Steinhart Ocean Vintage Military 42 Review

The idea of a watch being used to commemorate a significant event or milestone is an oft repeated trope in the watch collecting world. A new dress watch for your wedding day, something to celebrate a promotion at work, the birth of a child with the intent to hand it down to them when they become of age. In my instance, I had just graduated from nursing school and wanted something special to mark the occasion.

As I mentioned in a previous writeup, in my formative watch collecting years I began to develop a taste for the finer things in the horological world. In my instance, I was drawn towards tool watches. I was in love with the bright orange Doxas, the raw functionality and hard lines of Sinn, and most of all, Rolex the mil-sub. 

To the uninitiated, the Rolex Mil-Sub was commissioned by the British Ministry of Defence and issued to military divers between the 1950s and 1970s. The key features that distinguished it from the civilian submariner were the use of tritium instead of radium for lume, fixed spring bars, sword hands instead of the ubiquitous mercedes hands, a wider bezel for easier use while wearing gloves, and the removal of the date and cyclops. The mil-sub is a much loved watch and has been covered by many - if you’re interested in more about the history of this watch, there are plenty of other writers willing to go into exhaustive detail about reference numbers and whatnot, but that's not what we’re here for. 

To me at the time - it felt like the perfect watch. The dial had bold legible indices, massive sword hands, and the dial was harmonious - the Rolex logo balanced against the circled tritium marker. Two lines of text on the top matched to two lines on the bottom, no superfluous clutter. The lack of date or cyclops gave it added symmetry and balance. The domed crystal was awesome, I knew I needed a watch that gave me that distortion and viewing angle. The fully numbered bezel made it feel more utilitarian, more purposeful than the regular submariner, and it was - this was a watch designed for a very specific use case. These watches were all well worn - I loved the worn look, the scratches on the cases and scuffed bezels that represented the adventures and missions they had been carried on. There was only one small problem with the watch - it was very, very expensive. Unfortunately, I was not a frogman working for the British MoD between 1950 and 1970, and my family did not have a spare $100,000 or so to pick one up second hand.

As I’ve said before, as consumers we are spoiled for choice. In between the microbrand and Chinese watch industry, it is now possible to find homages of all but the most obscure vintage Tudors and Rolexes- but at the time, there were two companies who made mil-sub homages: Steinhart and Armida. Part of the look of the mil-sub that I loved so much was that beautiful creamy patina - and the Steinhart had Superluminova “Old Radium” lume so there wasn’t even a choice in my mind. 

The original Mil-sub was 40mm in diameter, 13mm in height including the domed acrylic crystal, 20mm fixed lugs, and a lug to lug of probably 47mm. I say probably because I couldn’t find the information online and thats the Lug to Lug of a submariner from that era so it seemed like a reasonable assumption to make. I have never held one in hand so I cannot really speak further on the experience of being in the physical presence of this watch.

The Steinhart homage comes in a couple of configurations, the main difference being the diameter: They offer a 39mm diameter model with proportions closer to the original, and a 42mm model. While the 39mm version is a more accurate homage and possibly the better wearing watch, I opted for the 42mm because that was the style at the time (along with tying an onion to your belt, but I digress). 

The 42mm diameter model has a height of 13mm including the domed sapphire crystal, has a 49mm lug to lug and 22mm lug width. The lugs only downturn slightly, causing the watch to wear very flat across the wrist. The Steinhart breaks from the homage by dispensing with the welded fixed lugs and opts for traditional spring bars. The midcase is very slender and helps the watch to wear thin on the wrist, with the crystal taking up much of the height visually. The case is brushed with polished sides and is powered by an ETA 2824-2 movement. The case boasts a 300m water resistance, and both the screw down crown and caseback are signed and well finished.

The long lug to lug is somewhat mitigated by the excellent bracelet with female endlinks, which allow the bracelet to immediately drop down and conform to the wrist. The oyster style bracelet has a brushed finish that tapers from 22 to 20mm and is completed with a signed clasp with four micro adjust holes. Having some on the fly adjustment or glidelock system would have been ideal for dialing in the fit, but that is a minor nitpick considering the rest of the quality of the bracelet. I like wearing most of my watches on steel bracelets, either OEM or aftermarket, and if I’m being honest its one of the most solid and comfortable in my collection. The watch has been in my collection for a long time and it often gets neglected as new shiny things roll in - but whenever I put it back on the first thing I notice is how solid the bracelet feels. It’s heavy but not overly so - it's well balanced to the watch head. Tolerances are tight and the bracelet articulates smoothly, and there is no stretch or rattle.

The domed sapphire on the Steinhart is also among the best in my collection - the crystal has amazing clarity and is readable from angles I wouldn’t expect. The crystal curves gently before a bevel transitions into the gentle slope of the bezel, which all adds up to a very visually pleasing case profile

The 120 click bezel is deeply scalloped and provides a good grip - it is stiff to turn but not overly so; as I described with the Helm Komodo it requires intent to turn like a true tool watch. Each click snaps into place with authority; the Steinhart has some of the most satisfying bezel action out of any of the watches in my collection. The aluminum bezel and its markings are faithful to the original with a big lume pip at the 12-o-clock position matching the other lumed components of the watch 

The dial on the Steinhart OVM is faithful to the source material - the Steinhart logo and text are balanced to match the mil-sub. The indices are a beautiful cream color due to the “Old Radium” Swiss Superluminova that provides a good amount of illumination - not the strongest in my collection but perfectly serviceable. The hands are also well lumed and match the dial perfectly.

As a new grad baby nurse, I was over the moon to receive this as a graduation gift. It was a material representation of my achievement and I wore it with pride. Sure, all the attending physicians and surgeons wore submariners and seamasters, but I had the residents with their apple watches beat, no contest. I wore the watch day and night, 12 hour shifts at a time. I didn’t baby it by any means; in part influenced by the hard worn appearance of the vintage mil-sub I had decided that this watch was going to carry the visual markers of my nursing career with it.

And then the pandemic hit.

I continued to wear the Steinhart daily, but it was often covered by my PPE. Dings and scratches still managed to accumulate as it got slammed and bumped around in increasingly urgent situations. I was working in the ICU at the time; and while I by no means want to compare my experience to that of those that have served in the armed forces, we felt like we were in the trenches. This watch was on my wrist when I performed CPR, when I held a patient's hand for comfort in their final moments, when I dialed in a zoom call so a family could say goodbye to their loved one. This watch has been with me through things I will only talk to my therapist or wife about. 

I still wear my Steinhart, albeit much less and in rotation with a collection that has grown since the pandemic days. When I put it on, most of the time it’s just like any other watch - I set the time and go about my day. But every now and then I’ll see the long scratch along one of the polished lugs, the dings on the once sharp edges of the case, or some wear along the aluminum bezel. And when I do, it gives me pause for a moment and I reflect on my journey as a nurse. The idea of a material object, especially a luxury item,  being anchored to a sentimental experience is often used in watch marketing to the point of it being a borderline meme - but it very much is grounded in reality.