Hands-On: Three New Dials Of Hamilton’s Khaki Field Mechanical 38
Certain watches are just nearly perfect. These watches are perfect enough that when a friend inevitably asks for my recommendation for a “first good watch,” I can size my friends up based on their use case, budget, and personal vibe and land on one of a handful of great options. For my more rugged, outdoorsy, “rough-on-their-stuff” friends, that option is almost always the Hamilton Khaki Field watch in 38mm. Even more importantly, Hamilton has consistently rolled out more and more options of dial colors and case treatments over the last few years that make it easier for folks to find the right version for their style, and last month, they expanded the line even further.
This is going to be a relatively short review because the 38mm Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is a watch that we’ve covered time and time again, talked about when the brand added a bracelet, and even loved so much that we did a limited edition. In many ways, it’s a quintessential field watch and a great, first, budget option. But it’s also something people can love no matter the price point they usually buy at and a potential core option for a collection. Here’s what’s remained the same.
As the name would suggest, the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm is – you guessed it – 38mm in diameter. There’s a 42mm version of the Khaki Field Mechanical (and an automatic version with different dial styling and configuration) but even on my 7.25″ wrist and tall frame, I’m dead set on the opinion this is the platonic ideal of what a field watch should be. The original Khaki watches were 33mm, but modern tastes have changed, and 38mm feels like the perfect sweet spot.
The watch measures 9.5mm thick and has 50m of water resistance. Some people will decry the water resistance as too little, but this is a field watch, not a dive watch, and still one that I would feel comfortable jumping in a lake with. I think of it more as a great all-around hikers or explorers watch that’s rugged enough to take on most land-based activities and come out no worse for wear.
With a bronze case, “wear” is part of the charm, and you can expect the watch to patina over time. The titanium caseback will keep the watch safe from any damage, but over time, the watch will start to pick up some darkness and (judging by a quick Google search) have some marbling to it. If you’re the type to worry about keeping the case pristine, you probably shouldn’t buy a bronze watch. With their brushed, rugged case, the stainless steel models have added drilled lug holes with the same 20mm lug width as found on the bronze. Even with new dials, they’re still the classic, tried-and-true option.
The dial design is suited for just that outdoorsy use case, with big, bold, classic Arabic numerals at every hour, hash marks for the minutes on an outer track, and 24-hour numerals toward the inside of the dial. These watches also feature luminous hour markers. You can trace this back to the American military specification MIL-W-46374, first published in 1964, which set the tone for field watches of this style moving forward. We covered a collection of very similar versions of this dial from vintage history if you’re curious how Hamilton adapted for different clients or end-users, including when they shipped these watches out through L.L. Bean catalogs.
There were already a large number of dial and strap combinations in the Hamilton catalog, and these three new releases have brought that total to 12. This drop of dials includes an all-new blue dial with vintage beige-toned luminous indices and hands, paired with a matching blue NATO strap. I took this as a cool callback to the rare “Blue Anchor” vintage Hamilton Khakis, though the new dials are much more vibrant and a lighter shade of blue than the “Blue Anchors” have faded to (which is basically black). You can see an example below.
A “Blue Anchor” sold by Analog/Shift.
Inside the case is the brand’s hand-wound H-50 movement with 80 hours of power reserve. To me, that extra power reserve in a small case is a great bonus and bit of value for an affordable watch. Sure, it’s a budget option with no guaranteed accuracy given, but its one of the more solid ones on the market.
The other two dials that were released in June are a bronze-cased option with a white dial with black text and vintage beige-toned lume (a $300 premium over the $595 stainless steel case) and a new white dial in the stainless steel case with green-hued lume. In all cases, the Super-LumiNova glows green. I haven’t heard from anyone that the color of the lume used makes a big difference in their buying decision, but as my title said, more options aren’t a bad thing. Or are they?
There are really only two things I could say to potentially knock the Khaki Field Mechanical. One is the fact that the caseback is already engraved, so you can’t add your own text (I’d add some sort of faux military issuance number with dates and letters that mean something personal to me alone). The other issue is that sometimes my friends get decision paralysis when presented with the number of Khaki Field Mechanical options. For folks like them (and I count myself in their group), more options might not be better. In that case, I’d recommend one of two options: grab the first one that catches your eye and don’t even consider other options, or buy the classic black dial and stainless steel case.
Frankly, you can’t go wrong, no matter which watch you pick. On rare occasions, friends have told me that they had hoped for “X” color dial in “Y” case design – combinations that might not exist. Now Hamilton is closer to having every variable covered for every potential customer.
Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical; 38mm diameter by 9.5mm thick bronze or stainless steel case, with 50m water resistance. White or blue dials, black or white hour, minute and second hands with beige or green Super-LumiNova; Hours, minutes, and central seconds. H-50 manually-wound movement with 80 hours of power reserve. Matte brown calf leather NATO strap, blue textile NATO strap, or black textile NATO strap. Price: $595 (stainless steel), $895 (bronze).
Hodinkee
