One of the Most Legendary Military Watches Just Got a Sequel

You know the Dirty Dozen. Say hello to the Filthy 13.

Published May 7, 2024

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Updated May 10, 2024

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There is no shortage of iconic military watches littered throughout twentieth-century history. You’ve got your Fliegers, your MilSubs, your Type XX chronographs. One of the most storied of these legendary military watches is the so-called Dirty Dozen field watches of World War II.

The Dirty Dozen were 12 similar but slightly different field watches commissioned by the British Ministry of Defense for its soldiers in WWII. The watches were made by twelve different brands — Omega, IWC, Longines, JLC, Eterna, Lemania, Timor, Cyma, Buren, Grana, Vertex and Record — but shared several similarities due to their shared military specifications.

All were water-resistant and shock-resistant chronometers with steel or base metal cases, black dials, a railroad minute track, a small-seconds subdial at 6 o’clock, and lume on all Arabic indices, hour and minute hands. The watches’ moniker came decades later, with collectors taking inspiration from the 1967 WWII movie The Dirty Dozen. And like any successful Hollywood flick, the Dirty Dozen watches are not getting a sequel.

Tuul Watches Filthy 13

Specs

Case Size	38mm
Movement	Sellita SW261-1 automatic
Water Resistance	100m

$900 at Tuul Watches

Meet the Filthy 13

A new Brooklyn-based microbrand called Tuul watches (they make tool watches, in case that wasn’t clear) has launched its debut piece, taking inspiration not only from the original Dirty Dozen watches but also from the real-life WWII U.S. Army demolition group that inspired the film, The Filthy 13.

Tuul’s Filthy 13 watches can be looked at as a faithful yet modern reinterpretation of the original Dirty Dozen watches. The watches are Swiss-made and feature compact, bead-blasted 38mm cases, the familiar Arabic-railroad track-small-seconds dial layout, plenty of Super-LumiNova here, sapphire crystals with underside AR coating, 100m of water resistance with oversized screw-down crowns, NATO straps and automatic Sellita SW261-1 movements with the date complication removed — though, unlike the Dirty Dozen watches, the movements are not chronometer-spec.

black tuul field watch on mans wrist — Aesthetically, the Filthy 13 borrows a lot from the classic Dirty Dozen.

These Are Not Dirty Dozen Watches

Although the Filthy 13 clearly takes inspiration from the Dirty Dozen watches — the brand is pretty upfront about that — Tuul’s watches are also their own thing. In addition to the classic steel case/black dial version, you can also get a Filthy 13 with a steel case and white dial. Or, venturing even further from history, you can opt for a bronze case with either a black or green dial.

These additional options make the Filthy 13 less of a straight homage watch and more of a modern military field watch, in my opinion. If you want a straight-up Dirty Dozen remake, then you can get one from Timor, one of the originators of the style. But if you want to take a flyer on a new brand trying to make something cool with one foot in the past and another in the present, then you may want to give Tuul a shot.

a bronze tuul field watch — While not rooted in history, the Filthy 13’s bronze and green option puts out serious military vibes.

Who Should Buy the Tuul Watch?

Editor’s Note: Following the publication of this article, Tuul Watch founder Barry Abraham reached out to inform me that he was adjusting the brand’s pricing based on feedback he received from this article and elsewhere in the watch enthusiast community. The Filthy 13 watches are now priced at $900 in steel and $1,100 in bronze, down from their original $1,000 and $1,300 prices, making them more competitively priced in the market.

If you do decide to give Tuul a shot, there is one hurdle that may give you pause, and that’s the price. Although I would classify the Filthy 13 as an affordable watch — It’s ~~$1,000~~ $900 in steel and ~~$1,300~~ $1,100 in bronze — it faces some stiff competition at its price point, especially for a brand-new microbrand.

Competition-wise, the closest watches out there probably come from Bill Yao’s Mk II and Tornek-Rayville brands. Like Tuul, Yao — who’s been in the business for around two decades — offers well-spec’d, well-built military-inspired tool watches. They even come in Pelican-style cases, like the Filthy 13. But, at least for their field watches, Mk II’s offerings come in a couple hundred dollars less than the Tuul. The main difference is that Tuul has opted for a Swiss-made designation, which drives up the price and may be worth it for some buyers.

tuul watches lineup — All four versions of the Filthy 13 available at launch.

Sticking in the Swiss-made realm, you’ve got the aforementioned Timor, which is 115 bucks more, and then you have Hamilton and its Khaki Field watch — a historical icon in its own right. All Hamilton watches are Swiss-made and arguably boast better movements than the Sellita inside the Filthy 13. And considering that you can get an automatic Khaki Field in 38mm in titanium for $995 — and mechanical steel versions for just $595 — there’s really no way Tuul can beat Hamilton as a value proposition.

That’s not to say the Tuul watch is not worth buying. Watches are about more than the intrinsic value of their specs, and many collectors — myself included — enjoy supporting small, independent brands that are passionate about what they’re doing and who are trying to tell a story. Tuul Watches very much fits that bill, and I hope the Filthy 13 sells out in a flash and allows the brand to cook up some more interesting tool watches in the future.

Tuul Watches Filthy 13

A modern reimagining of the iconic Dirty Dozen field watches of WWII, the Filthy 13 recreates the general style of the legendary field watch while putting its own modern spin on the form with sapphire crystals, an ultra-rugged build and alternate color and case material options.