MWC Military Watch Company See MWC or the German Version at MWC Uhren

MWC is based in Zürich, Switzerland and was founded slightly later than CWC in 1974 by Wolfgang Obrigheimer who is still closely involved with the company although now in his late 70s. MWC are a leading supplier not just to the military but also to police forces, mining companies and other government departments. They are one of the leading manufacturers of genuine military watches and manufacture a wide range of models either to customers specific requirements or by tendering for contracts. They supply private individuals seeking a high quality watch for personal use as well as wholesalers, retailers of military products and government departments.

MWC watches are solidly built and I have tested around 10 of them over the years as a rule finding them to perform extremely well and they are competitively priced. In many ways MWC is a direct competitor to CWC and the companies claim to hate each other. Oddly I discovered that if you do a whois search on www.mwcwatch.co.uk it is Registered to Silvermans who own CWC! No doubt there is a fascinating story behind this but if the story about MWC and CWC owning each others domains is true surely they would sort it out by now wouldn't they?  You can follow this link to confirm this bizarre situation http://who.is/whois-uk/ip-address/mwcwatch.co.uk/  All I can say is it is totally baffling.

As far as the serious business of the actual MWC watches is conceerned I think the most interesting test in 2006 was the Black Special Forces Divers watches. Thanks to a collector I  had the chance to test  both the CWC and MWC at the same time so I can make a direct comparison. I found the PVD plating to be better on the MWC but the bezel action a bit more precise on
the CWC. In addition the CWC has day and date and the MWC just date. Looked at allround the two watches are almost identical and the main differences seems to be the price with the MWC being $180 / €140 / £100 cheaper.

I think the other factor is that MWC offer an Automatic Divers model with self luminous GTLS  tritium vials at the same price as the standard quartz CWC so although the models are very close the tritium issue would swing it for me without doubt because nothing enables you to see the time at night like the tritium vials used in these watches.

This picture shows one of the current MWC Divers watches with the tritium light sources

MWC have a large number of dealers in the UK see GB Group another main dealer Antenbach Tactico also stocks a number of other military watches at favourable prices.

MWC Alternatives:  

For G10 and Divers models it has to be CWC

If you fancy something a bit different try Marathon

For Self Luminous models another option is the Traser
 

IMPORTANT: Before buying any G10 model from any manufacturer check out the independant test report by a member of the British Horological Institute. This report was commissioned by Telford Services and appears at CWC v MWC which is one of the links above.

The Latest MWC Tests in February 2008

 

We recently had the opportunity to test some new MWC Models. We have briefly summarised the results below.

 

MWC Black 2007 PVD Automatic Divers Watch

 

This watch initially looked identical to the quartz MWC and CWC models (watch can be seen at MWC Automatic Divers Watch ) but on close inspection it is much more chunky and substantial than the MWC Quartz or the CWC Quartz or Automatic model which is a direct competitor. I am a little unsure why the watch is thicker than the quartz model to which it is closely related although I have to say it has real presence and I liked the extra bulk. I guess it is a bit like the old CWC G10’s they were very chunky and the new CWC 2000 just isn’t the same. In my opinion military watches look good when they are bigger and chunkier than the civilian equivalent.

 

The dimensions of the MWC Auto diver are below.

 

Width is 40 mm excluding crown and 45 mm including crown

Crystal diameter is 32 mm

Lug to lug is 47 mm

Thickness is 15 mm

 

As regards accuracy the watch seems pretty good at +/- 5 seconds per day. The case has a very good quality Black PVD finish which I feel is superior to the CWC but I think the CWC scores on the bezel action. Of course the price saving of the MWC compared to the CWC is a major factor and probably the reason MWC sell so many of this model.

Our Rating is 4.5 out of 5

 

MWC Black 2008 PVD Automatic GTLS / Self Luminous Divers Watch

Everything above applies to this model too except that the Tritium Self Luminous light sources put it in a different league when it comes to night performance. It is at least 100 times brighter than a Luminova or Tritium watch. You can see this model is at MWC Self Luminous Divers Watch we rate this and the other MWC Self Luminous Divers 5 out of 5 for value and performance.

 

MWC 2008 G10 Stealth with Super Luminova

 

This 2008 G10 is slightly different to the standard MWC G10 Battery Hatch models from earlier years. I checked out two versions the one shown on the site at MWC G10BH 2008 and this one in black PVD both were up to the usual MWC case/build quality and had the same solid feel. MWC have been making the PVD version for months in the plain bezel version but at the time of writing (Feb 2008) it is not being offered to the public. The last G10 I tested before these was the new 12/24 Hour PVD model at this link MWC G10 12/24 Hour Model in Black PVD this model has the classic MWC Bezel design but the current two plain bezel models are very appealing. Being quartz watches accuracy was exceptional.

 

These models are excellent alternatives to the CWC G10’s. Quality wise they are much the same but MWC use genuine glass where CWC use Perspex. CWC claim Perspex is an MOD requirement (the MOD bought Pulsar with glass!) but in reality who cares what the reason is that CWC stick to Perspex, the fact remains Rolex switched to glass years ago as did many other manufacturers and my own experience tells me it wins hands down on scratch resistance.

 

Our rating 5 out of 5 (the same as we rate the CWC so both are excellent and both have their plus and minus points but the fact is either model will last for years. So in conclusion would I buy a CWC or MWC? The answer is that the MWC wins on price, battery hatch and glass crystal. The CWC is a bit slimmer and they hold a UK MOD contract. I really would be hard pushed to decide it is a bit like choosing between a Ford Focus and an Opel Astra they are very much the same thing designed for the same job.

 

MWC Mechanical G10

 

The final MWC model we evaluated was the handwound G10 with date see MWC Handwound G10 they produce two variants one in black PVD and one in standard stainless steel. This is an unusual watch combining many features of the MWC W10 see MWC G10 Handwound Military Watch with the current G10 Quartz model, this handwound variant is very interesting because it is effectively a hybrid but I found it to be accurate (for a mechanical) and we think it is an excellent buy if you want something a bit different to the usual MWC/CWC Quartz offerings. Oddly at the same time as bringing in the new handwound G10 MWC launched a new automatic W10 see MWC W10 2008 Automatic with Date this model offers buyers another option in the area of retro 1960s/70s military watches and I liked this model so much I kept it! I am putting this on a long term test (I am wearing it 24/7) and so far I have to say its great – full report next month.

 

If you see a suspicious MWC that might be a fake you can email info@mwcuhren.de or call the factory on +41 44 586 9591