, and it yielded more than asked: as well as the revision mapping, the Type axis turned out to govern the movement independently, so the two together determine what a watch should be. The marking changes at Rev B and Rev E are datable events, which converts the revision letter from a label into a cross-check. Remaining detail — exact contract numbers per revision — is a lower-value archival question.