In the 1990s, some of those watches were apparently sold to the public (and I don’t even want to know at what price) during regular armory sales. I did, in fact, have the chance to come across two of them in the last eight years: one was sold in 2008 to a vintage watch dealer in Switzerland, the other one (which does not appear to be the same watch) currently belongs to Doxa and was exhibited in 2012 in the beautiful Musée d’Horlogerie du Locle in the Château des Monts during the brand’s temporary exhibition, “Histoire d’une marque horlogère locloise de 1889 à 2012.” This model (pictured below) is believed to have been the watch of the Chief Instructor of the Swiss combat diving unit.
From my own compulsory military service, I did at least get to keep my army knife, but seeing these vintage Doxa watches makes me wish I’d tried to join a different unit.