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Review on Hamilton Khaki Officers Automatic
As with all my reviews, i will do a brief overview of the company for a first time manufacturer review then move on to the product itself.
in 1874 The Adams and Perry Watch Manufacturing company was born in Lancaster Pennsylvania. Their actual facilities were completed in 1875, and promptly in 1876 they filed bankruptcy. In 1877 The Lancaster Watch Company was founded from the ashes of the Adams and Perry Co. After 10 years of attempting to organize a new company, the Keystone Standard Watch Company was introduced in 1886. Keystone Standard produced watches until their bankruptcy in 1890. in 1892 all assets were sold to a group of investors, including another watch company, who then founded the Hamilton Watch Company. I give you this as a somewhat accurate timeline of how Hamilton Watch company was born. Hamilton Watch went on to to have a incredible run of products that really culminated to their top in the 1950’s. A whole page can be dedicated just to their achievements and models, but suffice it to say between the Railroad pockets to the government contracts for US GI’s standard time piece to the Maritime Chronometers, Ventura’s, as well as their avant-guarde styling in the 50’s that spawned the Ventura, and the ground breaking Pulsar (the worlds first digital watch), that made them a powerhouse timepiece company in the world.
In 1969 the company started production in Switzerland. This continued to 1974 when all production was shifted. For the next 10 years the company moved from one investor group to another, with a final merger that eventually moved Hamilton Watch under the Swatch umbrella in 1984.
I will end the history lesson with why this company is especially dear to me. Two of my Great Uncles were Issued Hamiltons in both WW1 and WW2. My father was issued a Hamilton in Korea in 1951, AND was employed by the MK&T (Missouri Kansas and Texas, or the Katy Lines) from 1944 to 1986. I still own these time pieces. My father owned two 992B’s. I will bore the readers with the story of how he acquired the first on in 1948 at a later time.
So, this is a brand i have known about for some time. This being said, i started my Horological love affair many years ago, and never purchased my own Hamilton. Now that i am more versed on my particular tastes in movements, dials, styles, i finally purchased my very own, Khaki Field Officer Automatic.
I removed the handsome natural leather band and went with a natural leather NATO strap. Being at the price point it is, i wear this watch often and in very adverse environments. I have had it in the jungles of Honduras to the Colorado Back Country Discovery Route Motorcycle trails, at over 14,000 feet and many places in between, this watch has functioned in excess of 100 degrees and well below freezing. I will wear it with a sports coat in the correct situations, and have never worried about its styling or performance.
The Dial is an elegant dark background with light mocha numbers, hands and seconds register. This watch has the ETA 2824-2, the Ford pick up truck of movements, found in many, many watches. Many watches. I have had it in for service once in the time i have owned it, for seals. The time has been spot on with my particular unit at -2 seconds per day. It has a nice crystal back plate to see the movement. It is a 44mm case that is larger than some, but i appreciate that particular size. The crown is not a screw down, so i do keep careful to not go too deep with this unit in the water. It is rated at 10 Bar, 100 Meters, or 300 Feet water resistant, but if i am at 300 feet, i will either not be wearing this watch, or there is a tragic problem. I have never had it below 20 feet personally, but am not afraid to wear it in the water. I am more afraid of the band smelling bad than the performance of the watch!
I really have no bad things to say about this watch. It comes in at a great price point for a Swiss watch 945.00 usd from Hamiltons web page, but you can shop it much cheaper. I find it to be an attractive watch, easy to read the time, although the date window is a tad small for my eyes. I guess if there was a con, i would like it to have tritium hands, so the total darkness reading was better. The movement is not a fine exquisite piece, meaning to me its easy to service if there are any issues, and not ridiculously expensive as some of the other pieces in my collection.
So to add to the story! I just completed a 2200 mile motorcycle trip from Brownsville Texas to Choluteca Honduras. This was my travel watch. I had no issues with it. It performed flawlessly from the heat of Texas, along the coast of the Caribbean, through the jungles of Guatemala, on to the Pacific coast of El Salvador, then the final destination of Honduras. A very difficult trip for an automatic watch, getting constantly beat up from the handlebars of the motorcycle to the downpours of rain in the jungle.
GENERATION ADVENTURE APPROVED!