If you’re a watch enthusiast, and you’ve started from the bottom and have worked your way up through the ranks of collecting, you’ve most certainly reached the realm of the Hamilton Khaki Field at one point or another. The regular Khaki Field is widely known as one of the best modern field tool watches on the market, and today we’ll be taking a look at and reviewing it’s augmented variant with the fun power reserve complication.
This neat little complication adds a level of sophistication and interest to what is usually a time or time and day/date only watch. If you’re a big fan of the Khaki Field, and you want something with a slight twist to differentiate yourself from the main crowd, take a good look at this watch. Power reserve complications are usually found on high-horology watches, but they’ve recently been implemented more frequently on attainable offerings, such as this Longines Conquest Heritage, and my personal favorite, the Nomos Metro Datum Gangreserve.
Before we commence our hands-on review, I just want to give a mention to Gem Bijou watch store out of Toronto, who were kind enough to lend us this watch for an extended period of time coinciding with our editorial policy.
Appearance & Purpose
I’ve handled, reviewed, and enjoyed many variants of the famous Khaki Field line from Hamilton. Most recently being the Aviation Pilot Day Date in 2024, and probably most similar to the Power Reserve being the regular Automatic 38mm. Both of these watches being very different in the details to the watch we have on hand today.
While the only functional difference is the addition of a power reserve gauge off to the 9 o’clock position of the dial, the implementation of the dial layout, colors, case shape and finishing, are all entirely different. That is to say, that this watch here is carrying its own unique style despite so many variants of the Khaki Field being available on the market today.
The case is fully sandblasted, including the lugs, crown, and bezel, except for the caseback which appears to be brushed. The utilitarian finish gives the watch a great lustre in many light settings, and provides a soft feel when handling the watch. It should hide scratches fairly well, and age gracefully overtime, a nice “hidden” feature if you’re planning on wearing this watch in active situations as designed.
The case is stated as being 40mm in size, but don’t be fooled, it wears exceptionally well on my 6.5 inch wrist. The true sizing comes down to the very short, and curved lugs, along with its impressive 11.95mm case thickness. The watch may have a thin bezel, but the dial is filled with well sized Arabic numerals, hashes, appropriately branded text, and the power reserve gauge. This is far from a watch that feels empty, but rather the opposite, in return providing the illusion of a smaller wearing watch than it actually is.
Does this mean I would choose it over a theoretical 38mm version of this watch, probably not. The sweet spot for my wrist, with a small bezel and time only function, is usually around the 36mm to 38mm case size regardless of lug length and other factors. Due to its very comfortable, albeit slightly larger fit on my wrist, it comes off as more sporty looking for me personally. If you want that classier, more proportional look, I’d still recommend this to those that have at least a wrist size of 6.75 inches and larger. The watch comes equipped with a rather nice military green looking NATO strap, another reason why it fits so well. The lug width is the standard 20mm, and so the NATO strap does not appear to be too wide, it’s just right in terms of look and feel.
The dial has a mix of true white on the numerals, text and hashes, faux patina on the outer hashes and hands, and dashes of red found on the power reserve gauge. Surprisingly, the combination works very well together, as the faux patina markers and lume filled hands are not overwhelming, blending in to the dial’s natural character with ease. The glossy black dial variant we have with us helps tremendously with the legibility, and seems to tone down the busyness of what really is a time only watch.
One aspect I greatly appreciated while using and wearing the watch was the crown size, which is substantial and easy to grip. Even on watches like classic older Oyster Perpetual’s, the crown is a little undersized and more cumbersome to use. I’m happy to see that Hamilton is sticking to their true tool watch heritage and maintaining a sportier leaning concept rather than converging into something classier with their Khaki Field line.
Power Reserve & Movement
You came here to read about the power reserve didn’t you? That’s exactly what’s drawn me to this particular watch as well. Enthusiasts like us really enjoy the odd ball out of the group, and that’s exactly what this watch is. Take a winning formula like the Khaki Field Automatic 38, throw in a weird complication like a power reserve, and switch up some materials and dial layout – and here we have an excellent collectors piece.
The power reserve complication is one of the more peculiar, and fun, complications in watchmaking. For one, the purpose that is serves is somewhat useless on an automatic watch but more useful on a manual wind like this one, at the same time it allows for extreme creativity in terms of how the power reserve gauge is designed and displayed. In the case of this watch here, the gauge is slightly more generic than usual, which is ok. It has a simple “half gauge” that’s displayed horizontally, with a red F at the top and a red E at the bottom. It kind of reminds me of a petrol gauge, which is kind of cool but basic – it gets the job done efficiently. The hand or “needle” of the gauge is quite nice, with an arrow head that’s actually lumed.
The movement in this watch is the manual-wind H-23, and it’s really cool that Hamilton has chosen a true manual mechanical movement, making the power reserve function that much more interesting. The movement is manufactured by ETA, and designed exclusively for Hamilton. It has a very substantial power reserve of 80 hours and beats at 3 hz or 21,600 bph. It’s anti-shock equipped with the Nivashock system, originally introduced by Breguet in 2006 with their caliber 777Q. Of course its speciality is going to be its ability to display the power reserve indicator at 9 o’clock.
Final Thoughts
Hamilton is huge, and they make so many different watches, but I believe this reference here is one of their more compelling options. It sticks to a tried and true design but adds a slight modification of interest with the power reserve gauge. If you can hack the slightly larger size of the watch, and you want something a little different from the norm, this could be a great option for you.
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