Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba H64515133

Hamilton was an American manufacturer of watches first founded in 1892. The brand became renowned for its line of railroad pocket watches, military wristwatches, and marine chronometers until the 50s and 60s when it ventured into electric watches and watches with self-winding movements. In 1971, it became the third brand under Société Suisse pour l'Industrie Horlogère (SSIH) after Omega and Tissot, and in 1984 with SSIH's merger with Allgemeine Schweizerische Uhrenindustrie AG (ASUAG) it became part of what we now know as the Swatch Group. Under this parent company, the Hamilton brand forms part of its middle range offerings alongside brands Certina, Mido and Tissot.

Hamilton is quite unique in its marketing and positioning, banking on its extensive history and tradition as an American watchmaker, even though today, it is technically a Swiss brand. This reflects  on its design language with strong Art Deco cues and references to its extensive railroad, military, and marine heritage, and the watch subject of today's review is no exception.

The watch being reviewed in this post the Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba with reference H64515133. First introduced around 2007, in some markets it is referred to as the Hamilton Khaki King Scuba.

First, let's get one thing out of the way. The watch may have the word Scuba in its name, but it's not exactly what one may consider to be a true dive watch for several reasons. It is however, water resistant to 100m, so it can be used extensively in various water activities, including swimming, without much concern for water permeating the case. From a usage standpoint though, it seems more comfortable as a desk diver as the design aesthetic weighs more on the dressy, formal side, as opposed to presenting itself as a functional tool dive watch.

The stainless steel case has a 41mm case diameter (excluding crown), a 14mm thickness, and a 49mm lug-to-lug length. The case overall is not one may really call an oversize case, 41mm being a contemporary diameter shared with similar dive or dive-style watches such as the significantly more expensive Longines HydroConquest (see review here), Tag Heuer Aquaracer or Omega Seamaster 300m. The polished screw-down signed crown is nestled flush with brushed metal crown protectors, and it's relatively small making using it a bit of a chore as will be explained later. Lug width is a rather modest, but similarly contemporary, 20mm. The bracelet is a high-quality, precision machined but relatively unremarkable solid end-link, 3-link design fastened with a pin and collar system and actuated with a single fold-over clasp with a pinch-to-release push-button lock. Not much in the way of micro-adjustment though, with only two positions, so getting the perfect fit may be hit or miss. Surfaces are mostly brushed on the case and bracelet, giving it a subdued, less eye-catching appearance. At first glance, the watch on wrist projects a Rolex-like vibe, but any notions of this being a Submariner homage are quickly dispelled once eyes are laid on the dial.

The dial itself has to be the most polarizing design element of the entire watch, with some people liking it, and some hating it. I myself like it, and find its busy overall appearance to be part of its charm, though I can see why some people dislike it. The dial is black, with an outer border of minute and second hashmarks with Arabic numerals every five minutes. Moving further toward the center of the dial, this is followed by a border consisting of a matte ring (actually many minute concentric rings if you really look at it) with applied polished metal Arabic numeral hour indices. The 3 and 9 indices are larger than the other indices, and the 12 and 6 numerals are absent to give way to a full day indicator at 12 o'clock, and a date indicator at 6 o'clock, both white text on a black background, with polished metal frames and with red triangle highlights. Past the concentric ring border are 24 hour markings, a nod to Hamilton's heritage in making military watches. Printed text on the dial include the HAMILTON brand, KHAKI, AUTOMATIC and 330ft. The hour and minute hands are lumed slim, sword-type style ones with needle tips. Second hand is an arrow-styled polished metal affair with a rear circular counterweight and a lumed arrow tip. Lume overall is pretty sparse, with dots representing the hour indices, but nonetheless functional. Topping off the watch head is a 60-click unidirectional dive bezel with an aluminum insert and a domed scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. The bezel doesn't have a lume pip at the 12 o'clock position, nor does the crystal have much in the way of anti-reflective coating. The domed shape and the lack of AR coating not only makes the watch a bit difficult to read at a glance, but makes it a bit of a pain to photograph without reflections ruining the shot.

Powering the watch is a base ETA 2834-2, which is essentially a variant of the popular ETA 2824-2 with a full day indicator at the 12 o'clock position. As such, it shares the same major characteristics: 25-jewels, hacking and handwinding, automatic, beat rate of 28,800 bph, and power reserve of 38-40 hours. Winding, as with most other 2824-2s, can be quite stiff, and manipulating the crown, with particular emphasis on screwing it down, seems a bit more difficult than it needs to be given the polished knurling given to the crown, its relatively small size, and the inherent stiffness of the 2834-2 movement when being wound. The movement is visible through a see-through caseback, though finishing seems minimal, the only decoration of note being the signed rotor.

It is available here at most authorized dealers at around 500 USD, which seems about the average for what is typically paid for it, even among online resellers, and it represents pretty good value for what it is, a high-quality, contemporary-sized, 100m water resistant, entry-level Swiss watch.

Some photos:

Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba.

