After the successful launch of our Tom Rice A-11 in 2019, we have continued our mission of working with veterans to share their legendary stories. This led us to Vince Speranza, a WW2 veteran of the 101st Airborne Division. Since then, we’ve been working on developing a watch fit for the hero: the A-11 Vince Speranza Edition.
Vince made a name for himself at the Battle of the Bulge as a machine-gunner, manning an M1919. He was part of the heroic defense of the Belgium city of Bastogne.
Created in honor of the fallen heroes and veterans who fought and resisted against all odds at the Battle of the Bulge, we are proud to present our A-11 Vince Speranza Edition. Assembled in the USA
The A-11 Vince Speranza Edition is a watch that we’ve been on for months to provide you with the best possible value. Featuring American Assembly, a choice of Swiss or Japanese Automatic Movement, and a double domed sapphire, we’ve built a quality watch made to withstand tough everyday use.
Our A-11 is powered by a choice of either a Swiss or Japanese Automatic Movement. These types of movements feature a self-powering mechanism forgoing the use of batteries to keep track of time. The watch will recharge itself with the movement of your wrist as long as you use it daily. For the more nostalgic, both movements will also feature manual wind-up - just like the original A-11’s did.
A neat feature included in both packages is the ability for movement hacking - another key component of original A-11s for coordination between different groups.Original A-11s featured a domed acrylic glass which was cheap to manufacture and easy to scratch. We’ve modernized our A-11 by using the strongest glass available to the industry today: Sapphire.
Extremely scratch resistant with a 9/10 on the MOS hardness scale you won’t need to worry about going rough on this watch.
In addition, we’ve kept the original double dome shape of the crystal in order to stay as authentic as possible giving a unique side profile and personality to our A-11 VS edition.All our A-11 Vince Speranza Edition watches will be using high-quality Italian Leather to ensure comfortable wear and solid resistance to tear. We’ve gone into a custom design for both versions of our straps to include references to Vince's trusted M1919 30.cal Machine gun.
Our M1919 Strap reproduces directly the barrel of Vince’s Machine Gun whereas the Machine Gunner strap features an embossed M1919 drawing on the front and, an engraving on the back referencing Vince’s Battle of the Bulge experiencThe caseback is probably the most unique piece on our A-11 Vince Speranza Edition. First off, we’ve got many questions about the bullet and its impact on comfort. Rest assured, we’ve tested it out over multiple weeks with no issues whatsoever to our wrists. Also, a diverse panel of Bloggers and YouTubers have received samples and highlighted that the watch was comfortable on their wrists.
Indeed, we went for an original design featuring a down-sized 30.cal bullet on the case-back at Vince’s request. We’ve also added markings that tell the story behind the A-11 watch and, make sure that the sacrifices made by our veterans are never forgotte
Army Veteran Vince Speranza served in the 101st Airborne Division, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. He survived the brutal winter of ’44/’45 and the Battle of the Bulge, one of the deadliest battles in World War II.
Speranza tells many stories of his time in World War II in his book, Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne. He fought in combat as a machine gunner, freed Holocaust survivors and became a local legend for his selflessness.
A-11 wristwatches were manufactured during WWII according to a U.S. military standard. American watch companies like Elgin, Waltham, and Bulova produced these watches. Most of them had white hands and Arabic numerals, as well as 60-minute graduations on their plain black dials. These watches were mission-critical as they allowed for troops to coordinate their attacks and effectively communicate to each other.
The Vince Speranza A-11, in many ways, is an upgraded version of the original A-11 watches produced in WWII. The reinterpretation doesn’t have a diameter of 32mm anymore, but it’s available in two larger sizes of 38 and 42mm.