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Few watches are as pure in their purpose as the American military-issued field watch. These are not luxury items; they are pieces of life-saving equipment, designed for legibility, durability, and nothing else. This Benrus is, without question, one of the most iconic and historically significant examples of the genre. Produced under the stringent MIL-W-46374A specification, this is a genuine U.S. military-issued piece from the Vietnam War era. More than that, it’s a so-called “disposable” watch, a fascinating and wildly cool chapter in the history of military horology, representing a time when a watch was a tool so essential that it was meant to be used hard and, if necessary, discarded.
The MIL-W-46374 specification was first issued in the mid-1960s to create an affordable, reliable, and legible timepiece for general infantry use during the Vietnam War. This “A” revision from 1968 further refined the standard. To meet the demand for a low-cost, non-maintainable watch, manufacturers like Benrus and Hamilton developed these brilliant one-piece plastic cases. The idea was simple: if the watch broke in the field, it was faster and cheaper to discard it and issue a new one than to send it back for repairs. Inside was a simple but robust manual-wind, non-hacking movement. The dial was a masterclass in functional design, with a clean 12-hour track, an inner 24-hour scale, and luminous hands and markers for low-light visibility, using tritium as the radioactive element, as indicated by the “H3” and radiation symbol on the dial.
This particular example is a fantastic time capsule, a true survivor. The case back tells its whole story with perfect clarity: it’s a Benrus, manufactured under the MIL-W-46374A spec, and dated to July 1975. The various contract and stock numbers are still sharply legible, a testament to its preservation. The olive drab plastic case is in remarkable condition, free from the major cracks or damage often seen on these pieces. The dial is flawless, with its matte black finish and crisp white printing perfectly preserved. This is not a tribute or a “military-style” watch; this is the real deal, a piece of government-issued equipment that was built for the jungles of Southeast Asia.
