Vario 1945 A-11S Review | The Pacifist's Field Watch

Vario 1945 A-11S Review | The Pacifist's Field Watch

Most field watches lean on their military heritage as a selling point. The Vario 1945 A-11S does something stranger with it. This is a faithful take on the WW2 A-11, the watch the US military issued to its troops, but Vario have gone in and removed the one feature that made the original militarily useful. It's a war watch with the war quietly taken out of it, and after a few months of daily wear I've come round to thinking that's a much better idea than it first sounds.

Full disclosure up front: Vario kindly sent me this watch along with a few strap options for review. As always, all opinions are my own.

The idea behind it

The original A-11's standout feature was a hacking centre seconds hand. Pulling the crown stopped the seconds hand dead, which let soldiers sync their watches to the exact second, and that's what made coordinated manoeuvres possible. It's the reason the A-11 is remembered at all.

On the A-11S, the central seconds hand has been replaced by a small rotating disc with a contrasting dot, so you can still watch time passing, but you've lost the military precision of the original. They frame this as an act of de-escalation, taking the tool of war out of a war watch. In honour of Sadako Sasaki, an origami crane is engraved into the caseback as a symbol of peace, tucked away where only the wearer will ever see.

My honest reaction, having lived with it, is that I don't miss the seconds hand at all. The dot still tells you roughly how far through the minute you are, just not to the second, and I am not synchronising tactical manoeuvres on my commute. What I didn't expect was how much of a talking point it would be. The shiny steel bezel and the WW2 design language catch people's eye, and I've been asked about it more than any other watch I own, except maybe my retro Casios.

Wearability and looks

I've got the 40mm version, which comes in at 9.5mm thick with a 48mm lug to lug. On my 20cm wrists it wears true to size, slips under a shirt cuff without a fight, and the profile is genuinely slim. This is not a chunky watch. For a solar quartz field watch that's worth noting, because the solar cell and module underneath usually add height, and Vario have kept it trim.

It's more noticeable on the wrist than the resin G-Shock I usually daily, but that was always going to be the case. The square, plastic G-Shocks are the gold standard for forgetting you're wearing anything at all, and nothing steel is going to beat them at that. Setting that comparison aside, this is the most comfortable steel watch I've worn, especially on the nylon or leather straps. The crown sits at 4 o'clock rather than 3, and that offset genuinely does keep it from digging into the back of your hand when you bend your wrist.

Vario sent a few straps, and I've spent most of my time on the grey Italian leather. It feels excellent, really nice leather and feels well-made. One thing bigger-wristed readers will want to know: at 20cm I'm on the last hole on the strap. It fits me, but only just, so anyone larger than me will likely need to source their own. That's an easy fix, because the 40mm takes standard 20mm straps (the 35mm takes 18mm), and Vario's straps use a quick release system that's solid when connected and genuinely easy to swap. The lugs are drilled too, so between the two methods you've got no excuse for scratched lug holes.

Solar and daily use

The A-11S runs a Miyota solar quartz movement, and Vario quote around four months on a full charge, needing roughly 25 hours of strong sun or 60 hours under cloud to fill it. I've been wearing it daily through British weather, which is about as unforgiving a test of a solar watch as you'll find, and it has simply worked. I've never once had to think about light. It keeps excellent time, as you'd expect from quartz, and it holds that time perfectly well even on the days it sits off the wrist.

Build quality

It's a properly well made watch. 316L stainless steel case and caseback, sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on the inside, and 50m of water resistance. Everything feels tight and considered, from the crown action to the way the straps click home. The white on black dial is very legible at a glance, which is the entire point of a field watch, but I'd say the lume is just okay and could be better. It also comes with a travel case lined with recycled nylon, and the Cordura strap is made from recycled material, so there's a sustainability thread running through the whole package that fits the peace angle nicely.

Verdict

The clever thing about the A-11S is that its single flaw and its single best idea are the same decision. Removing the seconds hand is what gives the watch its whole identity, and it also makes the minute-level timekeeping a touch imprecise.

What I'm left with is a watch that's comfortable, slim, beautifully made, and carries a genuinely thoughtful idea without shoving it in your face. At $218 it's easy to recommend.