The A-11 is not a single model but a United States Army Air Forces production standard, specification 94-27834, standardised around 1942 for navigators, pilots and ground troops. It was revised as 94-27834-A on 2 November 1942 and 94-27834-B on 22 February 1943. Elgin, Waltham and Bulova all built it to the same rules: a black dial with white numerals and a 1 to 12 hour scale, white hands, centre seconds and a hand-wound hacking movement with at least 15 jewels, so navigators could synchronise watches to the second. The required accuracy was 30 seconds per day at room temperature. Cases were plain, often with a coin edge bezel and caseback, and dealers list surviving examples at roughly 31 mm. Movements include the Elgin model 1783 grade 539 and the Bulova 10AKCSH, a US-made version of an A. Schild design.

Numerous variations exist in cases, dials and hands. Some watches have white dials, and some are luminous: the US Navy Bureau of Aeronautics specified lume for its version, marked FSSC 88-W-800. The War Department manual TM 9-1575 documents the Elgin as the reference example. A British version designated 6B/234 used a Bulova movement and an Invar inner cover against magnetism. Issued on olive drab or black cotton straps, the A-11 became the template for the American field watch and is often called “the watch that won the war”.

Collectors seek out original Elgin, Waltham and Bulova A-11s as affordable, well documented pieces of Second World War history, with condition and original dials driving value. The design has a strong following among enthusiasts and has inspired many tributes: Praesidus built its A-11 Type 44 by measuring a 1944 Waltham, and Fratello calls it about as true a WWII field watch as exists outside the vintage market. The original specification is no longer produced, but the design lives on in modern watches such as the Bulova Avigation Hack A-11 and Praesidus models.