Gearing up for your next expedition? Take one of these sturdy military watches along.
1. Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical Bronze
Stay ready for action in style with this antique-y version of the Khaki Field Mechanical, the original soldier's watch.
Right from the 38mm bronze case and brown leather NATO strap to the high-contrast matte black dial and antique lume accents, every element of the watch says "vintage" loud and clear. The watch will look even more retro over time as it develops a unique patina with use and environmental exposure.
Under the hood you'll find the hand-wound H-50 movement from Hamilton hidden by a titanium caseback. It assures an impressive power reserve of 80 hours.
2. Bausele Sydney Diver - Sand
Designed in Australia, manufactured in Switzerland, and assembled in the US, the Sydney Diver is unique as they come. It's a 200m MIL-SPEC timepiece that runs on a Swiss-made mechanical self-winding movement, the Sellita SW200.
The watch comes with a black PVD-coated 39.5mm stainless steel case featuring a sandwich dial and "old radium" LumiNova accents. Like all Bausele watches, this one has a hollow crown with something sentimental. That "something" in this case is soil from various military forts across the US.
Bausele gives you two types of straps: a Tropical rubber strap and an elastic NATO strap.
3. DOXA Army, bronze bezel, green rubber strap
The Doxa Army marks the comeback of a military dive watch from the '60s. Although this one can be polarising, those who are familiar with DOXA's design are sure to be obsessed with it.
The blocky indices and hands filled with Super-LumiNova stand in high contrast to the beige-coloured dial. Surrounding the whole setup and adding more visual interest is a bronze bezel with a green insert on a 42.5mm stainless steel case.
Your other option is a stainless steel bezel with a black insert available with a Beads of Rice bracelet or a black rubber strap. But if you ask us, the bronze-bezelled version with the hunter green strap is the most striking and luxurious of them all.
4. Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium Auto
If you want a well-built contemporary watch with military influences at an affordable price, getting a Khaki Field is a no-brainer. We highly recommend picking up a titanium trooper from this series. On the surface it looks like a standard field watch, but if you take a closer look, you'll see a few details that elevate this timepiece to the next level visually. The syringe-shaped hands and the azurage-finish ring behind the printed Arabic numerals are a case in point.
Powering this lightweight, versatile, and low-maintenance pick is Hamilton's 80-hour ETA-based automatic H-10 movement.
You have a choice of two colourways: a blue-dialed piece with a silver bracelet and an all-black option. Each of these models is available in two case sizes: 38mm and 42mm (displayed here).
5. G-SHOCK GMB2100BD-1A
This practical, luxurious, fully metallic CasiOak in its grey-on-grey form makes a good "stealth mode" watch. It's a chunky timepiece at 49.6mm, so it's not for everyone, but it certainly has the "it" factor.
The watch is water resistant up to 200m and packs the usual features you'd find in a high-tech G-Shock, such as Tough Solar, Bluetooth connectivity, and a world-time function. Worried about legibility in low light? An LED backlight ensures you have nothing to worry about.
If you love the specs and are not afraid of high shine, you can also try the stainless steel or the rose gold version of this watch.
6. Baltic Aquascaphe GMT Orange - Blue Tropic Strap
Baltic's Aquascaphe always make for great choices, with its GMT offerings extending potential practicality for military men. This caller GMT will be the perfect equipment for men who may need to track and sync up with several timezones.
The 39mm case has a bidirectional rotating two-toned bezel and a scratch-resistant sapphire inlay. Beating underneath is a 42-hour SOPROD C125 GMT movement hidden by an opaque caseback engraved with time zone information.
Our choice here is Baltic's take on the classic Pepsi bezel case with a traditional deep blue but a change from red to an orange-red tone. Finally, these are available in either a Beads of Rice bracelet or a rubber tropic strap.
7. Hamilton Khaki Navy Frogman Auto
We just couldn't resist adding another Hamilton to this lineup. Try this extremely capable 46mm diver if you want one of the biggest, baddest, budget-friendly watches around. It's the perfect accessory for a wetsuit.
A screw-down crown protected by a unique-looking guard promises water resistance of 300m. As for the movement, Hamilton has favoured the 80-hour H-10 once again with the Navy Frogman.
The black dial featured here has silver accents with lume and is a popular choice due to its high readability, but if you're not sold on this look, you have a few other dial/bezel/strap combinations to pick from.
Come visit our Watch Discovery Studio on Collins Street to try these watches on in person.
