CWC G10

1985 and 1990 CWC G10 issued models

CWC Cabot Watch Company G10

In 1980, the first quartz watch issued to the British Forces was made by CWC. The old logo was used for a couple of years and was changed to the oval logo in 1982. The early G10s were nicknamed the Fatboy as the case was deeper than the current models due to earlier deeper movements. The G10 is still as rugged, reliable, accurate and dependable as it has always been.

Features:

• Acrylic glass.
• Water resistant to 5 ATM.
• Battery hatch for ease of replacement.
• 38mm case incl. crown, 36.5mm without crown
• First issued 1980 with thousands in service.
• Swiss-made using Swiss parts to British military specification.
• Quartz ETA 955.102 movement.
• Fixed bars, supplied with NATO issue 18mm strap.

Cabot Watch Company supplied the G10 from 1980 and was contracted by the MoD until recent times. A conservative figure of over 200,000 G10 watches have been produced for the military, based on 10,000 per year over a 28 year period. 22,000 were supplied to the Royal Navy in 1991.

The CWC quartz G10 (6645-99-5415317) was issued between 1980 and 2006 but not in 86, 92, 93, 94, 96, 99, 00, 01, 02, or 03.

The 1980 had no service prefix.

Serial Numbers and Year for CWC and Precista G10 models

1980

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – original CWC logo, the word Quartz below hands and Swiss on bottom of dial
• Movement - esa 536.121
• Service – no service prefix to NSN
• Known S/N range – 029 / 12710

1981

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – pretty much as 1980
• Movement - esa 536.121
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 12882 / 13049

1982

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – new CWC logo on dial with oval
• Movement - esa 536.121
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 005 / 9498

1982 Precista

Precista 1982 Case size (top) versus 1985 CWC

• Manufacturer – Precista
• Manufacturing details – no manufactures mark inside backplate, metallic finish crystal tension ring. Also end of crown appears matte finished.
• Movement - esa 536.121
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 9760 / 14463

See Precista for more information.

1982

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – metallic finish crystal tension ring as with Precista
• Movement - esa 536.121
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 14921 / 16630
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 17182 / 17309

1983

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – new case and backplate design to accommodate a change in movement, battery hatch also moved to the 1 o’clock position as viewed from rear.
• Movement - esa 947.111
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 17043 / 21092 and 24037 / 26179
• Service – 6BB Royal Air Force
• Known S/N range – 22529 / 23494
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 23529 / 23723

Note: One example seen missing the s/n and another with an engraved s/n

1984

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – very slight change to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial.
• Movement - esa 947.111
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 26402 / 28767

These 1983 to 1984 CWC watches are often referred to as 'medium fatboy' due to the slightly reduced depth of case needed to accommodate the change to the esa 947.111 movement

1984 Precista

• Manufacturer – Precista
• Manufacturing details – notably thin case and backplate which is unique to this issue, battery hatch at 12 o’clock. Also end of crown matte finished.
• Movement – eta 555.111
• Service – 6BB Royal Air Force
• Known S/N range – 28778 / 30443

1984

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – slightly thinner case than initial 1984 CWC issue due to change in movement, backplate remains the same but battery hatch at 12 o’clock. Serial number on at least one Royal Navy Issue etched rather than stamped.
• Movement – eta 555.411
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 30614 / 32944
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 33056 / 33811

1984

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – battery hatch reduced in diameter
• Movement – eta 555.411/412, or 555.111/112
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 34105 / 38947

1985

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – change in dial appearance with more prominent seconds markers
• Movement – eta 555.111/112/115
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 031 / 15599

Note: observed a small number of 1985 watches which appear to have a very similar dial to the late issue 1984 and eta 555.412 movement. To date have been unable to confirm if these are as originally manufactured, or in service repairs, or later post service parts 'Frankenstein's'.

1987

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – subtle change to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial and thinner backplate.
• Movement – eta 555.115
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 15792 / 23054

1988

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – as 1987 but change in movement during early production
• Movement – eta 555.115, or eta 955.114
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 23958 / 27828

1989

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – change to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial and Swiss Made now on bottom of dial
• Movement – eta 955.114
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 28035 / 52077

1990

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – change again to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial and style of stamping on backplate changes from approximately S/N 61000 onward.
• Movement – eta 955.114 with updated/improved circuit board
• Service – 0552 Royal Navy
• Known S/N range – 52099 / 74036

1991

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – pretty much as initial 1990 production
• Movement – eta 955.114, or 955.102 (appears somewhat randomly fitted from approximately S/N 77000 onward).
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 74125 / 82076

Note after 1991 the use of consecutive S/N's carrying over to the following year/years ends.

1995

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details –initial production pretty much as 1991. Later issue have a change to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial and the eta 955.112 movement becomes more common.
• Movement – eta 955.102 or 955.112
• Service – 0555 Royal Marines
• Known S/N range – 0021 / 4848

1997

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – pretty much as initial 1995 production. First few hundred issued have etched rather than stamped S/N’s, along with the pheon and service prefix (above the NSN). Also early stamped S/N examples are missing the forward slash between the S/N and year.
• Movement – eta 955.102
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 0126 / 5320

1998

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – pretty much as 1997 production. Again, first few hundred issued have etched rather than stamped S/N’s and service prefix (above the NSN).
• Movement – eta 955.102
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 0003 / 7416

2004

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – Initial issue pretty much as 1998 production. Again, first few hundred issued have etched rather than stamped S/N’s and in most instances, this etched S/N is above the NSN. Further some of the initial issue have traditional backplates others have water resistance details in both ATM and Feet stamped at the bottom of the backplate. Later production with stamped S/N’s this water resistance information becomes standard but in smaller font and ATM measurement only. Also, there are again subtle changes to the style/finish/texture of printing on the dial in these later watches.
• Movement – eta 955.102
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 003 / 2969

2005

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – pretty much as later 2004 production.
• Movement – eta 955.102
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 0093 / 6000

2006

• Manufacturer – CWC
• Manufacturing details – change to texture and colour of dial tritium markers.
• Movement – eta 955.102
• Service – W10 British Army
• Known S/N range – 0021 / 9348

Links

• CWC G10 navigator
• Precista
• Other CWC Models
• Military Watches
• Great Britain

Further Reading - https://www.mwrforum.net