TAWATEC AG since 1993
The company was founded back in 1993. We are a Swiss company. We are located in Brügg. Brügg is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Biel lies at the foot of the first mountain range of the Jura Mountains area. The city and its neighborhood thrive on precision and micro mechanics, the conception and manufacture of highly-specialized, production-oriented machinery and tools. The products are exported worldwide, next to Swiss-made watches of the well known and reputed watch brands located in the city and its vicinity.
TAWATEC creates superior products that enhance the safety, accuracy, speed and performance of law enforcement, military and firefighting professionals and sells these products under the registered trademark TAWATEC. We create products that exceed the needs of our customers with functional innovation while delivering exceptional value.
Driven by strong beliefs in its concepts and benefits, TAWATEC was developed and led by a team of experts working in conjunction with the tactical gear industry. Following extensive research, the development of the TAWATEC products have to be completed. Subsequently, the TAWATEC gear has to pass successfully comprehensive independent testing.
TAWATEC is focused to become one of the most innovative and research-intensive suppliers of the tactical industry in the world; especially when it comes to watches. The leading technology solutions of our TAWATEC watches enable our customers to achieve decisive advantages on their missions and daily operations.
Vision
We make it possible for our customers to be successful in economic terms with new technical solutions that go to the limits of what is feasible. One focus of innovation at TAWATEC is the use and implementation in the area of H3 Tritium light sources (GTLS) to assure the readability of the timepieces at any moment.
Mission
To put the concentrated technological knowledge of TAWATEC to work so that we can continuously reinvent ourselves, develop new applications and tap new markets: that is the TAWATEC DNA. The tightly knit structure allows us to act fast, focused, precise being highly efficient. Organization structures and processes are simple and streamlined with clear responsibilities. Our highly-qualified Team puts all of their talent and passion into satisfying the individual needs of TAWATEC customers.
About H3 Tritium watches
GTLS (Gaseous H3 Tritium light source) in military watches - Brilliance for American military watches
Excellent readability in the dark – proven in action in the first gulf war
Since 1989 the American army has specified the use of H3 Tritium gas light sources for military watches destined for troops, in order to ensure that they can be read in the dark. Among the best-known and popular models are the SandY 490 Type 1 and the SandY P 650 Navigator. So Stocker and Yale can be considered the inventor of H3 Tritium watches. The light sources for these watches are produced in Switzerland; mb-microtec was and is the word leading company for these light elements in miniature format.
Stocker and Yales CEO But Bickman had the experience with GTLS. For several years his company had been supplying the army with compasses where a small glass tube filled with H3 Tritium gas was used for illumination. The H3 Tritium gas light sources produced by the Swiss company mb-microtec in Niederwangen with the help of a special laser were proven to be perfect when it comes to readybility.So he decided that this groundbreaking lighting technology could also be used for watches.
However, in order to make this possible, the Mil-W-4637 specification relating to the manufacture of military wrist watches would have to be changed. "So I decided to convince the relevant departments in the U.S. Army to create new specifications for the production of military watches. I wrote a draft version of this modified product specification myself", remembers Jim Bickman. That was the hour in which a completely new generation of military wrist watches was born.
Use of H3 Tritium gas light sources
On 31. May 1989 the new Mil-W-46374E officially entered into force in the U.S.A. This standard not only brought about the change from H3 Tritium illuminated paint to light sources with gaseous H3 Tritium (so-called H3 Tritium vials). The light system consisted of sealed glass tubes filled with H3 Tritium, whose inside wall was coated with a fluorescing substance. Today, this light system, which cannot be bettered in terms of brightness, is also called GTLS (Gaseous H3 Tritium light source).
By launching the E.O.Diver in 2006, TAWATEC AG has taken up this spirit to get to the next level of the evolution of H3 Tritium watches.
Benefits of GTLS
Use of H3 Tritium gas light sources offers a series of further benefits. The light sources are self-illuminating, in other words they neither need battery current nor charging by means of daylight. Their luminance is almost one hundred times that of watches with traditional H3 Tritium phosphorescent paint. For the eye of the wearer, the extraordinary brightness of this light system will certainly be maintained for ten years. The hands and markings are extremely bright at night, so bright in fact that the soldier in the field should wear a cover bracelet over the watch in order to avoid being identified as a target.
The light system consists of sealed, H3 Tritium-filled glass tubes, whose inside wall is coated with a phosphorescent substance. The electrons emitted by the small quantity of gas in the tube excite the substance. Green is the favored color, as the human eye is most sensitive around these wavelengths.
Professional watches
TAWATEC develops professional watches that serve as tools and whose functions go far beyond simply telling the time. These watches are intended for actual professional activities, such as military use, law enforcement, police, special operations and scientific exploration.
About TAWATEC watches
TAWATEC E.O.Diver This watch line was developed for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Soldiers. They are the Army's preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts. They are Warriors who are properly trained, equipped, and integrated to attack, defeat, and exploit unexploded ordnance. EOD Warriors are the culmination of the best tactical and technical training the Army and civilian academia can provide. They are prepared to perform missions in support of Army units worldwide, across all operational environments.
EOD Specialists perform duties locating, identifying, rendering safe and disposing of foreign and domestic conventional, biological, chemical, or nuclear ordnance; they conduct intelligence gathering operations on first seen ordnance and support very important persons (VIP) missions.
PU Case
For the E.O.Diver we have chosen Polyurethane, glass fiber enforced cases in order to obtain Anti-magnetic (non-magnetic) watches that are able to run with minimal deviation when exposed to a certain magnetic field. The use of PU also makes the watch light and provides a maximum of wearing comfort. This is also underlined by the position of the crown at the 4 o’clock.
ICS Intuitive color system
TAWATEC T25 illumination
