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Rotary signs an official MoD deal and reissues its 33.5mm ATP field watch

Rotary's official Ministry of Defence collection lands later this year, led by a 33.5mm reissue of the Army Trade Pattern watch it made for the British Army in the Second World War.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 3 min read · 9 August 2026

Three watches from the Rotary x Ministry of Defence collection laid on an old map: a cream-dialled ATP reissue on a khaki strap, a blue and bronze diver, and a black chronograph on a bracelet — Image: Rotary Watches

Rotary announced an official deal with the Ministry of Defence on 5 August, and the watch it has built the whole thing around is the Army Trade Pattern. Rotary supplied ATP wristwatches to the British Army during the Second World War, proper issued kit rather than a heritage story dreamed up afterwards. That is the one coming back.

The collection covers the British Army, the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force, and it arrives later this year. Rotary has not put a price on any of it yet.

An original Rotary Army Trade Pattern wristwatch with a cream dial and running seconds sub-dial, lying on dark wood with its khaki fabric strap unbuckled — An original Rotary ATP. Image: Rotary Watches

The ATP got there before the Dirty Dozen

British military issue usually means the WWW spec, the twelve makers the market now sells as the Dirty Dozen. Rotary was already supplying ATPs in the early years of the war, before WWW existed. Smaller claim, and a much easier one to check, which counts for a lot in a corner of the market where most brands are working off a mood board.

Nobody rounded the 33.5mm up

The reissue holds the case at 33.5mm, with a running seconds sub-dial, luminous hands and indices, and a khaki military-style fabric strap. Plenty of brands would have decided 38mm was faithful enough and knocked off early. The modern bits are all kept out of sight: single-dome sapphire, a screw-down crown, 100 metres of water resistance. British Army insignia on the caseback.

Rotary is covering itself, mind. The same design also turns up in 37mm and 40mm, and there is an automatic three-hander alongside them.

A black Rotary connected watch with a digital display resting on a rock, a military helicopter silhouetted behind it at dusk — The connected British Army model. Image: Rotary Watches

A 1.43-inch AMOLED lands in a range built on a 1940 field watch

The British Army line does not stop at the reissue. It also takes in a connected watch: an all-black case around a 1.43-inch always-on AMOLED display, with dual-band GPS, an altimeter, a barometer and a compass, plus health tracking, sports modes, Bluetooth calling and message alerts. Quite the swerve for a collection anchored to a 1940 field watch, and almost certainly the piece paying for the rest of it.

Navy divers and RAF pilots, both running a Miyota 8215

The Royal Navy watches are divers: 200 metres, sapphire, screw-down crowns, 120-click unidirectional bezels. Matte blue dials, applied indices, navy fabric straps with a contrasting central stripe. The automatic runs a Miyota 8215, and the chronograph is quartz with several luminous counters.

The Royal Air Force pair heads for the cockpit instead: bold Arabic numerals, textured dials, date windows, 100 metres. The Pilot Automatic drops the 8215 into a 42mm case, the chronograph is quartz with sword-style hands, and both come on a bracelet or genuine leather. Each service gets its own insignia on the back.

The 8215 is a workhorse and nobody buying at Rotary money should feel short-changed by it. It is the right movement for something you will wear hard and get serviced cheaply.

The Spitfire set ships with a model of P7350

The commemorative Spitfire set is where I lose the argument with myself. Cream dial, blue hands, blue military-style fabric strap, and a diecast model of Spitfire Mk IIa P7350 packed in beside it. P7350 was built at Castle Bromwich in 1940 and flew operationally in the Battle of Britain. It survived the war, survived being sold for scrap, and was restored to flight for the film Battle of Britain. Rotary says it is still the only airworthy Spitfire to have fought in the campaign, and it wears the commemorative colours of the fighter ace Alan Deere.

What is missing is the money. A faithful 33.5mm ATP at the right price would be one of the more interesting British reissues of the year. At the wrong price it is a licence fee with a watch attached. Rotary says the full range and pricing follow soon, and Australian availability has not come up at all.