The Hamilton Khaki Field history and reviews (2018 - 2023)

The Hamilton Khaki Field’s history and reviews (2018 – 2023)

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Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 1

The Hamilton Khaki Field’s history, in brief

We usually associate Hamilton watches with its long-standing and most respected collection: the Hamilton Khaki Field. The Swiss-adopted American brand boasts almost a centuries-long tradition in making watches for the military, dating back to WWI, when Hamilton became an official supplier to the US Army and, subsequently, a reference timekeeper within several industries where running precision was paramount.

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We can’t forget, for instance, the US postal air service along with a list of scientific expeditions where the Hamilton Khaki robustness proved crucial. In 1942 the American brand decided to stop the production of commercial timepieces, producing them exclusively for the US army involved in World War II.

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Over one million timepieces rolled out the production lines, including wristwatches and marine chronometers, ensuring Hamilton the US Navy’s “E” award for manufacturing excellence. In our guide to military watches, we introduced the so-called “Field Watches”, a legacy of the Trench watches used during the First World War.

hamilton military wrist watch grade II 1944

Including products for land, sea and air (three are the Khaki Hamilton watches’ product line up), the Hamilton Khaki‘s offering is broad, including the Hamilton Khaki Automatic or the Hamilton Khaki Mechanical models, either as a three-hander or a chronograph. Please read below all our product reviews since 2018.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph watch hands-on

Introduction

The Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph is among the 2021 last quarter’s novelties and a crossroad of two product concepts belonging to Khaki. The primary source of inspiration is the Khaki Field Mechanical‘s military-based template, Hamilton‘s most loved and top-selling model showcasing large Arabic numerals and vintage SuperLuminova® on either hour and minute hands and luminous triangular markers on the minute ring. The second one is the Khaki Field Mechanical 50 mm‘s oversized and raised numerals and indexes measuring 3,5 mm in height, filled with plenty of luminescent material, whose lume performance is crazy.

Size and main specs

The chronograph abides by a Khaki Field‘s rules, thus sporting the hallmark steel case with sandblasted treatment. Interestingly, Hamilton watch has released tons of chronograph models so far, but, hard to believe, the Khaki Field was still missing a chronograph. With this addition, the Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph is closing a gap inside the brand’s product offering and out.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 2

The new timepiece comes in at 44 mm (crown excluded) and, more importantly, is 14,15 mm thick. I’d say all those with a small wrist are not welcome here; the standard thickness is also greater than specs, given the new and relatively thick khaki green nubuck-leather Bund strap.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 8

If you are into this kind of watch that the WW2 military once chose to fight against rough cold weather, you’ll appreciate how soft the strap is, something we are used to with Hamilton. Another remarkable example is, in this area, the Limited Edition Khaki Far Cry 6. The dial slims down on the complication, and its counter layout makes it easy to read at a glance. You can quickly spot a Pilot‘s watch feel to it, resembling traits by IWC or Fortis, especially with the second brand when it comes to Chrono pushers’ size.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 6

The devil is in the details, as with the hidden chamfer under the crown, to help the wearer easily unscrew it and set the time, which is more challenging to operate than standard with the thick Bund strap surrounding the watch’s case. However, you can easily remove the large nubuck base and turn the watch into something more ordinary and slimmer.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 5

The grained dial’s finish is quintessentially Hamilton Khaki Field, and the thirty minutes and twelve hours registers are so recessed that the Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph mimics a two-register military-looking Chrono, as intuitive to read as it gets.

The Hamilton H-21 calibre

In summary, the Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph is hefty but well-conceived and designed, boasting unparalleled lume performance. It is going to win, without a doubt, every “lume battle” out there. It adopts a much appreciated and solid self-winding movement.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 3

Coded as H-21, it is a more robust and finely improved take on a ubiquitous Valjoux calibre by the experts at ETA, whose main achievement is an increased 60-hour power reserve. The technical base, customizations apart, is adopted mainly by the Group’s mid-luxury watch brands and stands the test time by guaranteeing proven robustness and reliability in the long term, with low service costs when needed.

