gear patrol The Soldier (analog/shift X Gear Patrol) – Analog:Shift

No need to worry about MPs charging you with impersonating an officer. This gear’s all about capturing the rugged utility of soldiering, not posing.

The General Issue wristwatch, ordered by the Department of Defense in 1964 for the ramp-up to Vietnam, was designed to resist the exposure that combat in inhospitable environments presented. Built from corrosion-resistant steel, the uni-body case excelled at protecting the movement from debris, moisture, and shock. The spartan dials, reminiscent of the Rolex Explorer dial, were daubed with Tritium luminous paint to be legible in low and modified light conditions. The 17-jewel, manual-wind movement was equipped with a hacking feature – a mechanism that stopped the second hand from moving when setting the time — enabling soldiers to synchronize their timepieces to incredible accuracy for elite operations and coordinated movement.

Although the mechanical G.I. watch was produced under contract by a number of manufactures (Hamilton and Benrus, most notably) and went through a handful of modifications during its war-time production, it remained virtually unchanged during the 30 or so years it was made — a testament to its stalwart form-follows-function engineering.