The Maratac brand is veiled in mystery. Everyone who buys these classic “military” watch bands wants to know more about the company that seems to not exist. The bands are sold mainly through a few vendors specialized in working with the government. So there has been quite a bit of talk recently when a watch made for Maratac appeared seemingly out of thin air.

The Maratac Pilot Automatic watch is on of those watches that are a rare, but adrenaline inducing find. An affordable and practical watch that looks great. You can only get one from the folks at County Comm who do a lot of great on spec work for US government agencies. Every once and a while they get permission to do a civilian version or sell any over runs they might have, as well as purchase over runs from other such contractors and this is the case for the MPA watch.

The watch features a a robust sapphire domed crystal, simple dial with no date and no branding, a custom built Miyota (8245) 21 Jewel movement that offers 40 hours of power reserve when not in use. I must warn you, though, that you must like bulky watches to add this one to your collection since it is a little over 46mm wide and 83 grams. At $195 you will not find many similar watches in this size range – most are in the luxury brand category. So get it while you can and add any of the sturdy classic Maratac nylon bands that are standard military issue. Get a few different colors and have fun interchanging them to fit the occasion.

Watch Details

Case: 316 stainless steel case cut from solid block.

Dial: Print dial. With super luminova C3 color.

Hands: With super luminova C3. Matte finishing

Strap:With strap

Movt: 8245 (Japan movt)

Water resistant: 10 ATM water resistant.

Crown:  Screw crown same as drawing.

Crown tube: Screw tube

Shoulderless Spring Bar: Insert spring bar to case leg.

Case back: Two pieces of screw etching case back .

Glass: Sapphire crystal domed

Bronze movement retainer

None Hacking movement