According to NBC News, 60 percent of the recruits enrolled in the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/s) drop out of the program. From their origins as Navy frogmen in World War II to their killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, the U.S. Navy SEALs have earned the reputation for being the toughest of the tough when it comes to the military’s elite special forces. It seems reasonable to expect that the watches they wear might uphold the same standard for durability, reliability, and functionality.
In 1992, the Navy SEALs worked with Luminox to develop a watch specifically for SEAL use. Navy SEAL Watches were the result of that collaboration, and the Luminox 3051.BO Navy Seal watch is the latest model.
Traits of Navy SEALs Watches
Any watch worn by a Navy SEAL must be designed not only to survive but to thrive in the same extreme conditions confronted by the SEALs during their field operations. The field can be the inky, intense pressure of deep-sea diving, the oxygen-thin, frigid air of high-altitude parachute jumping, the dry heat of the desert, the corrosion-inducing humidity of the tropics, or the bitter cold of arctic ice. Under these conditions, the SEAL’s watch must be as durable and reliable as possible. These qualities help ensure this:
- Accuracy
- Ability to withstand deep water dive depths
- Ability to withstand repeated impact
- Long-lasting, low-light viewing that doesn’t require a separate energy source
- Unbreakable, scratch-resistant crystal
- No shiny metal parts that might reflect light
A Watch For the Rest of Us
Although Navy SEAL watches were designed by and for Navy SEALs, those same qualities make them useful for the rest of us, especially those of us involved in physical pastimes, such as police officers, firefighters, EMTs, wilderness guides, and runners.
We all deserve a quality watch that is durable, reliable and functional. As Benjamin Franklin said, “You may delay time, but time will not.”