The price and our final thoughts

The new Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph retails for 1,650 Euros, a reasonable price for a timepiece refined enough and with Khaki Field‘s foothold and appeal, and whose competitors are, in the benchmark, not as credible.

Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Chronograph 9

It is robust, its design familiar, with pedigree and clean lines; not an easy task when entering the three-register chronograph arena, despite looking like a two counter Chrono, from afar. The Bund strap adds a lot of value to the proposition. Here are the pros; what about the improvement areas instead? Here comes the extra-large size; even if you decide to remove the base strap, you hardly want to wear one unless you have a generous wrist or are into big and bold tool watches.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Far Cry® 6 watch hands-on

The former, Hamilton watch, is synonymous with adventure and exploration with its Khaki and is widely regarded as a sci-fi brand starring in countless motion picture films; the latter, Ubisoft, is a leading videogame company producing some of the most engaging console-based videogames.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic Far Cry® 6 is a bond between gaming and watchmaking and the first-ever digital-world mechanical watch, which is a first in the industry, as far as I can tell. Far Cry® 6 is the latest edition of the video game screenplay on Yara, a tropical island where rebel Dani Rojas fights against dictator Antón Castillo.

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The concept is new and brilliant from a marketing perspective since the brand has entered the world of gaming from the main door and explored uncharted territory by the competition, i.e., the world of gaming. Also, if you’re playing Far Cry® 6, you’ll recurrently see the new Khaki on display and in action, engaging the fight as much as the player does while fighting, scene after scene.

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From a non-gaming expert’s perspective, Far Cry® 6 is closer to digital movie-filming, such is the refinement and involvement modern video games have achieved, and it is a brilliant channel to approaching and hopefully attracting a new (ever-growing) audience which is hard to categorize and craves for all things digital. With that said, let aside the project’s mission and my thoughts, let’s move on to the product, hence a 1983-piece limited edition Khaki, whose customization process brings the standard Khaki in titanium to new heights.

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The Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic Far Cry® 6 is a new take on a 42 mm large and 11.45 mm thick Titanium Khaki; it is a super light timepiece that I own and wears and feels smaller than what the specs sheet claims, other than showcasing a clean No date dial. In addition, Hamilton‘s experience in treating the customer with special packages is second to none in this class of products.

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It preserves the three-hander attributes, yet the Far Cry® 6 is heavily customized and to such an extent to stand out against its sibling. The grey dial houses a black vinyl-patterned ring, brownish Arabic numerals filled with “vintage patina” SuperLumiNova®, and the number 6 is cut, thus paying homage to Far Cry®’s official font. The red central second hand adds a striking touch. In summary, Hamilton has pimped up the otherwise technical but emotionally flat titanium Khaki‘s uncovered potential.

hamilton khaki field far cry 6 limited edition 6

The value proposition includes a list of accessories to please the most gruelling enthusiast, who is getting a replacement nubuck leather strap with the “H” shaped double pin, in case you’re tired of the OEM leather NATO strap. It’s something I would barely consider; the NATO is so soft, comfortable and stylish you’ll forget you have wrapped the watch onto your wrist. The package includes a watch roll to protect the watch and safeguard it alongside the replacement strap and the strap tool provided.

hamilton khaki field far cry 6 limited edition 1

For the tech-savvy, bear in mind the Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic Far Cry® 6 houses the robust 80-power-reserve H-10 calibre. The retail price? Hamilton stopped at 1045 euros, slightly over the 1000-euros threshold; it might sound too much for an audience whose price point is below the four-digit line usually, but you’re not just getting a specific watch with distinctive storytelling, something you might not care about at all. At a 16% price increase, approximate, you end up also taking exclusive accessories and a leather watch roll.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze watch hands-on

Bronze watches are definitely “a commodity”. Once introduced as stand-out premium luxury options, bronze cases (with bracelet, too) are as ordinary as it gets, spreading top to medium luxury timepieces, and accessible luxury whose price tag stops under one thousand euros; proof positive is the new Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze, as far as mainstream brands concern.

