June 6 will be the 80th anniversary of D-Day, when Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, the beginning of action that ultimately led to the end of World War II.
The event still looms large in military history — and with watch enthusiasts, who snap up the vintage timepieces that companies such as Longines, Omega and Bulova were authorized to produce for troops at the time.
Now, watch designers from Britain to Australia are planning new watches for the landmark anniversary because, “it’s a very competitive marketplace,” said Don Cochrane, chairman of Vertex Watches.
The company has created the Vertex M36, a 36-millimeter brushed steel watch with a Swiss automatic movement (2,250 pounds, or $2,826). Preorders are to begin May 1 on the Vertex website and at its boutique in London’s Mayfair district, with distribution to start June 6.
What does the name mean? The M is “because all our watches start with an M,” Mr. Cochrane said, noting it is “the same thing that they do in the military,” citing the M16 rifle; the 36 represents the case size.
For Mr. Cochrane, 50, the new watch is a reminder that Vertex was one of the 12 companies authorized by the British military to produce timepieces for its troops. (Vertex was founded in 1912 by his great-grandfather, Claude Lyons, shuttered in 1972 and revived by Mr. Cochrane in 2015.)
During an interview at the brand’s boutique, he said Vertex had “delivered at least 2,000 watches prior to D-Day,” noting that his grandfather “was actually a requisitions officer for the British military during the war and he obviously supplied the Vertex watches.”
Mr. Cochrane said the M36’s design goal was to stay “as faithful as possible” to the original model, a 36-millimeter chrome-plated watch called the Cal 59 W.W.W. (W.W.W. stood for Watch, Wrist, Waterproof, an Army label).
However, he said, “the movement is slightly different, so everything is in slightly not quite the same spacing.”
And some features needed an update.
For example, the lugs on the Cal 59 were fixed, but now, Mr. Cochrane said, “it’s kind of fun to change watch straps, so on ours we have screw-in lugs.” (Each M36 will come with three straps: a dark brown vintage-style leather, a woven cotton and a steel bracelet.)
Normandy Sand
Christophe Hoppé, the founder of Bausele watches in Sydney, Australia, also has a personal reason for producing an anniversary watch: He said he believed the D-Day landing ultimately saved his grandfather’s life.
Mr. Hoppé, 49, who was born in France, said his paternal grandfather “was rescued by the Americans three months after the end of the war” from a prison camp in Tambov, Russia — something, he added, that might not have happened without the invasion. (He also hopes the anniversary focus will heighten Bausele’s profile in Europe, Britain and the United States as he is trying to expand its market beyond Australia.)
The new timepiece is called the Langstone Field Watch, after a hotel on Hayling Island that overlooked D-Day training areas along England’s coast.
The 38-millimeter stainless steel watch ($700) has a Japanese automatic movement “to keep a price point that’s affordable,” Mr. Hoppé said. Preorders of the 100-piece edition are being taken on the Bausele website, with distribution to begin in June.
The timepiece, he said, has a beige dial and an oversize crown, features very similar to the Longines Heritage Military C.O.S.D., nicknamed the Tuna Can, which was made for Allied forces.
The case has a black coating, so it “looks like it’s been worn,” he said; and it will come with two straps, one in woven elastic nylon and the other made of recycled plastic.
Bausele is known for putting Australian sand and dirt in its crowns, tying the watches to the country.
So, “to stick close to the history,” Mr. Hoppé said, he had a friend gather some sand from the stretch of Normandy beach code-named Sword on D-Day and send it to Mr. Hoppé’s parents, who live in the Alsace region of eastern France.
He said he picked up the sand when he visited in September 2023, after Bausele’s participation in Geneva Watch Days.
The aviation-inspired brand Avi-8, owned by Solar Time of Hong Kong, plans to issue a five-piece capsule collection and the 42-millimeter Spitfire D-Day 80 Royal British Legion 24 Hour Automatic Bronze Limited Edition — Normandy.
The Spitfire D-Day 80 model is being produced in collaboration with the Royal British Legion, an organization that supports members and veterans of the British Armed Forces and their families.
It is to be priced at $450, with about $40 from each sale going to the charity.
Vishal Tolani, chief executive and creative director of Solar Time, said the Spitfire D-Day 80 will have Avi-8’s first 24-hour dial display, which was achieved by using the dial’s third hand, often called the GMT hand, as the primary hour-hand display.
Limited to 250 pieces, the Spitfire D-Day 80 watch is be sold on the Avi-8 website; distribution is scheduled to start June 6 from the company’s warehouses in Hong Kong, Britain and the United States.
Shipping Delays
Current conflicts actually are affecting some of the anniversary pieces, according to Ronald Steffen, the co-founder and creative director of RSC Pilot’s Watches, based in Schoten, Belgium.
During an interview in late February, Mr. Steffen said the packaging had only just arrived for the brand’s Mosquito 80th D-Day watch, a limited-edition Swiss quartz timepiece in stainless steel ($460).
“Some companies are continuing to come through the Red Sea,” he said, risking attacks by the Houthi militia, part of the continuing conflict in Yemen. But others — including the one bringing his packaging from China — are choosing to sail around Africa, which adds several days in each direction.
Still, anniversary sales are looking bright if the Elliot Brown brand is anything to go by.
The British company began taking preorders in October 2023 for the 80 pieces of its new 40-millimeter Beachmaster Automatic: the D-Day 80th Limited Edition in satin-brushed stainless steel.
Ian Elliot, the brand’s co-founder, said the £2,490 watch sold out within five weeks.
Melanie Abrams
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