ARNE: THE HISTORY BEHIND THE ELLIOT BROWN FIELD WATCH
Time for adventure.
Arne, is ever present in our lives, it’s a few hundred metres over the water from our location in Poole Harbour, UK. Whether we’re working or playing, there it is!
On still misty mornings, howling gale horizontal rain storms and glowing sunsets, it’s natural beauty shines brightly but it holds a darker secret whose local story, like our other watch collections, gave us the inspiration for Arne, our first field watch.
Arne is the embodiment of a watch that has always been in our wheelhouse, waiting to be given the obsessive attention everything we put our names to demands.
From the very beginning, our watches have been imagined for demanding coastal lifestyles. Arne brings that full circle, becoming our first field watch at a diminutive 38mm, perfect for all wrist sizes and brimming with the DNA and natural durability you’ve come to expect yet is unequivocally linked to it’s early military forbears thanks to characteristically clear legibility and compactness.
The darker secret?
During the 1st and 2nd World Wars, there was a major cordite (Highly volatile propellant) manufacturing facility at Holton Heath, a mile or so North West of Arne. In the 2nd World War, Holton Heath became a prime target, situated in a sparsely polulated area in case of the catastrophic explosions that would follow if hit badly. It’s coastal location made it a relatively easy target for bombers crossing the channel so a cunning plan was hatched to make it one of three special ‘starfish’ decoy sites that from the air would share the approximate location and visual appearance of Holton Heath. In addition to a battery of anti-aircraft guns with positions including atop a bronze age burial mound (due to it’s height), a carefully planned network of tar barrels and steel pipes carrying paraffin could be set alight to make Arne appear as if bombs were exploding and buildings were on fire, encouraging the Luftwaffe pilots to release their payload away from their strategic target on a different site that appeared to them, to be in the process of being destroyed. On 3rd/4th June 1942 the decoy sites successfully averted disaster. The following morning no fewer than 206 bomb craters were counted on the Arne Peninsula alone, it was totally devastated by fire but the decoy had worked… perfectly.
Today, Arne is a nature reserve with highly prized salt marshes, heathland and forest run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), frequented by those seeking to soak up Dorset’s special wildlife species, views and tranquillity. It has become a favourite haunt of the BBC, filming Springwatch series there.
What exactly is a field watch?
Durable, instantly legible, shock resistant, reliable, minimalist are all terms we have naturally come to associate with a traditional field watch, yet it is a watch with a fascinating back story that heralds from the wartime trenches.
“despite it’s often violent beginnings, there’s something warm and captivating in putting on a field watch, it’s like having an old friend with you.” Ian Elliot – Co-Founder.
Field watches were conceived due to the need to collectively know the time in the trenches during the world wars – borne out of the simple necessity to recognise the time instantly rather than having to fish for a pocket watch and opening the case.
A great field watch should do nothing more than tell the time, with perfect clarity whilst being entirely fit for purpose. Small enough to easily slide under a cuff yet rugged enough to remain totally reliable no matter how tough the conditions.
This type of military watch has seen the widest range of use, hence the name field watch as opposed to the original trench watch name. Later came additional functions and styles suited to the specific genres of maritime and airbourne forces.
Accuracy has always been an important factor, enabling personnel to synchronise their movement, helping to eliminate the risk and unpredictability of group missions.
Stainless steel remains the material of choice for field watches due to it’s comfort and durability – it is also hypo-allergenic.