When it comes to engineering a bronze alloy, there’s bronze and bronze, depending on the brand’s mission and target to achieve. Whatever the engineered solution, we can’t avoid praising Hamilton Watch for offering a bronze watch whose sticker price is under 800 euros. What usually looks like the final thought of an ordinary review is the most relevant take out, instead.

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With that said, the second topic I’d pick adds to the pluses of any Khaki Field Mechanical, a successful timepiece in ages; when a product works, marketing managers keep expanding the offering, even more so on a military watch this sleek and pure, whose pedigree is the epitome of Hamilton Watch as a brand. From up close, the new bronze variant adds a refined touch you won’t find on the standard model, which, conversely, feels kind of dull at times.

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As a reminder, once you read “Mechanical”, you’re wearing a hand-wound watch like the first-ever Field watch. Hand-wound mechanical movements are where the American-born brand rules, given it is rapidly extending the option to an increasing number of products, like the newly released Intra-Matic Chrono, a one of a kind in its category (despite I hope that Hamilton and ETA join forces to make it slimmer than its self-winding sibling).

At 38 millimetres across and just 9.6 in thickness, the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze has everything we love about the steel Khaki Field while playing as a more compelling proposition than its PVD-treated counterpart. My only concern is the following: what kind of patina should a buyer expect once wrapped the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze around his or her wrist? It keeps being my biggest dilemma, as a buyer rather than a journalist.

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From a technical perspective, the calibre H-50 is a tried-and-tested evolution of an original ETA platform, improved to ensure eighty hours of power reserve, a big deal considering you won’t have to wind the watch for three full days and an additional working day. It’s an attractive value proposition in this class of products. Regarding the strap, there are pros and cons. I love the leather NATO strap‘s style and build quality, and its thickness makes the 9.6-mm-thick case look right on my big wrist, which measures slightly more than 20 cm.

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By swapping the thick leather strap with a thinner nylon strap, the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze thus covers a broader audience. I wouldn’t say I like the non-bronze tang buckle instead. I understand that a Bronze option at such a market price is challenging, but the steel buckle is out of place, despite matching the solid case back.

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Priced at nearly 40% over a PVD Khaki Field, I would have done everything possible to make it 100%  bronze (hence buckle included). Regarding the patina, it seems the Khaki Field Bronze will develop soft oxidation process; nonetheless, I’d suggest the brand offer a sand-coloured leather strap as an option. Please note that Hamilton gives a hint of what the patina will look like in its online ads. The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze is priced at 745 Euros.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

The Khaki Field Auto also comes in titanium, finally. It is nothing new you might argue since a 42mm titanium Khaki Field already exists; why then talk about a new watch, considering that the collection is part of Hamilton‘s offering already? If you take a closer look at these two variants, you can quickly get what’s new; a hard task given the multitude of product references the brand offers.

Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

Belonging to the 42mm collection, whose options are all self-winding, the Khaki Field Titanium confirms that Hamilton is closing the gap between modern and historic military pieces, which keeps strengthening brand awareness. The two new timepieces also pay tribute, from an aesthetic standpoint to a mechanical manual winding Khaki and the original Khaki Field Mechanical. Here is why the date window has been removed from the dial, in my opinion.

Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

Hamilton adds two color combinations that represent a more mature take on the Khaki Field theme, aiming for superior readability and visibility in the dark, primarily with the PVD-treated case, whose outcome is a somewhat unusual military feel. I also like the “Titanium” inscription on the case side; it underlines the product category this Khaki belongs to. It is something I would have criticized anywhere else; I believe it is on point here instead.

Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

Hamilton adopts Grade 2 Titanium, which is easier to mill and industrialize on a large-scale production such as that associated with a top-selling product like the Khaki. It also allows the brand to keep the price point more competitive in comparison to Grade 5 titanium. All in all, titanium is an excellent choice if you’re looking for hypoallergenic properties and lightness. When looking at the new dials, from the photos we have been provided (in some markets, our competitors were able to get their hands on the watches), I feel the new ones offer bigger luminous dots on the outer ring, especially when comparing old and new PVD Khaki.

Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

Among the new features, I would highlight the brown leather strap with a double pin buckle, whose craftsmanship and softness reminds me of the Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm‘s NATO leather strap. I also believe the 50mm Khaki would deserve a titanium option too, but that’s a different topic. Priced at 895 Euros (PVD option) and 850 Euros (steel case) respectively, the 2020 Khaki Field Auto Titanium adopts the ETA C07 mechanical movement, capable of ensuring eighty hours of power reserve.

Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium

Although I usually prefer steel over PVD (or DLC) treated steel, I believe the latter option is the one to go and the closest to a modern military-inspired timepiece. In either case and here is my very last comment, I would have, however, opted for a solid case back.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 2019 watches hands-on

If we take a look at Hamilton‘s new product launch in 2018 and 2019, it seems the Khaki Field collection has taken center stage. New automatic timepieces, exclusive Limited Edition collectibles like the Khaki Field Murph along with oversized and bold ones like the Khaki Field Mechanical 50 have enlarged the collection.

The Khaki Field embodies the spirit of the American brand, its ties with the US Army first, and the Royal Air Force then, as proved by the Khaki Pilot Pioneer. When the self-winding watch was not yet available, and everyone used the wind his or her wristwatch by hand, a Hamilton watch was the first option for military and civilians, and the most reliable too, back then.

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The brand from Lancaster played a significant role during the industrialization of Northern America: the precision and sturdiness of its  mechanical movements were such that Hamilton was appointed an official reference watchmaker to most railway stations across the country during the development of the railroad conceived and built to connect East and West coast. Hamilton watches have not just adopted by military aviation; they also were a primary choice to civil aviation: pilots on board the first-ever flight, from Washington to New York, operated by the American Postal Office, were using a Hamilton watch.

hamilton khaki field mechanical H69439511 due

The Swatch Group have carefully preserved the brand’s DNA, respected its American roots, and worked hard to enhance its foothold by continuously improving features, build quality and style. Also, Hamilton is drawing inspiration from its illustrious past and keeps reissuing historical timepieces, something that I hope will last for a long time. Surfing throughout the collections, no other than the Khaki Field Mechanical best epitomizes what Hamilton Watch stands for: the 2019 Khaki Field Mechanical holds to its origins, and comes with new colors and materials, a re-engineered mechanical movement, along with new first-class canvas and leather NATO straps.

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The case features the signature Khaki sandblasted finish, while new variations include a PVD surface treatment that provides them a fresh and more rugged style, in association with superior resistance to daily scratches and unwanted shocks. A sapphire crystal has long since replaced the plastic glass, while the addition of luminescent vintage-colored SuperLuminova on both Arabic numerals, minute and hour hands intensifies the vintage feel. Each timepiece’s case is 38mm across, paired to a soft leather or canvas NATO strap, that can be easily swapped.

hamilton khaki field mechanical H69449861

The case proportions and the unisex design have long been the Khaki Field Mechanical‘s winning formula. The only letdown is the winding crown that pinches a bit your wrist. The soft and comfortable NATO straps enhance this perception since their grip, once secured around the wrist, is superb and like no other NATO strap I have tried so far.

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When you’re choosing a hand-wound watch, the amount of power reserve ranks atop the timepiece’s spec sheet; by housing the new H50 caliber, the Khaki Field Mechanical guarantees at least eighty hours of maximum energy, thus joining other brands belonging to the Swatch Group. It is not just a Group’s standard, rather an industry benchmark, in this segment.

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If you’re looking for a Hamilton watch and your first-ever, especially, the Khaki Field Mechanical is the wristwatch that perfectly embodies the American watchmaking’s legacy. Retails prices range from Euro 445 (steel case paired to nylon NATO strap) to Euro 530 if you opt for the PVD treated case on leather strap, and it does represent the best value proposition out there, although I would have reduced the price gap between cheaper and most expensive variations, in order to further promote the less common PVD treated Khaki.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph

Interstellar was Christopher Nolan‘s umpteenth masterpiece, a film featuring a cast of superb actors, awarded with the 2015 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Nolan and Nathan Crowley produced a film that excellently combines sci-fi, the theory of relativity and the paternal love of Joseph Cooper, starring Matthew McConaughey, to his daughter Murph, played by Jessica Chastain.

