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Field Watches · Page 8

494 articles · Page 8 of 21
Driving Design: European Cars and a Family Heirloom Seamaster Worn & Wound
Aug 29, 2025

Driving Design: European Cars and a Family Heirloom Seamaster

Ansel Iisaka is an industrial designer, watch lover, and European car enthusiast.  Laid back with a thick beard, and often dressed in 1970s-esque attire, Iisaka doesn’t seem like your average mechanic, nor does he reveal much about his deep knowledge of watches. When asked about his propensity for both, he admits that growing up among the enthusiast cars that his father collected, drove hard, and cycled through may have caused him to feel “desensitized to rare or exotic cars.” Instead, he focused on what he calls, “really well-made, practical cars that I could use every day.” The first of these workhorse vehicles? A Volvo 240, one of the most iconic and reliable European cars ever built. Despite earning ASE certification in automotive service while still in high school, Iisaka chose to pursue the pen-and-paper side of his passion for mechanical artistry, and after completing a degree in industrial design, he found himself drafting concepts for several microbrand watch companies-an area he’d never considered before. While Iisaka states that he can’t reveal those projects due to contractual obligations, he has had a hand in designing field watches and vintage skin divers for a well-known microbrand. “I love all well-built mechanical things, especially those that were designed for longevity and repairability,” he explains.  That appreciation for watches wasn’t immediate, though. It took a very special timepiece, handed down to him from his grandfather ...
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Praesidus Finds Refinement With The Victory Collection Fratello
Aug 29, 2025

Praesidus Finds Refinement With The Victory Collection

Anyone who has followed Praesidus over the past few years knows the brand has always focused on paying tribute to watches with military heritage. From revivals of the rugged A-11 to limited models tied to real veterans’ stories, the watches have been rooted in the world of utility and service. But now, the brand is […] Visit Praesidus Finds Refinement With The Victory Collection to read the full article.
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Review: the LÖBNER Steelracer Chronograph Worn & Wound
Aug 22, 2025

Review: the LÖBNER Steelracer Chronograph

There are two kinds of tool watches out there. There are the tool watches we typically think of: sporty, rugged types, often divers or field watches, that can take a beating. And then there is the other type of tool watches, which are simply watches that resemble tools. No, not in the human sense, but rather technical items like gauges and other instruments. Germany’s LÖBNER’s current watches firmly fit in the latter category, though they are not unwelcome in the former. Founded in 1862, LÖBNER specialized in precision timing equipment, such as stopwatches that could time to 1/100th of a second, as well as military chronoscopes that went all the way to 1/1000th of a second. They were a timekeeper at the Olympic Games, and worked closely with motorsports. The brand ceased operation in 1944 and was revived in 2023 with the launch of both three-hand and chronograph models. Designed by Emmanuel Dietrich, also of the eponymous brand Dietrich, for its relaunch, LÖBNER set out to create luxury timepieces that speak to this heritage while pursuing a distinct personality through a strict design language and novel functionality. The resulting models, a three-hander with an internal bezel called Sledge and a chronograph called Steelracer, feature angular integrated bracelet designs and dials with a graphic sensibility. LÖBNER was kind enough to send both over to check out, though for the sake of brevity, this review focuses on the Steelracer chronograph. Featuring an integrat...
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Building a Watch From Scratch In Brooklyn Worn & Wound
Aug 13, 2025

Building a Watch From Scratch In Brooklyn

Have you ever considered what it would take to start a microbrand? I was deep in an instagram doom scroll when a field watch I’d yet to see abruptly stopped my thumb. “I love this watch. My good friend made this by hand and it’s incredible. He makes them in Brooklyn from scratch. Check out his work” my buddy Greg’s caption read. I was digitally introduced to Giles Clement.  Raised in the Catskills, he was always a tinkerer. It probably started with him putting old lawnmower engines on wheels as a makeshift go-kart, but he has always had the gift of creating something from nothing.  A decade ago he stumbled upon a massive petzval lens at a thrift shop outside Chicago. This launched a years-long endeavor of building his own large format camera and teaching himself wet plate photography. Before he knew it, he was in a tent at a music festival in Rhode Island taking a portrait of Kris Kristofferson with a giant camera made of plywood and trash bags. The rest is history.  Photo by Jonah Markowitz He went on to have a successful photography career, capturing portraits of folks like Nick Offerman, Fiona Apple, Channing Tatum, Questlove, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello and various other high profile figures, as well as several fine art series.  Suddenly in 2020, like many others in the film and photography industry (myself included), work disappeared and he found himself on a forced hiatus. Never one to have idle hands, he began repairing watches. Ebay offered access to...
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Introducing: The Seiko Alpinist EU Limited Edition In Blue Fratello
Aug 9, 2025

Introducing: The Seiko Alpinist EU Limited Edition In Blue

There’s no shortage of Seiko releases these days, but few pique our interest quite like a new Alpinist. The rugged field watch has earned cult status over the years, balancing quirky charm with real-world capability. Now, with the introduction of the Seiko Alpinist SPB531, the brand adds a Europe-only edition in a deep, moody blue. […] Visit Introducing: The Seiko Alpinist EU Limited Edition In Blue to read the full article.
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Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Review Teddy Baldassarre
Jul 10, 2025

Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Review

Is there a contemporary field watch as beloved and versatile as the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical? At this point the illustrious military history of the Khaki Field watch has been thoroughly explored (and if you’re not familiar with it, our resident historian Mark Bernardo has written an encyclopedic guide here). In short, Hamilton produced over a million watches for the United States military during World War II with its field watch in specific garnering praise for its universally consistent quality. This predecessor to the Khaki Field was a 34mm-wide field watch done in a chrome-plated metal case with radium lume dials and a manual-wind Caliber 987 movement. The modern Hamilton Watch Company was bought by the Swatch Group in 1974 with much of the production already having moved to Switzerland in 1969. The brand’s reassertion as a bonafide, authentic maker of military tool watches with historical provenance proliferated as an entire collection under the “Khaki” umbrella. While it was still producing watches for actual military units in the 1980s and ‘90s, Hamilton had done well by marketing to civilians once again in the wake of the Vietnam War. These early post-war civilian Hamilton Khaki watches were co-branded with retailers like Brookstone, Orvis, and L.L. Bean. This was also the time during which the “Khaki” logo began popping up on their dials. In 2018, Hamilton released the Khaki Field Mechanical which has gone on to be one of the most popular and b...
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Introducing: The Icy-Cool Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm Zermatt Exclusive Edition With A Matterhorn Engraving Fratello
Jul 2, 2025

Introducing: The Icy-Cool Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm Zermatt Exclusive Edition With A Matterhorn Engraving

This watch might not be for field-watch purists. But for those who are more open-minded and don’t mind chill frivolities, this icy-cool Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm might be just the watch they’re looking for. It will involve a bit of traveling, though, because this frosty-dial watch is only available in Zermatt. You will have […] Visit Introducing: The Icy-Cool Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm Zermatt Exclusive Edition With A Matterhorn Engraving to read the full article.
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30 Best Field Watches For Every Budget Teddy Baldassarre
Jun 16, 2025

30 Best Field Watches For Every Budget

Field watches are among the most straightforwardly utilitarian of timepieces, deriving their design and functionality from early 20th century timepieces worn by soldiers and other military operators “in the field,” hence the umbrella term. While they will vary in their design elements and details, field watches (earlier models were also called “trench watches,” a reference to their usage in the trench warfare of World War I) are recognizable for a handful of elements that are mostly omnipresent: clean, highly legible dials with few if any superfluous subdials (some use a small seconds display); luminous hands and numerals; big, readable hour markers (mostly Arabic numerals, occasionally indexes; the "purist" version of a field watch dial likely includes a 12-hour scale with an additional 13-24-hour ring for military time, as you'll note in many of the models here); and a general sense of toughness and reliability while being understated in both size and design (the smaller and lighter the watch, the less burden on a soldier already loaded with gear). Many of these qualities also define the style elements of early pilot's watches, with which field watches share many MIL-SPEC similarities, hence the occasional crossover model. Here are 25 modern-day field watches (or watches that tick the "field watch" boxes nicely) that are on the market in 2022. For browsing and shopping convenience, we list them in ascending order of price, from everyday models around $200 to luxu...
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Hands-On: Suspend Your Purism And Enjoy Two New Colors Of The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm Fratello
Jun 7, 2025

Hands-On: Suspend Your Purism And Enjoy Two New Colors Of The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm

The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto has been a gateway watch for many seasoned collectors. It is also one of those rare watches that serve that role without owners “growing” out of it. You’ll find it sitting proudly among Rolexes and Omegas, holding its own in so many enthusiasts’ collections. Today, we get two new colorways, […] Visit Hands-On: Suspend Your Purism And Enjoy Two New Colors Of The Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm to read the full article.
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Formex Introduces the Second Generation of their Contemporary Take on the Classic Field Watch Worn & Wound
May 27, 2025

Formex Introduces the Second Generation of their Contemporary Take on the Classic Field Watch

Ever since its introduction, the Formex Field Automatic has been a favorite of enthusiasts in search of a modern twist on the tried and true field watch. At the same time, it also felt a little like an outlier in the Formex collection. For a brand that has built a reputation on clever manufacturing innovations, the Field was remarkably simple and, for Formex, pretty subdued. That’s the nature, though, of a field watch, and at the end of the day, Formex’s version of it has always been a well made, if rudimentary, take on the genre. For the Field Automatic Gen 2, Formex has mostly stuck with what worked with the first Field, but upped the complexity of the dial and, as you’d expect, added some new colors to the collection.  Available in three colors (Ice Blue, Coho Salmon, and Basalt Grey), the new dial design adds considerable depth and texture to the experience of the Formex Field. Each dial is constructed from two parts, a center section with a sunburst finish and a sloped minute track that gives the dial what the brand refers to as a “saucer-like” profile. Adding to the perception of depth on the new dials is an hour track positioned between the minute track and central section with a contrasting smooth texture and recessed, stenciled, lume filled numerals. Formex’s stated goal here is to create a three dimensional effect, something that we don’t normally associate with the typically “flat” dials of most field watches.  The case is unchanged from the ...
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Comments 3

  1. Marcus T.
    The 36-40mm range is worth emphasizing; many modern field watch offerings have crept up to 42-44mm, which rather defeats the purpose of the legible, compact utility tool. I'd note that the proper lineage traces back to the Omega CK2129 and A-series military watches of the 1940s, not just general military tradition. The movement, typically a 15 or 17 jewel hand-wound caliber, was always secondary to case and dial function.
    1. Otis replying to Marcus T.
      good write-up but surprised no mention of the seiko 5 field watch variants. they hit that 36-40mm sweet spot and the dial legibility is as good as anything twice the price.
    2. Jonas replying to Marcus T.
      Completely agree on the size creep, though I'd argue the A-series influence gets overstated sometimes. The real test is whether it still fits under a uniform cuff, ja? Movement specs matter less than you'd think; a clean dial and proper contrast do the heavy lifting.

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