Throughout World Warfare II, the British Ministry of Protection commissioned a rugged and extremely legible timepiece for its troops, and twelve Swiss manufacturers answered the decision to supply Britain’s very first military-issued wristwatch. Colloquially referred to as the “Soiled Dozen” in recognition of the twelve manufacturers that produced them, these purpose-built subject watches adopted a design transient outlined by the British Ministry of Protection, and so they performed a vital position in laying the muse for all future mil-spec timepieces. For its inaugural mannequin, the Brooklyn-based microbrand Tuul has reimagined the blueprint of the traditional Soiled Dozen subject watch, and the Tuul Filthy 13 represents a modernized expression of the historic military-issued timepieces that had been specifically created to outlive on the entrance strains of humanity’s best battle.
On the time of writing, the Tuul Filthy 13 subject watch is offered in 4 totally different configurations consisting of two fashions in stainless-steel and two crafted from bronze. Though all 4 variations of the Filthy 13 function the identical elementary design, the stainless-steel fashions can be found with both black or white dials, whereas dial colours for the bronze variations embody black or olive drab inexperienced. Except for the fabric of their instances and the ending on their dials and arms, the 4 Tuul Filthy 13 watches are in any other case more-or-less equivalent, and whereas the black-dial stainless-steel model carefully adheres to the template of the unique Soiled Dozen watches, the bronze fashions supply an alternate expression that additional leans into the gathering’s vintage-inspired aesthetic.
In contrast to their siblings that use 316L stainless-steel for his or her elements, the bronze variations of the Tuul Filthy 13 subject watch are crafted from CuSn8 bronze, though stainless-steel continues to be used for his or her casebacks to forestall the bronze patina from discoloring the wearer’s wrist. No matter their supplies, the entire Filthy 13 watches function matte bead-blasted surfaces for a wholly non-reflective end, and they’re furnished with flat sapphire crystals, solid-screw-down casebacks, and signed winding crowns on the 3 o’clock location that screw right down to the center case to assist guarantee 100 meters of water resistance. Whereas a wholly bead-blasted case hardly gives probably the most elevated look, the absence of any brushed or polished surfaces creates an inherently utilitarian aesthetic that enhances the Filthy 13’s rugged no-frills design.
By way of dimensions, the case of the Tuul Filthy 13 measures 38mm in diameter by 11.25mm thick, and it options squared-off lugs (with drilled holes) which are set 20mm aside and prolong to create an general lug-to-lug profile of 46mm. The signed crown at 3 o’clock measures 7mm huge to make sure loads of grip throughout operation, and the load of the bronze Filthy 13 fashions is available in at roughly 72 grams when measuring simply the watch itself, or a complete of 84 grams should you additionally think about its included strap. With the added bulk of the NATO strap sitting underneath its case, the whole peak of the Filthy 13 finally ends up being nearer to 14mm, and whereas it isn’t an particularly skinny watch (particularly when worn on a NATO), the squared-off profile of its lugs helps the Tuul Filthy 13 preserve a comparatively compact profile on the wrist.
The dials fitted to the Tuul Filthy 13 watches are closely impressed by the design of the unique Soiled Dozen fashions, which had been based mostly on specs outlined by the British Ministry of Protection. Similar to the unique Soiled Dozen watches, the Filthy 13 includes a time-only show with Arabic numeral hour markers, a railroad-style minute monitor, and the seconds displayed by a sub-dial on the decrease half of its dial. Whereas a number of various kinds of arms had been fitted to the unique Soiled Dozen watches, the Tuul Filthy 13 opts for a easy pencil-shaped handset, and the bronze fashions function arms with a matte bronze end to match their instances. Because the Filthy 13 isn’t a watch issued by Britain’s Ministry of Protection, it omits the broad arrow emblem that may be discovered on the unique Soiled Dozen fashions, and fairly than counting on radium for its luminescence, the Tuul Filthy 13 opts for contemporary Tremendous-LumiNova to supply it with a green-glowing show in the dead of night.
Powering the Tuul Filthy 13 subject watches is the Swiss-made Sellita Caliber SW261-1 computerized motion, basically the small-seconds model of the acquainted Sellita SW200-1. As such, the 31-jewel Sellita Cal. SW261-1 runs at a frequency of 28,800vph (4 Hz) with an influence reserve of roughly 42 hours, and it additionally gives the comfort of a hacking seconds mechanism along with each guide and computerized winding. In its commonplace configuration, the Sellita SW261-1 is a date-displaying motion, though the model that Tuul makes use of inside its Filthy 13 fashions has had its date complication eliminated to eradicate the vestigial “ghost place” that might in any other case end result from their time-only shows.
All 4 variations of the Tuul Filthy 13 are paired with ribbed nylon NATO-style straps, and consumers have the choice of selecting between black, khaki, or olive inexperienced after they place their orders on the model’s web site. No matter coloration, the entire Filthy 13 straps are fitted with chunky tang-style buckles signed with Tuul’s brand and crafted from the identical materials used for his or her instances. With that in thoughts, one small distinction between the straps for the stainless-steel and bronze FIlthy 13 watches pertains to the fabric used for his or her trio of keepers. Whereas the stainless-steel fashions have straps with matching stainless-steel keepers, the bronze variations have straps with cloth keepers, and the one steel components on them are their CuSn8 bronze buckles and the springbars that safe them to the remainder of the strap’s construction.
Though fairly a number of manufacturers now produce their very own expressions of the Soiled Dozen subject watch, the Tuul Filthy 13 represents a extra premium execution of this widespread mil-spec format, and identical to the unique Soiled Dozen watches that had been provided by the British Ministry of Protection, the Filthy 13 is a Swiss-made timepiece. Whereas you may get your arms on a watch with the same general look for as little as a number of hundred {dollars}, the Tuul Filthy 13 gives fairly a bit extra consideration to element than what one can find among the many business’s numerous bottom-dollar choices; nevertheless, it additionally prices extra with and official retail worth of $899.99 USD in stainless-steel and $1,099.99 USD for the bronze fashions. That mentioned, the Tuul Filthy 13 is hardly overpriced if you examine it to related Swiss-made choices, and it represents a really strong providing for the one that desires a modernized rendition of the traditional Soiled Dozen subject watch. For extra info on the Tuul Filthy 13, please go to the brand’s website.
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