Panerai and California dials (Roman numerals up top, Arabic below) have form and here it is combined with an eight-day power reserve and a black DLC-coated case. This watch has been accused of being a “Panerai greatest hits” but when your back catalogue is this strong, who cares if everyone already knows all the words?

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Casio G-Shock Ref. GA-150-1AER

Also in the “watches service people buy themselves” category is the ever-reliable G-Shock. And that is not surprising – these watches were created specifically to withstand a 10m fall onto hard concrete. This G-Shock also features the brand’s patented Hollow Core Guard Structure to protect the quartz movement inside against impact and vibration including from heavy duty operations, the case has been specially mounted to be shielded from magnetic fields and it has a 200m water resistance so you can scuba in it.

There are all the other bells and whistles too such as countdown timer functions, world time and the option to set five daily alarms. More than enough to keep you amused while awaiting orders to ambush the enemy.

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Breitling Aerospace Evo

First launched in 1985, the Aerospace Evo has become one of the most popular watches with the British military with many squadrons commissioning watches with their insignia on the dial. It easy to see why it is so popular; it’s a watch that says, “I do important things and I need a precision piece of kit to help me do them.”

Powering it is Breitling’s chronometer-certified SuperQuartz calibre, which is 10 times more accurate than ordinary quartz, is really easy to use, thanks to the ability to activate functions such as 1/100th of a second chronograph and countdown timer with the crown. At 43mm, it’s not as much of a beast as some Breitlings, but that just means it will still look good even when you take off your bomber jacket.