Field Watch Buyer Info & Pro Tips

Definition of a Field Watch

1. An analog wrist-mounted watch that keeps time, and optionally date
2. Clearly legible dial featuring large Arabic numerals and hands
3. Rugged enough to last for months or years in the field without fail
4. Common features include: lumed hands/markers/numerals, scratch resistant crystal, waterproofness, nylon band, self powered movement

Why choose a field watch?

All those digital electronics can be overwhelming in the outdoors; sadly vying for our attention, when it should be on the natural beauty all around us. To counteract this, our team often goes old-school with an analog field watch, leaving the smartwatch (Garmin, Apple, Samsung Galaxy, etc.) at home. This calms our minds and nerves, and more importantly, keeps our focus on the wonderful and ever-changing landscape surrounding us.

Finally, in and of itself, a field watch is a timeless, beautiful, and elegant device. It just keeps time and does it superbly. What more do you need?

History & Development of the Field Watch

So, let’s introduce you to the field watch. For over 100 years it has been the mainstay time keeper for outdoor adventurers. A testament to its simple, elegant and functional design, the field watch remains virtually unchanged to present day. Yes, the current construction is a bit better, e.g. more waterproof, and the movement (watch guts) have gotten more reliable and keep more accurate time. But it’s essentially the same watch!

The first field watches emerged in the WW1 era to meet the demands for a small portable wrist watch (not pocket watch) that would keep accurate time for synchronized military maneuvers — or for mountaineers, explorers, etc. that needed to keep accurate time for weeks and months in the field.

Since then, the outdoor world has fallen in love with the field watch, and it has been refined over the past 100 years. The first field watches were simple mechanical hand winders, but over time manufacturers added waterproof cases, automatic winding, more rugged and accurate movements, and scratch resistant crystals to name a few updates. In the late 20th century came battery powered quartz movements, and most recently solar powered quartz movements. But make no mistake, automatic/mechanical field watches like the Hamilton Khaki, and Seikos to name a few are still revered and sought after.

One Hundred Years | (L) 1918 Elgin WW1 field watch and (R) 2020 Bertucci E-1S Ballista Field Watch

Our Field Watch Criteria

• Rugged field watch design, classic look
• Only tells time and date
• Maximize value, no over-priced watches
• Avoid or minimize battery changes
• 40-44mm diameter dial is the sweet spot
• Weighs 2-3 ounces
• 100 meters of water resistance, less or more pending budget
• Highly legible, large numerals, bright lume

Movement Types

Automatic Mechanical: The epitome of green and sustainable, mechanical and automatic watches can last a lifetime with proper care. No electronic waste during production, no batteries to replace and put in landfills, and no buying a new watch every few years. Mechanical watches have been perfected for over a century. Both beautiful and practical, they are a joy to wear. And with improved engineering, even mid-tier automatic watches are accurate and durable. As such, the following automatic and mechanical watches are some of our absolute favorites for field use, and for everyday wear.

Pricewise, automatic watches are more expensive than battery powered quartz watches and are not as accurate — with the best automatic watches keeping time to within a few seconds per day vs. a few seconds per month for a run of the mill quartz watches. But how accurate does a watch need to be? It’s not a big deal to adjust every so often.

Solar Quartz: Solar powered, Quartz watches are the hottest category of field watches. There are a few budget watches for $100 or less. But there is exceptional competition in the high-end range of $250 to $350 where you can get a watch with nearly every desirable feature in a classic field watch that “never” needs battery replacement.

Solar watches need no battery changes since they get all the electrical power they need from a minimal amount of exposure to sunlight — good deal! And since they use quartz movements, they are more accurate than their automatic cousins. BUT in contrast to automatic watches, they aren’t as eco-friendly or have as long a useful life. This is because Solar Watches still have an electronic/quartz movement and a lithium battery driving it, albeit a battery that is solar charged. But the battery even with solar charging doesn’t last forever — most can last anywhere from 7-20 years (but one manufacturer claims 50 years).

Quartz Battery: A quartz watch uses a lithium battery to power its movement, most commonly with a lifespan ranging from 3-10 years. Quartz watches are the simplest and most economical, but also the least desirable from a performance perspective since they have no way to self-power like solar and automatic watches. However, the cost savings of quartz can be reinvested into superior movement, casing, crystal, or other features, that may make a quartz model better than a solar or automatic watch of the same price, despite having an inferior power source. Lastly, quartz battery watches are the least sustainable, since they require battery replacements more frequently.

Field Watch Strap Considerations

Many watch bands are decorative in nature, but for pure functionality, we prefer nylon webbing with dual metal loop keepers, as can be found on Bertucci watch bands. Metal is heavy, rubber breaks down, leather is bad in wet conditions, but nylon webbing lasts forever, performs in all weather, and is least likely to fail. It is also quick drying and reasonably soft against the skin once broken in.

Color Considerations For Dial, Face and Numeral

Function is beauty, which is why we prefer either white-on-black or black-on-white to maximize legibility. No other dial/numeral combo offers as much contrast. The contrast increases legibility, which in turn increases functionality. The best field watch is that which is overall most functional.

White numerals on black is the field watch tradition, but black numerals on white works quite well for some watches. Which version is better is subjective, but also relative to how and where the lume treatment is applied, and what kinds of lighting you’ll be exposing it to most frequently.