One of the Rarest Military-Issued Watches, The Tornek Rayville Reference TR-900

Extremely rare and highly sought after, Blancpain's Tornek- Rayville diver's wristwatch is a dream for any collector of military watches. Developed in the early 1960s by Allen V. Tornek of the Rayville factory, the representative of Blancpain in the US, less than 1,000 were made especially for the US Navy.

Upon arrival to the Military base, the watch was assigned a serial number to its case back, written by the US Navy. These watches are so rare that it is believed that less than 100 survive, including those few that went directly to the US Navy, the vast majority of TR-900s having been destroyed by the government due to the Navy's rules regarding atomic waste disposal. Most of the remaining watches are likely resting in the safety deposit boxes of private collectors, it is a good explanation then why these watches almost never come to market, especially in this outstanding condition.

The design of the Tornek-Rayville was based on Blancpain's “Fifty Fathoms” model already in production; it was fitted with the same caliber AS1361 and Promethium 147 (half life 2.5 years) for the luminous material. By changing its color from pink/blue to entirely pink, the humidity indicator to the lower half of the dial would show if water moisture had penetrated the watch.

Produced under US Military Specifications “MIL-W-22176 (SHIPS) WATCH, WRIST, SUBMERSIBLE (400-FOOT), NON-MAGNETIC”. As requested by the US Government, the watches had to be legibly marked on the outside of the case back with the specification number (“MIL-W-22176”), serial number, the word “NONMAGNETIC” with the nonmagnetic symbol as well as the radiation symbol.