The U.S. Navy’s main special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command are the Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, also known as Navy SEALs. Conducting small-unit special operation operations in marine, jungle, urban, arctic, hilly, and desert situations is one of the SEALs’ primary responsibilities. In most cases, SEALs are given orders to either kill or capture important targets or to acquire information beyond enemy lines. Without a doubt, they are sent place where they are essentially left to their own devices to get the mission down. One of the pieces of equipment they rely on are their watches.
You can imagine any watch that the Navy SEALs need to use will be durable, water-resistant, and reliable in terms of functionality. Some of the capabilities the Navy SEALs have needed out of their watches have changed over time. Keep in mind, SEALs were active from the 1960s on, so things have certainly changed in that time. Here are the watches they wear on the job.
Luminox 3051 Navy SEAL Watch
The Luminox 3051 Navy SEAL watch is one of the few watches specifically designed to be used by Navy SEALs and was built for Navy SEALs. In fact, all of these watches have the SEAL trident engraved right on the back of them. A unique high-contrast dial and a quartz movement are features of the Luminox 3051. It has a 200m water resistance and appears to be a tough field and dive watch. Each watch has been independently examined and found to be 200-meter water resistant. Although Luminox is more expensive, these Swiss-made watches have a battery life of 60 months and receive excellent customer reviews.
Suunto Core Watch
The Suunto Core has become a recent favorite among Navy SEALs in recent times. It’s one of the few “smartwatches” that SEALs will deploy out in the field and understandably slow. For starters the Suunto Core is well sized and has a large display that is easy to read. It features highly accurate features that are important to SEALs such as altimeter, barometer, and of course a compass. The Suunto Core is certainly reliable and has a 12-month battery life with a 30-meter water resistance.
G-Shock DW-6900 Watch
The G-Shock DW-6900 watch is a favorite amongst Navy SEALs thanks in large part to how successfully the G-Shock DW-6600 watch was. The DW-6600 was so popular that for a long time it was unofficially considered the Navy SEAL watch, and this was even after they stopped producing it, for decades. The new DW-6900 built on the success of the DW-6600 and is slowly becoming an even more popular watch. It is water resistant to 200 meters and has a battery life of 2 years. They are extremely reliable and hold up to all the tough climates and situations Navy SEALs can throw at it.
Timex Ironman Watch
The timex Ironman Watch is no specifically designed for tactical or military purposes but it certainly does get used by a variety of military personnel as well as the Navy SEALs. There is a reason why everyone from athletes to SEALs rely on the Timex Ironman watch. These watches have different interval training times, an INDIGLO light-up watch dial, a long battery life, the ability to count calories, and Bluetooth connectivity. They are extremely affordable, functional and have proven reliability. If that doesn’t help, well famous Navy SEAL Jocko Willink literally swears on these which should be enough to convince you that these are solid watches.
Seiko Dive Watch
There are many different Seiko Dive watches to choose from, but they are all equally popular amongst Navy SEALs. This is of course largely thanks to the Seiko Dive watch lineup being dive rated which makes them attractive to SEALs. They are extremely reliable watches and have the functionality and capabilities of high-end brands such as Rolex, but at a much lower price point. You can find them rated at minimum for 100 meters of water resistance, but this grows quickly. Prices start to rise depending on the style and functionality you desire. If you are doubting their qualities or reliability, you should know the Seiko Dive watch in the 1970s was the G-Shock watches of today, extremely popular.
Stay sharp.
