The Khaki Field Mechanical Reference H69439931 is an interesting timepiece for me, I really like owning a hand-wound watch so the Khaki Field Mechanical is an excellent option. Hamilton has a long history of supplying the US Army field watches, the Field Mechanical was standard issue for soldiers in the Vietnam war.

So what makes a field watch? The 24 hour dial is legible, for a military watch, an easy to read dial is mandatory. The 38 mm case diameter is not too large, technically a larger case and dial increases readability. The dial needs to be visible in low light conditions and darkness, so a lume on the hands and triangular hour markers is important. I like that there is no date, I really dislike the date on most watches as it throws out the aesthetics and I cannot read it anymore at any rate.

The case requires a degree of water resistance, the Khaki Field Mechanical offers 50 metres of water resistance, this is more than adequate as this is not a dive watch, but wearers may experience some immersion in water as this is a field watch after all. The case finish is bead-blasted, that is interesting in itself. There have been some complaints about the strap, some are saying a NATO strap is the best option so I will look into replacing the canvas strap in the future.

As the H-50 movement requires hand-winding, a screw-down crown is not a great option for a hand-wound timepiece so that is not an option. The Hamilton H-50 movement is built on the base ETA 2801-02 movement, this in-house Swatch Group movement manufacturer with 80 hours of power reserve. I really like hand-wound movement, I wake up in the morning, swing my legs over the bed and wind my watch before taking it off and heading to the shower.

A display case-back really is not an option for a field watch, the movement is not expected to be hand finished, the movement is supposed to be purely functional. The attraction of the field watch is its durability, a lack of finish and offers a certain ruggedness. The case finish, the dial and the strap all associate with an outdoor watch, this is a watch designed to be banged up, just keep it away from water.