In the late eighties, both the USAF and Canadian Armed Force had issued these tough looking Adanac watches to their service members. The one pictured in this review was issued by USAF in 1988. It's an interesting watch because it has "Adanac" written on the dial but the case is signed "Gallet". Not only that, the watch was actually produced under government contract by Marathon Watch Co. based in Ontario, Canada.
The styling of the watch is very similar, if not identical, to USAF issue Marathon Military Pilot's Watch that I had reviewed earlier. Adanac is the predecessor to that model, albeit without the tritium vials. A careful reader might have noticed that "Adanac" is Canada spelled backwards. I've been told that it's an old Canadian joke. And these Adanac's were quite popular such that they have made its way into the European scene, with some of the English troops who got these watches issued to them.
The watch has an unusual 0-11 marked bidirectional bezel, which makes it look like a hybrid of diver's and pilot's watches. Some prefer to call it simply a navigator's watch. Anyway, it has a screw-down crown, has fixed bars that takes a 20mm black nylon band, and is water resistant to 660 feet, which pretty much qualifies it as a military diver's watch.
Dial has the usual 24 hour markings found on many military watches. The hour and minute hands are applied with rectangular shaped tritium paint. The second hand is applied with tritium at its tip. Hour indexes on the dial and the zero position on the bezel are also tritium coated. The Adanac shown here has H3 and radioative propeller markings on the dial. There exists a version of Adanac with these H3 markings omitted.
The large stainless steel case, made by Gallet, measures 47.8MM lug to lug and 43.8MM across the crown diameter. It houses a Swiss made quartz movement. There is a separate latch (which you can open with a coin) for replacing batteries, so you do not have to unscrew the entire caseback. I've been told by another Adanac owner that these Adanac's have one of the toughest and strongest quartz movements ever produced. This is very unfortunate since I intend to replace it with an automatic movement next week.
The rear of Adanac is marked with the following NATO codes:
- GALLET AND
CO
6645-01-150-8115
211
F41608-85-D-0179
April
1988
Thanks to the help of fellow Timezoners, I now realize that this is a wristwatch (WOW!!) from the 6645 part, belonging to U.S. (01), and made by manufacturer numbered 150-8115, which I believe designates Marathon or perhaps Gallet.
