Is it some kind of holiday? Because The Time Bum has two vintage-style military field watches in one month. First, Mike reviewed the Benrus DTU 2-A/P, a revival of that brand’s Vietnam-era piece, and today, I’ve got the Praesidus A-11 Tom Rice, a recreation of watch worn by American servicemen in World War Two. Ok, maybe that isn’t exactly earth-shattering news, but when every other watch through the door is a variant of a diver, it’s nice to mix it up.
As a brand, Paresidus is keeping it simple. They offer their A-11 as the Origin (40mm case and Ronda 763 quartz, black or white dial), Tom Rice (42mm or 38mm case, Seiko NH35 automatic, black or white dial), and the Vince Speranza now on Kickstarter (42mm or 38mm case, Seiko NH35 or STP1-11 automatic, black dial). For this review, they sent me a black, 38mm Tom Rice with a green canvas strap and an extra brown nylon strap that appears to be only available with the Origin. The watch is rated for 50m water resistance, which is adequate for most land-based excursions.
So who the heck is Tom Rice? Well, back in the day, he was a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne Division who lost his own Army-issued A-11 when he bounced off the fuselage of the plane he had just jumped out of on his way to join the D-Day invasion. When the folks at Praesidus heard his story, they set about recreating his lost watch and recruiting the most legit of brand ambassadors. You’ll find his name with an abbreviated version of his story on the caseback. You will also note that the watch is assembled in the US. Yes, the parts are sourced overseas, but with very rare exceptions, so are everyone else’s.
Like the A-11s of yore, A-11, the Praesidus features large Arabic numbers and an index labeled in increments of 10. Green and orange lume add a welcome dash of color to this model, and a healthy glow at night.
The dial is sterile and the crown unsigned, as befits a watch inspired by a government-issued item. Squelette hands are a nice throwback. They might not be exactly historically accurate (the A-11s I’ve seen had leaf hands) but then again, neither is the rest of the watch and I think that is a good thing as it makes the Praesidus less of a clone and more of an appealing piece in its own right.
Even in 38mm form, it is still considerably larger than those wartime models, but I can’t blame the brand for selling modern sizes. I mean, really, how big do you think the market is for 32mm military watches? I think the 38mm wide, 45.5mm long case is ideal. Surprisingly, it wears a tad larger on the wrist than I expected.
Part of that presence is due to a generous dome that brings the overall thickness to 12.5mm. I do love a tall crystal. While I wish it were acrylic (that honor is reserved for Origin quartz for some reason) I appreciate the look. The case is more sophisticated than I expected, particularly in the curved case sides, slim lugs, and aggressively coin-edged case back.
Praesidus polished the top surface of the lugs and the head of the crown, and sandblasted the rest. I’ll admit, I didn’t expect to like that combination on a military watch, but it works. The crown is large, but not overly so.
Note the position of those drilled spring bar perches. You’ll have no trouble fitting the A-11 with a fat strap or pass-though. Will you want to swap the strap at all? That depends. I rather liked the green canvas. It is neatly finished, backed in leather, fitted with quick-release pins, and exactly in line with what you would expect of a military watch, if perhaps, a good deal nicer. I found it just a little too long for my 6.75″ wrist, leaving the watch to travel around even with the buckle cinched to the tightest position. Another quarter inch on the wrist and you’ll be fine. The brown strap was heavy weave nylon, unlined, and stiff. I couldn’t take it off fast enough. My suggestion would be to order the watch with one of the brand’s leather-backed canvas or nylon options, or their leather strap. If you have wrists smaller than mine, just assume you will swap your own.
I rarely talk about packaging, but Praesidus gets a special shout-out for being pleasant yet unpretentious brown cardboard. There is no plastic and no foam so all of it recycles or biodegrades. Every brand should be doing this.
At last, we get to the best part, the price! The Praesidus A-11 Tom Rice is just $249, regardless of which strap, dial color, or case size you choose. If you can live with quartz, the 40mm A-11 Origin is just $129. Finally, if you like the Tom Rice but want something with an even more vintage look, check out the A-11 Vince Speranza Edition. That one has, among other things, a leaner typeface, no dots, a Swiss movement option, and a truly unique case back. Early Bird rewards are still as low as $303 at the time of this article. It ends the morning of Tuesday, April 12.
Regardless of which you choose, I think the Praesidus A-11 is a handsome watch and a great value. If you are in the market for an inexpensive field watch, I’d strongly suggest you have a look. For more information visit Praesidus.com and the Praesidus Vince Speranza Kickstarter page.
Photo courtesy of Praesidus
