Marching doubletime with the Steinhart Military 47

You know who we haven’t talked about in quite a while? Germany-based Steinhart, that’s who! They just recently announced the Steinhart Military 47, which ticks off a lot of the checkboxes you might be considering for a vintage-style military watch.

For starters, the Steinhart Military 47 has a, well, 47mm case. This is thematically appropriate, when you consider the era that this watch is emulating. It also works quite handily to have enough space for the handwound ETA 6497 movement inside, which was originally a pocket watch. So, rather than being large just for style sake, the Steinhart Military 47 actually has a reason for being as big as it is.

The large case of the Steinhart Military 47 also allows for some interesting things to be done on the dial. For starters, we have very large applied numerals going around the dial, which makes things very legible, whether or not you are relying on the lume. The handset is commensurately sized, and is a style known as snake hands. In the image above, you can see that they’re blued, but this looks to be more of a treatment application, rather than being heat treated.

The dial of the Steinhart Military 47 also features a fairly generously-sized subseconds dial over at 9 o’clock, with another blued hand marking out the seconds. Taken as a whole, it does present very much that old-school military feel. It can feel a bit incongruous, then, that the case itself is polished, when you might expect more of a flat finish to this. Just more evidence that this is a modern interpretation, rather than the original thing.

Coming in at a price of about $531 (depending on currency conversion; those in the EU will pay 560 EUR which includes VAT). So, really, for around $500, you are getting a very nice modern interpretation of the old military style, complete with sapphire crystal and a Swiss movement. While the polished finish isn’t quite what I’d look for (nor is the raised ‘Military’ logo at 6 o’clock), there is no disputing that the Steinhart Military 47 continues in the brand’s tradition of delivering well-designed watches at very attractive prices. steinhartwatches.de

Watch Overview

Brand & Model: Steinhart Military 47
Price: $531
Who we think it might be for: You like the big, old school military look, and want a nicely finished movement as well

Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen?: Probably not – this case size is just larger than I prefer to wear
If I could make one design suggestion, it would be: Offer a flatter finish on the case
What spoke to me the most about this watch: The big, bold look