The New Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic

Hamilton is among the original makers of field watches, producing pieces for the US military before the style even had a name. For over 100 years the brand’s field watches have helped define the category. Between 1942 and 1945 all civilian production was stopped to concentrate exclusively on providing the military with watches during World War II. Following its updated Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm line in 2018 with a mid-century aesthetic, Hamilton introduces the Khaki Field Titanium Automatic, a larger piece with a more contemporary dial and titanium case available in two tastes. We recently went hands-on with both versions and here’s what you should know about these two, cool-looking accessible pieces.

Hamilton has a healthy variety of field watches sporting hand-wound, automatic and quartz movements in sizes ranging from 38mm to a whopping 50mm in diameter. The Khaki Field Titanium Automatic falls in at 42mm, which is on the upper end for a traditional field watch, but still very wearable and contemporary. The titanium case keeps it light and comfortable on the wrist and dual sapphire crystals add to overall durability. The finish is brushed throughout with a satin sheen, and TITANIUM is boldly engraved on the left side. 

Two versions of the Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic are available. The first one has a classic, non-coated grade 2 titanium case with grey dial. The second version, slightly bolder, has its titanium case coated with black PVD and the dial is fully black. A characteristically large crown is signed with the brand’s vintage logo and is a push/pull affair, but the piece is still water-resistant to 100 metres. 

On the non-coated Khaki Field Titanium Automatic, the dial is dark grey and black with three distinct sections. The grey inner section features a 24-hour scale, while a second outer ring in black has large Arabic hour numerals over a tight spiral pattern that helps differentiate it from the other two sections. The outermost ring matches the inner section’s colour with a detailed minute and seconds track, along with spots of lume. The black PVD-coated model features a fully black dial but retains the different textures and the same layout. The syringe-style hands are filled with Super-LumiNova (green on the non-coated version, and dark cream on the black model) and are very legible, and the black seconds hand is stealthy with a lume arrowhead tip sweeping the outermost track. Similar to the aforementioned Khaki Field Mechanical 38mm line, this is a time-only piece without a date window. 

The sapphire exhibition caseback displays Hamilton’s proprietary H-10 automatic calibre with a sizeable 80-hour power reserve (the Khaki Mechanicals have 80-hour hand-wound counterparts). Based on the ETA C07.111, the movement features 25 jewels, beats at 21,600vph (3Hz) with an 80-hour power reserve. The rotor has been customized with Hamilton’s “H” cut out between the openworked sections, while the remainder of the calibre is undecorated (accessible price obliges). 

The 20mm strap is calf leather with a soft-touch finish and titanium H-shaped pin buckle. The non-coated version has a green/brown strap with lighter stitching to match the hands/indexes and the black PVD model comes on a tan-coloured strap with cream stitching. 

The non-coated Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Automatic (ref. H70545550) retails for EUR 850 and the black PVD model (ref. H70665533) is priced at EUR 895. Both variants are now available from Hamilton’s webshops and at retailers. More details and orders at www.hamiltonwatch.com.