This watch is virtually identical in appearance to the watches used by American GI's at the end of the Vietnam war. The late Vietnam watches, which were designated MIL-W-47374A were the replacement for the earlier watches which were made of plastic and deemed disposable. It is highly likely that the US government and the watch manufacturers they worked with at the time came to the same realization as MWC namely that plastic watches are not durable enough for the job in hand, interestingly 15 years ago MWC also upgraded all of their Vietnam watches which were based on the plastic case designs to metal so it's quite clear that any manufacturer would ultimately look to go down this path simply to improve durability and overall quality because disposable watches are clearly just not cost effective.
Specification
Metal Case
Thickness 8 mm
Strap size 18 mm
Strap type: US Pattern Military Strap
Width incl crown 36 mm
Width excl crown 33 mm
Crystal diameter 29 mm
Movement Quartz
Battery Type: R626SW, Energizer 377 or equivalent
Supplied in a tin
The last but one image shows one of the original watches from 1972 the final image is the original Vietnam War plastic Watch referred to above, and on which the successor was ultimately based.
