A Look at the Hamilton Khaki Filed Mechanical Bronze Watch
Although watches with bronze cases have been around for quite some time, their popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. The use of bronze in design has broadened the material's potential applications beyond those of a tough, unconventional alternative to stainless steel. But the reddish metal is still in demand for use in no-frills tool watches, even as bronze becomes more fashionable. Hamilton's newest timepiece is a fine illustration of this traditional approach to tool watches made of bronze, as it combines the brand's signature field watch design with an alloy that will patina to reflect the wearer's experiences. With its rugged retro vibe and impressive modern movement performance, the new Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze is a charismatic and stylish addition to the long-running line.
The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze has a familiar 38mm form but a dynamic new personality thanks to the matte CuSn8 bronze alloy. The dull golden tones of this bronze alloy help to reinforce the sense of age in images, and the simple formula of wide-set lugs, slab case sides, a flat smooth bezel, and a large pillbox crown has been a staple of Hamilton's field watch designs since World War II. Many of the earliest field watches did not use stainless steel for their cases, but rather chrome-plated brass, which, once its plating has worn away, has an appearance not dissimilar to bronze. This model's compact 38mm dimensions and worn appearance are stylistic nods to the Hamilton Khaki line's ancestors, and as the bronze material ages, the design should become more intricate and weathered. Hamilton includes a solid titanium caseback on the Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze to avoid bronze patina transfer. Despite the bronze's long-lasting nautical reputation and the Khaki Field's outdoor-ready personality, the watch is only water-resistant to a dismal 50 metres.
Although the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze retains the same dial layout as the rest of the series, the new material and colour palette serve to reframe the familiar design. Identical to the standard stainless steel model is the grainy matte black dial with rounded Arabic numerals, a bold printed minutes scale, and small triangular lume marks at each hour. However, the sandy fauxtina lume in the first images is complemented by the case's warm patina, which both maintains the bronze's overall warm tone and emphasises the object's age. Like its stainless steel counterpart, this design prioritises clarity and simplicity by omitting superfluous elements like a date window and limiting dial text to a single line. Nickel plating on the sword hands and the lollipop counterweighted seconds hand is the only real visual flourish, standing out brilliantly against the black matte background. However, aesthetically speaking, a rose-gold tone or even a painted white handset would blend better with the bronze case hues than the use of a silvery metal like nickel.
Visit to get: Hamilton Khaki Field Collection Watches
Hamilton's ETA-based H-50 hand-wound movement powers the Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze. The H-50 is an ultra-convenient, state-of-the-art platform that packs a powerful punch, with a whopping 80 hours of power reserve and a whopping 21,600 bph heart rate. Some people might be put off by the Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze's slower beat rate, but I think it adds to the watch's vintage appeal by making the seconds hand move in a more jarring, staccato fashion. Hamilton completes the watch with a coffee brown NATO strap made of distressed calf leather and a titanium pin buckle. The use of weathered leather enhances the overall look of casual wear, but a bronze buckle might have helped tie the design together more effectively.
The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze, a handsome update on Hamilton's classic field watch, is both a worthy addition to the growing family of bronze timepieces and a visual throwback to the early days of Hamilton's field watches. Hamilton's Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze has a suggested retail price of $825 and is currently on sale through authorised retailers.
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