In the early 1940s, the MoD created a set of specifications for watches to be issued to military personnel. 12 companies were awarded contracts: Buren, Cyma, Eterna, Grana, JLC, Lemania, IWC, Omega, Record, Timor, Vertex, and Longines. The resulting watches–highly valued collector’s pieces in their own right–would eventually be called the “Dirty Dozen,” and to a lesser extent the Mk. X watches.