Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 Review & Complete Guide
Hamilton – a watch brand with American spirit and Swiss precision. In Hamilton’s own words:
the brand ”uses a unique combination of Swiss precision and American spirit to create distinctive, versatile watches for aficionados and style-conscious individuals alike.”
Hamilton was originally founded in the USA but then relocated to Switzerland. With that said, it led the brand to employ and develop Swiss watchmaking expertise, know-how, and methods, whilst staying true to its American heritage in terms of design.
A part of Hamilton’s history that has come to play an especially big role is the fact that the brand manufactured watches for the US military during world war 2. This led Hamilton to become an expert in this, and of course, becoming most famous for its durable and reliable watches that stood the test of soldiers in the fields.
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In recent times, Hamilton has continued to build on this part of its history and therefore put a lot of focus on making military field watches. This is one of the reasons why the Hamilton Khaki Field collection is one of its most popular. As the popularity of Hamilton’s field watches has grown, so has the range of available watches.
Today, the Khaki Field collection includes a wide array of watches for all tastes and preferences. One of these watches is what we are going to focus on in this article.
Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 Review
The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical h69419933 is a very simple and classic watch in design. Its inspiration from vintage military watches is evident, and those who know Hamilton’s vintage military watches will recognize a lot of resemblances.
The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical h69419933 has a very rugged and sporty appearance and looks, just like a military-inspired field watch should. Its clean and sporty design results in an extremely versatile watch.
In this article, we are reviewing and looking closer at the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933.
Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 case
The watch has a sporty and rugged stainless steel case that measures 38mm in diameter and has a lug-to-lug of approx 47mm. The watch weighs 58 grams including the strap. Having said that, it’s quite a small watch. Especially with its thickness of approximately 10MM which makes it sit slim on the wrist, and slide under a cuff with ease. Because of the watch’s lightness, at times, you will even forget that you are wearing it.
38mm today for an everyday field watch is quite uncommon, but it is important to have in mind the idea and purpose behind this watch. Due to Hamilton’s history, it makes sense that this military & vintage-inspired military field watch stays true not only to the design of field watches but also in terms of the sizing. The watch has a very classic size which makes it suitable for individuals with smaller wrists, or for those who have a preference for small watches. At the same time, have in mind that despite the fact that the case is quite small, the watch still has relatively long squared-off lugs which stretch far out from the case.
The case design is simple and straightforward. It’s clean, and there’s nothing that stands out too much. No fuzz just a lovely design.
As you will notice, the whole case has a matte finish from being blasted. This certainly adds to the sportiness of this timepiece and makes it appear much more sporty.
Positioned at 3 o’clock, the watch has a large crown, which is a common feature of military watches. The crown is large and allows for a good and easy grip. Note that the crown is not a screw-down, but rather a push-pull.
The fact that the crown is not a screw-down has a certain effect on the water resistance of this timepiece. In fact, this watch ”only” has a water resistance of 50m which is suitable for resisting water splashes and submersion for short periods of time, but not swimming or diving. Still, to stay on the safe side, it is advised to avoid submersion with this watch.
Sitting on top of the case is a slightly domed sapphire crystal. This is a nice detail that Hamilton opted for sapphire crystal since many watches in this price range instead opt for mineral glass.
The watch has a solid screw-down case back, as a military watch should.
Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 dial
The H69419933 is presented with a matte black dial which adds to the vintage appeal of this watch and makes it more interesting thanks to the texture.
As a military watch should, it only has painted markers in white, and not applied markers. This is obviously done for legibility reasons. Printed in white on the dial are large Arabic numerals from 1 to 12. Just inside these are smaller, 24-hour Arabic numerals printed. The 24-hour display is a crucial element in all military watches.
At 3 o’clock, the watch has a date window with a white printed frame around it. The date window has a white background and the dates are printed in black. The ”issue” with date windows is that they tend to have a somewhat negative effect on the symmetry of watches, but since the H69419933 will likely most be used as an everyday timepiece, the date window can actually come in quite handy.
This watch hasn’t received a lot of critique (which certainly is understandable), but one thing that has been pointed out is the fact that the lume is quite weak. The watch has luminous mass both on the hands and the dial, and this doesn’t glow very bright and loses its glow after just a few minutes.
The hands are simple and have the exact same design as the vintage Hamilton military watches, They are sword-shaped with a pointy tip and have applied super luminova on them.
Movement
Note that this watch is a manual wind watch. This means that the mechanical movement does not have a rotor, and therefore, you need to wind it manually in order to keep it powered. Hamilton advises that you wind it every day. There is something special about manually winding a mechanical watch, and it is particularly appreciated by watch nerds and enthusiasts. In fact, winding the watch is, to a lot of these people a daily ritual where you can appreciate the beautiful piece of craftsmanship ticking inside.
It’s difficult to explain, but for this type of watch, it is even more appropriate as the original military field watches were manual too.
The movement also features hacking seconds which allows for more accurate time-setting.
It doesn’t come as a surprise that Hamilton used a tried and true ETA movement for this timepiece considering the fact that the Swatch group owns Hamilton, which in turn also owns ETA. This mechanical manual-wind movement is robust, reliable, and rugged. In other words, just what a military-inspired watch needs.
The movement is cheap to maintain and is a workhorse that will continue to tick for years.
Hamilton H69419933 strap
The watch is presented with a beige/sand-colored canvas strap with metal buckle holes. It actually has a very high quality, is comfortable to wear, and looks great with the overall design of the watch.
If you don’t like the beige strap, or simply want to give it a new personality, and either dress it up or dress it down, changing straps is super easy thanks to the drilled lugs. And with its 20mm lug width, it’s very easy to find straps for it too.
Specifications
- Thickness: 10mm (approx)
- Diameter: 38mm
- Lug width: 20mm
- Water resistance: 50 meters
- Crystal: sapphire-crystal
- Lug-to-lug: 47mm
Conclusion
To conclude this review of the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933, this watch is a lovely timepiece with great character and history, build with Swiss quality and reliability, and presented at a price that makes this timepiece exceptional value for money.
The watch is robust, durable, and extremely versatile. It’s a watch with a great personality and timeless design. Despite being sporty and tool-like, it works for all kinds of occasions, its historical importance makes it even more appealing.
That this watch has a manual wind movement is a detail that is greatly appreciated by watch enthusiasts at a time when few modern watches have this. We can say that the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 is the perfect watch for someone who wants a vintage-inspired design but also wants modern build quality and reliability. And at this price, you really cannot go wrong.
The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical H69419933 is available to order on Amazon.