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Also the soundtrack, for which Nolan‘s films are widely acclaimed (do you have in mind Batman‘s, and Dunkirk‘s, original soundtracks?), is a cult amongst movie fans. Hamilton Watch was not just edited down to a cameo; it plays a meaningful role in the script of the movie. Nonetheless, the brand is very much linked to sci-fi since the Hamilton X01 first appeared in Kubrick‘s 2001 A Space Odyssey; and it’ll soon appear once again in the upcoming new episode of Men In Black.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph plays a leading role.

Science fiction has always fascinated me since I was a kid, and the theories of physics regarding space and time, masterfully illustrated by Kubrick at the time, have definitely inspired the making of Interstellar. In the film-making, Nolan collaborated with Kip Thorne, a theoretical physicist at Caltech (California Institute of Technology), to make sure the entire storytelling was abiding by the rules regarding the concept of gravitational time dilation, for example.

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If you have seen the film already, you know the script of the movie and, therefore, how Joseph Cooper manages to communicate with his daughter from a different space-time dimension than that on planet earth. Viceversa, I can only assert that the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph, which repeatedly appears during the film, is a means to help Mr.Cooper send Morse encrypted messages, from the inside of the tesseract, a four-dimensional cube of infinite five-dimensional space, to his daughter, who’s on planet earth.

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Mr. Cooper, a former NASA scientist, is traveling with other astronauts through a wormhole, in search of a planet where to bring the entire humanity, endangered by a natural scourge that’s rapidly consuming the oxygen in the atmosphere.

It is the antithesis between the romanticism and simplicity of an analog wristwatch, the Khaki Field Murph, and the complexity of multiple space-time, that makes this film and the watch so special.

What makes, in my opinion, Interstellar‘s Khaki Field Murph scene so exciting is the contrast between a pure analog three-hand watch and the complexity of the hypercube created by aliens to help Mr. Cooper send messages to Murph. In the film, the Khaki Field Murph plays therefore the main character, especially in the final part.

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By doing so, the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph has become incredibly popular since the brand has built a sweet story around the watch that looks all but commercial. The Khaki Field Murph‘s style is seamlessly fitting the scenario where the movie scenes take place; Mr. Cooper‘s house is a cottage settled amidst America‘s countryside, and the Khaki Field Murph looks like a vintage wristwatch you inherited by your grandfather.

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In making a faithful re-edition of the original watch, Hamilton also crafted a numbered edition of tesseract-inspired watch boxes (just 2.555 were ever made), an accessory that has become as sought-after as the watch itself (that is not limited). Our team of photographers focused instead on replicating as faithfully as possible the environment where the key scene of the movie takes place, and I believe we hit the nail on the head.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph would have succeeded even if equipped with a quartz movement. It features top-notch specs instead.

Interstellar was so successful that the Khaki Murph sold like hotcakes (it is priced just below the €900 threshold); I think it’d have succeeded even with a quartz caliber. To make it even more appealing, the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph is stripped to the bone; no date window at all, something that I’d love to see Hamilton Watch do on other Khaki Field watches, and the Arabic numerals are filled with plenty of vintage-looking beige SuperLuminova®.

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Also, the hands are not baton-shaped; they rather sport a cathedral hands’ style; they make the Murph distinctive and contribute to enhancing that somewhat vintage military looking feel, further. The most significant difference to other Khaki Field watches is hidden and in-scripted on the sweeping seconds’ hand that bears the wording “Eureka” written in Morse code.

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That is what Murph screamed as she deciphered his father’s Morse-coded message via the Khaki Field Murph, that allowed her to understand how to complete her project to save humanity. The Hamilton Khaki Field Murph is vintage looking on the outside, as it is modern on the inside. Sporting a 42mm wide case (crown excluded) and powered by the 80hour power reserve H10 caliber, it comes on a black leather strap that suits the overall style but could have been softer, to make it as comfortable as the latest additions to the base Khaki Field Mechanical.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm watches hands-on

It’s hard to find, in the brand’s catalog, a Khaki Field that exceeds 42mm in size, as it is with a Day Date or a Khaki Auto Chronograph for example, yet Hamilton released its biggest Khaki Field Mechanical ever when it launched the Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm, earlier last year.

