July 3rd, 2026
The First Waterproof Wristwatch was American? The Depollier Field & Marine
by Alex Y
Birthdays have a way of making us look backwards and reconsider events from the past. The United States of America will soon (or more likely will have already) celebrated its 250th anniversary and while short compared to many other civilizations around the world, it’s hard to argue against the impact of the U.S. during its relatively brief existence. Introducing the world to innovations such as Edison inventing the first practical incandescent light bulb, the Wright Brothers’ flying the first airplane, and Depollier producing the first waterproof wristwatch case. Wait, wasn’t Rolex the first company to produce a waterproof wristwatch with its Oyster case? Evidently not. In 1918, around 8 years before the introduction of Rolex’s Oyster case, Depollier introduced the Field & Marine watch case which was advertised as waterproof and dustproof and primarily partnered with Waltham. To put this into context, this was the same year the U.S. passed the Standard Time Act, the first federal law establishing standard time in time zones and daylight savings time to save electricity during World War I. That war also drove the development of this waterproof watch as the mud and water that accompanied trench warfare made resistance to water a necessity. Credit to watchmaker and dealer Stan Czubernat for his book on the subject which inspired this article and some of the information is pulled from.
Depollier Waterproof Watch
Image Credit: Waltham.ch - Charles L.Depollier
- Introduction
- Brief History of Waltham
- Prior Attempts at Waterproofing
- The Depollier Field & Marine
- Conclusion
Table of Contents
Brief History of Waltham
Original Waltham Watch Company Factory
Image Credit: Wikipedia - Waltham Watch Company
Before talking about the watch, we should understand one of the more influential companies that was the primary partner for it and are currently keeping the design alive. The idea started in the mid 1800s with Aaron Lufkin Dennison who wanted to bring mass production to pocket watch manufacturing by introducing interchangeable parts. In 1850, with his partners Edward Howard, David Davis, and Samuel Curtis, they started a company that would eventually be known as the Boston Watch Company. They would later build a facility in the town of Waltham, Massachusetts after their initial building in Roxbury proved to be too small and began producing around 30 watches per week under a new name of Waltham Watch Company. This initial version of the company failed when sales dropped due to an economic downturn and was purchased by watch importer Royal Robbins in 1857. Dennison later left the company and would ultimately move to England to start the Dennison Watch Case Company. With this company he would go on to produce cases for the likes of Rolex, Omega, and Jaeger-LeCoultre; and the name was recently-ish revived as an independent brand that happens to be receiving a lot of attention at the moment, but I digress.
Abraham Lincoln's Ellery Watch
Image Credit: The American - Keeping Time With Lincoln
The new owners of Waltham managed to save the company and for the remainder of the 19th century capitalized on the demand for pocket watches for the American Civil War and the railroad chronometers to various railroads. In fact, Abraham Lincoln had been presented with a Waltham 1857 watch after the Gettysburg address that was on display at the Lincoln Savings and Loan association until it was stolen in 1977. At the start of the 20th century, the company again found itself in dire straits and decided to expand its offerings into other markets including making mechanized time fuses. This partnership with the military likely influenced the eventual partnership for the Field & Marine watch.
Prior Attempts at Waterproofing
Great Exhibition Official Catalogue 1851
Image Credit: Vintage Watchstraps - The evolution of the waterproof watch
As with all things and contradicting the title of this article, the creation of a waterproof watch was not a miraculous one-off but rather a culmination of many smaller steps. Also, since I know the watch community can be pedantic, watches are not and can never be truly waterproof but I’m sticking with the advertised claims for the time period. With those caveats out of the way, let’s quickly review the advancements that preceded Depollier and the Field & Marine.According to David Boettcher of vintagewatchstraps.com, the earliest evidence they could find of a waterproof watch goes back to 1851 of a watch by W. Pettit & Co. exhibited at the Great Exhibition in London by being suspended in a glass globe filled with water. In the same article, this was followed by our old friend Mr. Dennison submitting patents in 1872 and 1874 to the UK Intellectual Property Office describing a screwdown case back and bezel so “that they may work air and water tight.” It seems that during this time, the primary solution for the crown in production pieces was to have a screw-down removable cap covering it. Meanwhile, some patents (including one from Ezra Fitch for Waltham Watch Company) moved toward the idea of a screw down crown closer to what we know of today but no clearly successful watch model on the market.
The Depollier Field & Marine
Depollier Field & Marine on top of U.S. Army document
Image Credit: LRF Antique Watches - The 1918 U.S. Army MIL SPEC Waterproof Wristwatches Created by Charles Depollier
So the history of Waltham leading to their partnership with the US military, the advancements in designing a waterproof watch, combined with the outbreak of World War I put the world on a collision course to produce the first waterproof wristwatch. Contextually it is important to remember that the wristwatch up to this point in history had been considered a piece of feminine jewellery until the practicality of having the time available at a glance during the war drove more widespread adoption of wristwatches by men. Enter Charles Leon Depollier, who along with Auguste Jaques were granted a number of patents between 1916 and 1918 for what would eventually become the Field & Marine watch that included novel locking mechanisms for the crown. At the same time in 1918, the United States Army Engineering & Research Division decided to work with Charles Depollier to develop a waterproof wrist watch including an order for 10,000 cases. Although the war would end shortly after the agreement was signed, the development continued and the Field & Marine was born.
Set of Depollier Field & Marine from different manufacturers
Image Credit: LRF Antique Watches - The 1918 U.S. Army MIL SPEC Waterproof Wristwatches Created by Charles Depollier
The military and civilian versions of the watch featured a nickel case with a black "Japanned" case finish and the waterproofing can be attributed to a combination of the threaded case back, screw down crown, and double clinched bezel which exist in some form even today. The advertisements also feature a picture of the watch in a fishbowl, harkening back to the W. Pettit & Co. in 1851 and would later be co-opted by Rolex when they introduced their Oyster case. Depollier would later advertise that the Field & Marine accompanied Major Schroeder on a then recording breaking flight to 36,130 feet and exposed to temperatures of -67 Fahrenheit (-55 °C), also exceeding claims that would be made by Rolex for its Oyster 13 years later. I did not find much information on numbers as to how successful this model ultimately was but safe to say it does not have the same reputation as the Rolex Oyster despite being released well before.
Conclusion
Depollier would go on to be cited in a patent lawsuit against one of his former partners and Waltham would continue as an American watch manufacturer until being purchased by a Swiss group headed by Invicta Watch Co. in 1968 and changing hands several times since then. In the present, the current incarnation of Waltham in partnership Watch Angels revived the Field & Marine in 2021 and offer a modern take on their website as of this article’s release. If there is a takeaway from this story it's that claims of being ‘first’ or ‘inventing’ are oftentimes hyperbole. Depollier undoubtedly produced probably the earliest mainstream waterproof wristwatch but there were also factors that suggest he happened to be the right person at the right time. After all, there were other light bulbs being developed besides Edison’s and other airplanes being developed besides the Wright Brothers’. History books will always prefer promoting the idea of a singular genius and I can’t think of anything more American than that.
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