The whole site reeks of "Chinese-made watch that we slapped our logo on", with some tacti-cool sprinkled on top. This article in particular is a little too "just so" for my tastes.
But my main objection is that I've known folks that were in the military (and not having served myself), and of the ones I currently know (and therefore, can trust my memory), not a one wears their watch on the inside.
But we've got plenty of military folk on HN, I welcome being corrected.
WW1 trench watches had a utility - time of the attacks were timed and they had no radios. With the invent of portable radios and communication equipment, utility of wrist watch to start military operations significantly diminished.
With that said, WW1 trench watches were just pocket watches on the wide wrist band. They aren't comfortable to wear in all positions, so I highly doubt that even during WW1, a lot of soldiers would wear their watches upside down.
Look at this £240 tacticool watch we, the authors happen to sell. Meanwhile when I was in we all wore the disposable £5 casio you could get from Argos an didn't care if it got smashed up
The real reason: if you ask me the time when I'm holding a pint, I'll pour my drink on you, not me (this was the punchline in an old British comedy sketch I can't find a reference to now).
Nothing about wearing it "upside down" and not sure I know what that means. Before cell phones became the new standard timepiece, pretty sure I wore my watch on the inside of my wrist and see no reason to think there is a "correct" way for it to face. Back of the wrist or inside of the wrist seems like arbitrary personal preference to me.
I have seen people wear their watch "upside down", including made up women in fashionable attire that would be the polar opposite of the rough style the article is portraying. On the contrary, I looked at a few random pictures of soldiers and in most of them the watch worn the standard way, with the face on the outside of the wrist. In fact, I find the "upside down" way more "girly" than "manly", simply because I think I saw more girls do it than men.
For practical reasons, I guess there are advantages to both. But the "protect the watch" argument, I don't really buy it. It is situational. If you have your watch inside your wrist, you bang it when you have your hands on a table, when you pick heavy stuff, it may come in contact with stuff you have on your belt (tools, gun, ...), etc...
I suspect the article is just an ad. They want to sell a watch for "tough guys" and came up with that story.