It seems bizarre that a brand has crafted such a big watch when all its competitors (Panerai excluded) are generally reducing the overall size of their timepieces. However, although Hamilton Watch is today very much linked to Jazz, cinema and many cultural events, the brand was initially conceived and recognized as a brand deeply rooted in the military field. A 50mm wide Khaki Field Mechanical makes, therefore, sense.

hamilton-khaki-field-mechanical-50-mm-collection

Hamilton Watch has long supplied the US military (from World War I to Vietnam), and the Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm is the legacy to that period. It is the modern re-issue of a Type 1 Navigator, a popular watch among vintage watches connoisseurs, that is quite sought-after and reasonably priced too, nowadays. The original timepiece was not as big as this one, that resembles a Laco watch rather than the very first Khaki Field, yet it shares with its ancestor the unmistakable 24-hour inner scale on the dial.

hamilton-khaki-field-mechanical-50-mm-black-pvdHamilton launched a collection of three different limited edition watches all featuring the same oversized case, they all share a common grained surface finish, that has a sandblasted finish on the stainless steel version and brown or black PVD treatment in the other two ones, with the steel version representing a nod to the original one.

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Hamilton introduced an exciting new feature too: it replaced the original printed Arabic numerals with 1mm high indexes filled with SuperLuminova® along with raised indexes in the shape of a triangle on the outer ring. They guarantee an incredible glow in the dark. It also equipped each version with the hand-wound 4Hz caliber ETA 2804 (H-50), boasting an impressive 80hour power reserve.

Things that I like. Things that I don’t, instead.

If you’re re-issuing a 100% military watch, a date window makes no sense, and my perception is that the dial design is the outcome of a hard choice: there had to be a date window but had to be not too intrusive. The result is it looks invasive and hard to read. The three versions are geared towards three different types of customers in my opinion: people looking for something that is as close as possible to the original Khaki, those who are more into a Safari-inspired style and who is, finally, attracted by a full-black version.

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Among the pros, I would list the case finish that is a consistent improvement over the standard Khaki Field and the thick leather NATO strap: it is made of brown or black leather with stitching, or a nubuck sand colored leather on the stainless steel version. It is so well done it reminds me the premium aftermarket straps made by Bosphorus Straps or the thick NATO straps designed by Yellow Watch Dog Straps, and is exceptionally smooth and comfortable.

However, I suggest approaching a Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm only if you have a big wrist, for it is a big watch indeed. Produced in 550 specimen each, a Khaki Field Mechanical 50mm retails for 995€. Kudos to Hamilton for selling a premium Khaki Field at under 1.000€. Final thought and a proposal to Hamilton: why not realize, a 45mm sized variant featuring the same specification, for example?

The Hamilton Khaki Field Day Date 42mm Camouflage Collection

Hamilton’s history is inextricably linked to the Khaki Field and its classic three-hands-watch with a double scale – a military-inspired watch – and it is also linked to the supply of watches with specific characteristics to the American Navy.

hamilton khaki field day date auto

Even without wanting to call into question the roots of the Khaki collection that Hamilton has increasingly expanded to other sectors by creating the Khaki Navy Scuba Auto (originally equipped with a nylon strap and afterwards with a rubber strap), and the Khaki Navy Frogman for extremely professionals divers, the Khaki Field Day Date Auto brings back the Khaki collection into its original territory.

The Khaki Field Mechanical’s legacy

I have often reiterated, and this is something that should be easily understood commercial-wise, that when a collection is successful it is quite natural that the brand will expand it to explore further and try to satisfy all the tastes of the current or potentially-new customers. The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical that represents the essence of this brand founded on American soil and the new 50mm King Size epitomize today the two extremes of a collection that knows no limits and that is even used by the pilots of the Red Bull Air Race. However, nothing is as familiar as that opaque olive green military tone on a fabric strap; something that you could easily identify even among hundreds of different watches scattered on a table inside an American pop-up shop.

