Today, I am reviewing the Vario 1945 D-12, a release I have been looking forward to for a long time. You see, Vario’s first foray into military watches, the 1918 Trench, was a runaway success and one of my favorite watches of 2021. So when owner and designer Ivan Chua told me he was working on a new military design based on the iconic Dirty Dozen, I set my expectations pretty high. The Vario D-12 does not disappoint.
“Dirty Dozen” is a moniker that was applied to the WWW field watches ordered from 12 manufacturers by the British Ministry of Defense during World War 2. Movie-loving watch nerds gave the series its name much later. The Vario D-12 is not a recreation of the original, but a modern interpretation that keeps the most identifiable elements of its ancestors.
Like the 1918, the 1945 tucks a Miyota 82s5 automatic into a 37mm case. It is a 21-jewel, 21.6k bph movement with a 40-hour power reserve, and in this orientation, a 6 o’clock small seconds, and a 4 o’clock crown. It is also gilt finished with Côtes de Genève stripes, but I take that on faith as the D-12 hides it under an engraved case back. You will immediately see the silhouette of the WW2 soldier at the center. Cleverly, he is striding inside the larger outline of a modern Singaporean Army soldier, deftly linking the nation’s past and present.
If you prefer your watches unadorned, or if you plan your own special engraving, you can order one with a plain caseback instead. Vario will do the honors as an extra cost option.
A good Dirty Dozen watch needs certain key features. It will have a black dial, Arabic numbers, a small seconds indicator, lume, waterproofing, and a railroad track index. After that, things can get a bit looser. The D-12 ticks those first few boxes easily, far exceeding the wartime models with modern (and non-radioactive) SuperLuminova and 100m water resistance. Vario also outfits it with an AR-coated sapphire crystal.
With the basics out of the way, it was time to make the D-12 uniquely Vario. It is available in both regulation black and also white, gray, and olive green. A rough texture on the main dial ages the watch a bit and makes the smooth black subdial more pronounced. I love the “phantom” logo that lays low and only comes out when the light catches it just so. Original Dirty Dozen watches all bore the broad arrow mark, signifying that they were the property of the British government. These D-12s will belong to no one but their private owners, but there is a nod to the broad arrow in the navigator’s triangle at 12, adding a touch of flieger to the mix.
Vario went with a two-tone lume scheme; white BGW9 on the numbers and yellow C3 on the hands and hour markers. This gives the appearance of an aged watch during the day and looks pretty spiffy at night.
Watches were smaller in the 1940s than they generally are today, so while the various Dirty Dozens were not all a uniform size, they were in the same neighborhood as the D-12’s 37mm diameter. Here too, Vario steps out, choosing a chunky, modern shape, featuring sheer sides and blunt lugs. It is brushed all around save for the outer edge of the bezel, the crown, and a glint of polish on the lugs’ beveled upper edges. These choices highlight every millimeter of the D-12’s 10.5mm thickness, making it appear less of an antique homage and more of a contemporary tool watch.
Still, 37mm is not big, so taking into account the fairly short 45mm length, the watch occupies little space on the wrist. This is a welcome development for small-wristed (6.75″) folks like myself.
Tool watches have big crowns. This size matters when you’ve got a screw-down crown and especially so when that crown is tucked down near the lower lug as it is here. The D-12’s is fat, grippable, and easy to operate. As an extra added bonus, its signed head is also lumed, because, why not?
The D-12 will come with an 18mm Cordura strap as standard — just not the one pictured on this prototype. That is one of Vario’s excellent nylon/leather hybrids with heavy-duty hardware. The finished product will also have the leather tabs, but a conventional pin buckle and a sleeker overall look.
I also tried it on Vario’s Vintage Italian leather and nylon pass-through straps. As you can see, they are all attractive and bring out different aspects of the D-12’s character, but the Army Green Cordura/leather strap was my favorite by far because of its rugged military aesthetic and the way its thick lug ends matched that beefy case.
I also had to give it a whirl on Vario’s leather bund. I mean, how could I not? As expected, it looks great.
The Vario 1945 D-12 will launch on June 6, 2023 for $368. There will be 400 units in the initial batch, with delivery expected in July through August. Newsletter subscribers will get an even better deal, so if the D-12 has piqued your interest (and I certainly hope it has), I recommend you head over to Vario.sg now and sign up.
