HODINKEE's Favorite Affordable Field Watches

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Editors' PicksPlay The Field With Our Favorite Field Watches For Under $1K

All the rugged, toolish utility you need for under a thousand bucks.

Hodinkee September 28, 2021 ADVERTISEMENT

Outdoor gear is expensive. And while a watch may not be as necessary as say, a tent, it is still a useful tool for whatever rugged adventures await. To help balance out the cost of all the needs and wants of heading out on your next excursion, HODINKEE editors gleefully present to you their favorite field watches for under $1,000.

Orient Defender Gen 1 Orient Defender Watch

One of the first mechanical watches I bought, after a vintage Glycine Compressor and a Seiko SKX007, was the first-generation Orient Defender. This wonderful little field watch has remained one of my most-worn pieces ever since. It's surprisingly complicated, with a 24-hour display, day-of-week counter, and date window, to go along with the central hours, minutes, and seconds. I really find it remarkable that for around $200, there's a watch out there that squeezes all this information together, and I frequently make the recommendation that this is an excellent option for someone that wants to experience a very, very basic take on a more complicated calendar watch. One recommendation: Go ahead and take the time to hunt down a first-generation example. The second-gen model, introduced in 2019, reworks the dial orientation and places the date aperture and crown at three o'clock. I prefer the more asymmetrical design that places the crown at four o'clock on the matte steel case – it just feels right. – Logan Baker

Orient Defender Gen 2, Original MSRP: $250; Gen 2 MSRP: $350

Marathon Navigator

For me, a field watch has to be as useful and reliable as possible while also managing to disappear on wrist when you don't need it. While the Marathon Navigator may be more closely linked with duty as a pilot's watch, I think it's an ideal candidate for an inexpensive and entirely useful field watch. With a black composite 41mm case housing an accurate high-torque ETA quartz movement, the Navigator has a 12-hour bezel (for tracking another time zone), 60 meters of water resistance, actively luminous tritium tubes for the markers and hands, and 20mm lugs just begging for your fav NATO strap. It's a no-fuss option with a sterile dial that does a lot while remaining subtle, and for an extra $25 you can add Marathon's luminous clip-on wrist compass for an extra dose of field preparedness. – James Stacey

Marathon Navigator, $350

ADVERTISEMENT Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical

The Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical is my favorite sub-$1,000 watch, full stop. Whenever I meet a young person interested in picking up their first mechanical watch without spending thousands, it's on my short list of recommendations. The design strikes me as an obvious example of how an object made for a distinct purpose can surpass its initial use case and become iconic. The Khaki Field Mechanical isn't unique in this regard – the watch world has given us several such pieces – but rarely at such an affordable price point. The more I think about it, this might be the perfect watch for the new watch enthusiast. The tactility of hand-winding is paired with a longish power reserve of 80 hours and a sub-$500 price point that is impossible to argue with. I chose it back when we did our last Three on Three, which featured affordable watches, and I'd do it again in heartbeat. – Jon Bues

Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical, $495

CWC G10 Tritium Desert Storm

CWC (Cabot Watch Company) knows a thing or two about field watches. They've been supplying watches to British Forces since the '70s, and if there's a nation that has ample experience operating in just about every environment on this earth, it's the United Kingdom. This specific G10 model is interesting because it uses a New Old Stock dial with tritium lume. Tritium went away in the late '90s as watch manufacturers moved towards non-radioactive luminescent materials. You can't buy a brand-new tritium-equipped watch today, so it's novel that CWC still sells one that offers a guarantee and after-sales support. Is it going to glow brightly? Not at all, but that's alright, the legitimacy of CWC and the NOS dial make up for the lack of lume. Plenty of field watches don't have lume, anyway. Just makes it easier for the enemy to spot you at night. – Cole Pennington

CWC G10 Tritium Desert Storm, £349.99

The Seiko SPB159: "Baby Alpinist"

A good field watch has that "you know it when you see it" personality. On the more expensive end of the spectrum, I think about the Rolex Explorer. At 36mm with the 3,6,9 Arabic numerals, there's no mistaking it for a diver or a pilot's watch. I look at this iteration of the Seiko Alpinist – oft referred to as the "Baby Alpinist" due to its 38mm sizing – the same way. The SPB159 is a fresh, albeit vintage-leaning, take on a cult classic Seiko, but something about it is begging to be taken on a day-long hike … or maybe just a solidly long walk. There's that undeniable field watch quality to the dial design with the printed Arabics. It even gives you the date as an added bonus – you know, for those moments when you're completely unplugged, in the wilderness, and just have to know what day it is. Seiko always represents value, and for a field watch under $1K, it doesn't get much better than this. – Danny Milton

Seiko SPB159, $700

The GWFA1000-1A2 Master Of G Frogman With Analog Dial And Blue Strap

For spending time off the grid, I don't think you can do much better than a Tough Solar Casio G-Shock. In particular, the Frogman model offers a lot – you have Tough Solar tech, as well as a number of other useful functions, including a dual time display. One of the biggest advantages to the GWFA1000-1A2 Master Of G Frogman is that it has an analog, rather than an LCD display – in low light conditions, I've always found it a major advantage to have hands-free legibility (although the Frogman has an on-demand light as well). While the Frogman has a number of dive-specific functions, its overall toughness, legibility, and worry free charging technology makes it a perfect choice for general use in the Great Outdoors.

–Jack Forster

GWFA1000-1A2 Master Of G Frogman, $800.

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The HODINKEE Shop is an Authorized Dealer of Hamilton, G-Shock, and Seiko watches.

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