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The Hamilton Khaki Field Day Date Auto is the bridge connecting the simplicity of the manual winding Khaki Mechanical with no date and the modernity of an automatic Khaki Field Chrono (that now also sports the military colors of the new Jack Ryan series broadcast on Amazon Prime Video) because it features the spirit of the original Khaki watch with all the comfort sides, the size (42mm) and the characteristics of a modern automatic timepiece.

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A Khaki Field Day Date Auto does not betray its origins, but rather intensifies them aesthetically thanks to its new camouflage and solid color straps – on which Hamilton has applied a rubber insert on the inside – and the technically-refined day-and-date-complication and a super caliber.

The colors that made a Khaki so popular with the addition of a Camo nylon strap

There are three combinations of this timepiece available; the camouflage strap is matched with the black and khaki dials, while the third and more neutral version links together the gray clay dial and a khaki strap. As far as the new straps are concerned Hamilton has refined them in recent years and turned them into more personal items by transforming simple and sometimes anonymous pin buckles into refined pin buckles with the Hamilton logo embossed on them.

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I would like to command both the designers and the Product Marketing department of the brand for not giving in to the easy temptation to include a deployant buckle that would make little sense on these Khaki watches.

Just say: “Khaki”

Vice versa, the deployant buckle is indispensable on the fourth and last version of this Khaki Field Day Date Auto – a version sporting a steel bracelet and a black dial that also has a wider range of use and is more bourgeois, but, at the same time, much heavier too. If the nylon strap with a small piece sewed around the main one is a nice aesthetic novelty of the last Khaki watches, the H30 caliber with its 80 hours of power reserve and the dayanddatecomplication can be considered a best-in-class.

hamilton khaki field day date 42 mm collection

On watches within this type and price range (the retail price goes from €745 to €795 for the all-steel-version) being able to fine tune the offer, while providing the right amount of content is essential. The result translates into a positive image and into the strength of the Khaki Field collection; a brand within the brand as clearly explained by the response to a classic question: “What watch do you own?” “I own a Khaki”.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto Chrono Black PVD meets Jack Ryan

Do you remember the last time you heard about the CIA analyst Jack Ryan? If you have turned forty you do know what am I talking about. In case you don’t, let me help you: it was 1990 and the movie “The Hunt for Red October” was launched. It was a masterpiece directed by John McTiernan, starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin, playing a Soviet naval captain and CIA analyst Jack Ryan respectively. That film was based on Tom Clancy‘s bestselling novel titled “The Great Escape of Red October” and, as it has happened in recent years with other famous movies, the novel has now inspired a tv series.

Amazon Prime Video, which is the American e-commerce giant’s streaming tv channel (it currently totals more than 100 million subscribers) launched, at the end of August, a new action series called Jack Ryan, which tells, in eight episodes, the story of the most famous secret service analyst in the history of filmmaking.

Jack Ryan Campaign Poster

This is, for Hamilton Watch, the American-rooted Swiss brand, a smart move aimed at broadening its presence on the tv screen and boost its visibility, by appearing in a tv series for the very first time. John Krasinski, the actor who plays the role of Jack Ryan in the series, debuted a very special timepiece like the Hamilton Khaki Field Auto Chrono Black PVD equipped with a black rubber strap and a pin buckle in the shape of letterH“. If the Field Auto Chrono is quite known to the general public since it is one of the most popular chronographs of the brand (and among the most performing on the market, with its 60 hours of power reserve), this military-looking black version was quite unexpected and is pretty cool too.

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After celebrating the Khaki Navy Scuba Auto in the last two months, time has come now to move to something different like this special, non-limited edition watch that draws clearly inspiration from the spy-military genre.

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By launching this collaboration project, Hamilton Watch has in my opinion explored new and faster ways to introduce its products to a whole new base of potential customers.

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(Photo credit: Hamilton, Horbiter®)

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  1. I just finished reading this captivating post, and I must say, it left me thoroughly impressed. Your in-depth exploration of this iconic timepiece and the way you seamlessly blend historical context with personal insights truly make for an engaging read. Thank you for your dedication to producing such high-quality content.

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