This watch closely follows the original design of the Korean war watches, but with several upgrades. It now features a high-performance hybrid mechanical/quartz movement, glass crystal, screw caseback, and 100m/330ft water resistance rating. This hybrid movement combines the best of traditional and modern watchmaking technology, providing an ultra-low maintenance movement that is powered by a battery and regulated by a crystal. The watch offers the ideal choice for buyers who prefer the sweep secondhand of automatic watches, but with the hassle-free maintenance of a quartz watch.
The A-17 was to a fair extent based on the A-11 design from World War II, these were made by Elgin, Bulova, and Waltham based on an original US government specification. The A-17 was significantly superior to its predecessor, as steel was more readily available during the Korean War in the 1950s than it had been during the second world war.
MWC's A-17 watches date back over 14 years, the range originally came about when a U.S veterans association approached MWC to explore the possibility of making a GG-W-113 watch identical in appearance to the original watches from the Vietnam War. After receiving original specification sheets and examples of the original watches, MWC produced the GG-W-113 watch with a high-grade fully jeweled hand-wound movement. This success led to the development of the upgraded A-11, GG-W-113 and the A-17 models, whilst retaining a very similar appearance to the originals but with modern upgrades such as a screw-down crown, 100m/330ft water resistance, and a screw-on caseback, as well as the highly accurate hybrid movement used in this watch
We still manufacture automatic models and also there are some models which use a hand wound movement which we manufacture from time to time when suitable movements are available.
