Like most of us, I am also buying more straps for my watches than I actually need. Unlike most of us I am buying (and selling) watches at a very slow rate. A new watch needs to convince me more than 95% before I buy it. That’s one reason, why I rarely buy used watches: by the time I made my mind up … they’re gone. This Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is the exception to the rule.

It appeared on Ebay and I knew it would fit my new chicken-NATO perfectly. So I bought it immediately. And as you can see: it does! The colour scheme and the size makes it the ideal watch to become my fifthwrist-watch. The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is a 38mm watch, the smallest in my collection, but not too small. It actually comes with a nice nato with leather in the middle – however as you can imagine, there is no way I will ever use this.

Inside is the H-50 movement, a hand wound caliber with a power reserve of a whopping 80 hours. It is also rather slim, therefore ideal for NATO-straps. The watch has no date and no screw-down crown. So you just grab it, wind and set it in a few seconds then off you go. If you have to set them at all with 80 hours power reserve.

Apparently, the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is the successor of a historic watch used by the military in the Vietnam war. That is historically interesting, but for me, as someone who was never in the military, it is of rather minor interest. Like many of us, although being a very peaceful man, I was into knives at some stage, too. (Idiot that I am, I sold the Damascus steel knife (that my ex gifted me) from a top German blacksmith when I needed the money (to buy a new watch). I still have two or three, but I am only using one, the 9 mm thin and 55g light Benchmade. I think those two go together well.