A timepiece that has taken my interest is the Hamilton Khaki Mechanical, a rugged field watch mounted on a canvas strap. Living in Perth, I can’t just wander down my local boutique, I searched online but a Melbourne dealer was also unable to supply.

I am specifically searching for both a field watch to add to my collection and a manual wind movement. I get the two features I am seeking from this one timepiece so I am pretty happy. The Khaki Mechanical very much reminds me of the Vietnam War where Hamilton supplied watches for the troops. Hamilton was an American manufacturer before becoming a member of the Swatch Group, one of the largest watch groups internationally. Hamilton has a distinguished reputation hailing back to 1892, they manufactured field watches for the US military from to MIL-W-3818B specification.

So I will continue to search, I don’t purchase second hand so I require an Australian based retailer selling new timepieces online. My best guess is either Sydney or Melbourne but I see they appear hard to source. I am guessing these are grey market dealers so I would prefer to deal directly with the distributor. That being said, whilst I prefer correct channels, I know this position of power has been abused in the past so I hope to enjoy the advantages of competitive forces.