Marine Nationale watches

Oct 4

For watchistry's first blog post, I thought I'd start with a topic near and dear to me: watches of the French Navy (Marine Nationale, or "MN"). My MN gateway watch was a Tudor Submariner 94010, engraved with "M.N.77" on the caseback, signifying that it was issued to the Marine Nationale in 1977, which is also my birth year, making it extra special. This watch came with a copy of the service ledgers, indicating that it was used by the Ecole de Plongée, or Diving School. The dial and hands have a beautiful creamy yellow patina, and the dial has a unique scratch on the dial, just under the B of "SUBMARINER". Since these were tool watches, it is not uncommon to see them beat up a little bit, and I'm just fine with that. The bezel insert is in good shape, which suggests it could be a service replacement (i.e. the original swapped out at some point while in the navy).

If you like this, I'll follow up with more blog posts about more watches from the MN, including many other brands besides Tudor.

watchistry