The CWC RN MK1 Diver is a military collectors dream watch. Made by the Cabot Watch Company in the UK, who have supplied the British armed forces with watches since the 70’s and are known as one of the ‘Fab 4’. The Fab 4 were Hamilton, Newmark, Precista and of course CWC. I can see wannabe soldiers slowly caressing themselves already, especially over this one! It has the broadarrow mark, military numbers and that 60’s British military Omega Seamaster/Rolex Milsub charm to go with fixed lug bars and a highly legible sword hand dial! Oh and it’s a British company, got some Bond music playing in my head! The build quality is good! It has a lovely shaped case that has a nice matte finish or polished and matte finish, whichever model you choose. The NATO strap that comes with this model is quite good, but the box set is a bit boring, made of cardboard and foam…lame. However, does this mean they cut costs on the box set, so that they could increase the quality of the watch? I think that’s the truth, a bit like a decent bottle of wine has a plain label and standard style bottle…but fancy shaped glass bottles and artsy labels, sometimes come with a shite tasting plonk inside!

I’ve seen this type of case described as a ‘Monnin 844’ style case, like those larger cased Heuer divers watches that command silly prices. I really do like it though, it isn’t too thick and any NATO strap looks great on it! Now the crap: The 60 click bezel is a bit clunky, but aligns well. The caseback looks either laser etched or lightly engraved. I think that a deeper engraving, that looks like a hallmark that you find on jewelry, as seen on the military issued G10 watches would have been better. Also why a mineral crystal instead of a sapphire crystal at that price? I’d rather have acrylic than a mineral crystal, at least then, it could be polished at home with some Polywatch. And the aforementioned box set, I’d hope for something a bit better after spending 500 quid or around $650 US. Overall it’s a sweet ass watch, which I don’t say often! You may as well buy a new one though, because pre-owned models make almost as much as new ones.