Bruce Springsteen Wearing Vintage Military Watch

Vintage and military watches have been growing in popularity in Hollywood circles in recent years. Some celebrities like John Mayer are known the be enthusiastic collectors.

Here’s a sighting of Bruce Sprinsteen wearing what appears to be a vintage 1930’s pilot watch.

Bruce Springsteen wearing what looks like a vintage 1930's military pilot watch on a gray G10 strap.

And here’s a closer view of the watch itself, though it’s still a little tough to positively identify:

It’s difficult to identify the make and model precisely as there were several makers of watches in that style in the period using similar if not identical cases, among them Omega, Longines, and Doxa. Here’s an example of an Omega example:

Omega vintage 1930's Pilot's Watch

Springsteen is shown wearing his on what appears to be a gray G10-type strap, which is perhaps inaccurate from a strict authenticity standpoint as the design wasn’t introduced until the early 1950’s, by which point watches like this would of course have become obsolete. They were originally likely worn on leather cuff-style bands with leather backs like that shown above, or else on long leather straps that would allow the watch to be worn on the outside of the sleeve of a flight jacket.

Vintage pilot's watch worn around outside of clothing for use in flight.

Though it might seem curious to us in the modern era, but it was an important feature in the early era of aviation when dead reckoning aviation and unpressurized (or even open!) cockpits were still common. Similarly, the very prominent crown design was allowed the watch to be wound while wearing gloves.

Hat tip to Jarl of Norway for the spot in this MWR discussion.