Hands-On: the Praesidus DD-45 “Patina”

The muggy jungle of the South Pacific was no place for weak watches. As World War II raged through the early 1940s, Allied troops found themselves trailing behind the production capabilities of their Axis counterparts, and manufacturing on the homefront turned all attention to the war effort. Civilian-spec’d watches were not going to cut it in either theater of operations – the elements were too brutal for delicate equipment of any kind. Military necessity being the timeless innovator it is, the British Ministry of Defense (MoD) committed to finding robust timekeeping options for the Allies that could be produced as quickly as possible. The specifications were stringent and twelve brands were tapped for the task: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lemania, Longines, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, and Vertex.

Among many other things, the watches were to have a black dial, Arabic numerals and be housed in a stainless steel case. The time would be made legible with the help of luminous indices and hands – care for a little radium, anyone? Every watch was marked on the caseback with triple Ws: Wrist Watch Waterproof. The diameter ranged in sizes, depending on the brand, with Longines at the larger end of 38mm and IWC and Omega on the small side at 35mm. These watches are widely considered to be the first true field watches, as we know field watches today. 

The entire set, one watch from each of the twelve brands selected for production, is a collection-grail for many watch enthusiasts. It’s estimated the number of complete sets in original condition hovers around twenty, making pursuit of some of these watches difficult and costly.

Even though owning a coveted Dirty Dozen watch may be cost prohibitive for many buyers, there are a lot of modern homages that offer a timeless look and modern specs. Praesidus has quickly become a common name for those interested in military-inspired watches. They offer a range of sizes and movements and their connection to the military goes beyond aesthetic tributes: they are dedicated to serving our nation’s heroes through the donation of 5% of all purchases to their veteran and military partner organizations. They also regularly collaborate with Active Duty service members on a number of military-themed releases – a recent example includes the A-11 Psywar (designed for PsyOp groups 2, 4, 7, and 8). All of their watches are assembled in the United States.

Their new line, which came out in early March of this year, centers on historical accuracy and military heritage. The Praesidus DD-45 offers wearers their choice of three options that emulate the various stages of aging of the original Dirty Dozen: Factory Fresh, Tropical, and Patina. While the Factory Fresh reference features a monochrome black and white look and untarnished indices, the Tropical has a faded dial in a rich brown with darker indices and aged lume on the hands. I had the opportunity to review the Patina option, which falls in the middle of the range of artificial aging. 

With these releases, Praesidus is addressing an obvious gap in the market. They note that, while many brands have sought inspiration in the Dirty Dozen, their brand is the among the first to “vintagize” their watches to reflect what those original references – that saw action on the field during World War II and have lived nearly eighty years since – would look like today.

This DD-45 Patina measures in at a historically accurate 38mm case diameter. It’s a reasonable height at 11.8mm, and that measurement includes the double-domed sapphire crystal. This is likely thicker than the actual Dirty Dozen watches from which it takes nearly all design cues, though, as this watch has an automatic rather than manually wound movement.

The lugs are radially brushed with vertical brushing on the sides of the case, and a mix of brushed and polished finishing on the top ring. The dial is black with a popcorn texture, which helps with overall legibility as it provides a nice contrast to the tan Arabic numerals as well as a mix of circle and dash indices on the railroad minute track. When looking at the dial straight on, the time is easy to read. However, the anti-reflective coating leaves something to be desired at most other angles. Despite this, I still found the overall legibility to be one of my favorite parts of the wearing experience. The MoD had it right when they required the railroad style minute track around the edge of the dial – the DD-45 even has a mini railroad track around the seconds subdial. It’s very clear where the hour, minute, and second hands are aligned at any one point. All indices and both hands (not including the running seconds sub-dial) are coated with green Super-Luminova which further helps with legibility in the night.

It is worth noting that I observed a few discrepancies between my watch and the reference photos on the company’s website. The photos show significant signs of aging on the hands, with some serious patina and tan lume. However, this was absent from the watch I received. Instead, the hands were a clean stainless steel with untarnished lines of white lume in the center of the hands.  Had I not checked the reference photos, this wouldn’t have been on my radar. However, without those noticeable signs of patina, the thing for which this reference is named, the only thing separating this watch from the Factory Fresh option is the aged numerals which are a darker tan instead of white. Much of the other aesthetics remain the same.

Praesidus has a solid line of quartz-based movements in their repertoire, and this DD-45 moves away from that lineage into the realm of the Swiss automatics. The choice was intentional, and Praesidus cites the Swiss heritage of all original Dirty Dozen brands as the inspiration for this particular set. As such, the watch is powered by the Landeron L24 which features a sweeping sub-second hand complication at 6 o-clock.

While the true standard of the original “Wrist Watch Waterproof” isn’t exactly clear, Praesidus isn’t leaving room for guesswork. Each DD-45 is water resistant up to 10 bar or 100 meters. The watch features a screw-down crown which adds a nice peace of mind to the wearer that everything is relatively impervious to the elements.

The DD-45 Patina has a number of strap options to consider. The reference I had arrived on the green perlon option, but two leather options are available (in sand and brown) as is the choice of a Bonklip bracelet – the Bonklip raises the total price about $50. The green perlon was certainly comfortable, but I would have preferred leather. The main reason being the perlon, though a NATO-style strap which would have been practical in the field, is too thick at the end to double-back on itself due to the finishing stitching at the bottom. Small-wristed folks who gravitate towards NATOs for their sizing abilities may want to skip this choice. However, with a lug width of 20mm, aftermarket options would also be easy to find for the DD-45, so I wouldn’t find myself quibbling too much over my choice of strap, were I to purchase this watch. The brand offers a green nylon NATO on their site without the stitched end seen on the perlon – this would also be a good pairing, as well as truer to history.

In sum, the Dirty Dozen were standard issue just like every other part of a uniform. It was a tool, designed to perform one function: timekeeping. It was the property of the MoD or Uncle Sam and everyone’s buddy had one just like it. Yet, every watch developed its own stories and scratches. Dings, dents, and moisture from sweat and humidity all came together to make each watch unique. Patina wasn’t just a word when it came to the aging of these watches – it was a decades-long story to be told about service and sacrifice. This is what Praesidus taps into with the DD-45.

Each of the three watches is priced at $875 on the perlon or leather straps. Options on the Bonklip bracelet are priced at $925. More information can be found on the brand’s website.