Military Watches in Arma, Tarkov and Call of Duty
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The equipment watch in Arma 3, the gold Roler in Escape from Tarkov and the wrist devices in Modern Warfare serve different purposes: clock, cargo and player display.
Arma's civilian diver
Bohemia Interactive designer Karel Mořický identifies the Fortis B-42 Marinemaster as the source for Arma 3's equipment watch. His July 2024 account is direct about the model and tentative about the reason for using it: he could not find a record explaining the choice. The watch's presence does not establish that the B-42 was military issue, either in the real world or as a production requirement. (Karel Mořický)
In the same retrospective, Mořický describes the series' watches as useful for synchronizing operations and following timers. Consulting the watch is part of the equipment routine, alongside looking at a map. (Mořický's introduction)
The other wrists on Altis are less predictable. Mořický names the Police Navy X for Nikos and the Alpina Extreme Tourbillon for civilians. The latter is an especially incongruous presence in a military sandbox, though the designer's identification does not turn the rendered case and bracelet into a confirmed retail execution. He names the models, without claiming a licensing agreement. (Mořický's character-watch post)
Tarkov's gold watch is cargo
The Roler Submariner gold wrist watch in Escape from Tarkov belongs to the loot economy. Its name and gold dive-watch form point to the Rolex Submariner, and the community wiki explicitly calls it a parody. The game's item description supplies an invented brand and an 18-karat gold case. Neither establishes a particular Rolex reference. (Escape from Tarkov Wiki)
A familiar luxury-watch shape makes an immediately readable valuable. Its role is closer to the game's jewelry and other barter objects than to Arma's clock: the player acquires and carries it as an item. The misspelled name is part of the joke.
That loot watch should be kept separate from the watches attached to USEC and BEAR clothing. The appearance records include those player-worn assets with varying identification confidence. Recognizing the Submariner joke does not resolve an unrelated operator's digital or analog wristwatch.
Modern Warfare starts with the player's clock
Infinity Ward's Geoff Smith told Game Informer that a programmer connected an early watch to the development kit's actual time. The feature then expanded into possibilities such as statistics and digital pets. The working clock prompted experiments with other uses for the display. (Game Informer's developer interview)
The Tamagunchi described in that interview illustrates how far the idea could travel. In the same interview, art director Joel Emslie describes a creature fed by the player's multiplayer performance. The device reached the game as Tomogunchi; Activision’s 2020 promotion describes a pet whose needs are met through kills, wins and other match actions. (Activision)
The clocks also serve different people. Arma's watch helps its player follow events in the simulated world; the initial Modern Warfare implementation reports time from the player's machine. Two convincing wrist animations can therefore be consulting entirely different clocks.
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