 

Seiko Neo Sports Black SRP715

Rounding off my series of reviews of Seiko's Neo Sports 4R36-based field/military style watches is this review of the black dial, black leather strap SRP715. Among this particular line of watches, starting with the sunburst blue-dialed, stainless steel bracelet SRP707 (reviewed here), the light gray-dialed, stainless steel bracelet SRP709 (I don't actually have this variant),the dark gray-dialed, stainless steel bracelet SRP711 (reviewed here), the beige-dialed, brown leather strap SRP713 (reviewed here) and the SRP715 which is the subject of this post, the SRP715 has the most basic and arguably the most classic color scheme, with a black dial, white fence-post hands and Arabic numeral indices, silver 24-hour markings and logo, polished fixed stainless steel bezel with a black painted inverted triangle pip mark at 12 o'clock and black paint hour hash marks, and black calf leather strap.

Everything that can be written about this particular model line has probably been already written in the earlier reviews I made of its siblings, so let's just look at some photos:

SRP715.

Seiko Neo Sports Gray SRP711

We now go on to the third model in my series of reviews for Seiko's recently launched line of Neo Sports watches, the dark gray dialed SRP711.

Again, as a sibling of the SRP713 (see earlier post here) and the SRP707 (see earlier post here), it is essentially the same design with the exception of the color scheme. Like the SRP707, this model also utilizes a stainless steel bracelet instead of a leather strap like the SRP713. The dial is dark gray, with most of the markings in white, except for the 24 hour markings which are in silver. The hands are also in white like the SRP707 with the second hand sporting the same predominantly black color with a white tip. The day/date wheels use white text on a black background.

Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this variant is the ion-plated brushed bezel which shares the same shade of gray as the dial.

While I have a preference for stainless steel bracelets in general, the bracelets used on this particular series don't really seem to do much in enhancing the overall appearance of the watch. Again, like the SRP707 this is on my list of candidates for a leather strap change.

Some photos:

SRP711.

Seiko Neo Sports Blue SRP707

I recently wrote about Seiko's recent line of Neo Sports field/military inspired watches (see the earlier post of the SRP713 here), and this follow up post focuses on the SRP707, the SRP713's blue-dialed sibling.

The SRP707 is identical to the SRP713 except for the adopted color scheme and the use of a stainless steel bracelet instead of a leather strap. This model features white dial markings on a very distinctive and eye-catching dark blue sunburst dial. Hands are white as well, and the second hand is black with a third its length up to the tip painted white. The day/date window is bordered in white, with the day/date wheels consisting of white text on a black background. The fixed coin-edge bezel is brushed, in contrast to the polished finish on the SRP713.

The stainless steel bracelet is a basic single fold-over clasp type with a pinch lock, measuring 22mm at the lugs and tapering down to 20mm at the clasp. End-links are hollow, and the links are secured with split pins. The clasp is signed with the Seiko brand, and only has two micro-adjustment holes, so finding the right fit may be tricky for some.

It's pretty much a variation of the theme, but personally I may consider some aftermarket straps instead of the stock bracelet.

Some photos:

SRP707.

Seiko Neo Sports Beige SRP713

Hidden deep in Seiko's product line up under its Conceptual Collection lies a range of Neo Sports watches powered by the ubiquitous hacking/handwinding 4R36. This line, which includes the SRP707, SRP709, SRP711, SRP713, and the SRP715, features a contemporary-sized 44mm diameter case (excluding crown) housing a dial with field/military design cues. Water resistance is rated at 100m.

This particular line seems to be a forum favorite but isn't that popular among non-Seiko fans or non-WISes. An Instagram search revealed only a handful of hits, and a lot of the hits pointed to the photos I myself uploaded. A shame really, because this line represents a lot of watch for the money, with a flexible aesthetic straddling the middle ground of being a tool watch and a dress watch. It can easily be dressed up or down depending on the wearer's whims, and it's available in a range of color combinations and strap options (black, blue, gray, beige dials, stainless steel bracelet or black/brown leather) and with a generic lug width of 22mm, the choices when it comes to straps are virtually limitless.

Features include a large, but not oversized, non-screwdown crown which is very easy to manipulate, hour hashes on the fixed coin-edged bezel, polished stainless steel surfaces except for the top of the lugs which are brushed, and a see-through exhibition caseback displaying a rather plain-looking, but reliable, 24-jewel, 21,600 bph, 41-hour power reserve, 4R36 movement. The dial comes in a variety of colors and is mostly a printed affair, with Arabic hour and 24-hour markers, lumed stick hour indices (the numerals themselves aren't lumed), and second hash marks. Dial text is relatively sparse, only highlighted by an applied Seiko logo midway between the center point of the dial and the 12 o'clock position, and a printed "Automatic" inscription in cursive font at the 6 o'clock end. Interestingly, the Seiko 5 logo is not at all present. Hands are lumed and of the fencepost variety, and the second hand features a lume ball on the opposite end. All of these details are topped off with a slightly domed Hardlex crystal.

As mentioned earlier, the case diameter is a rather large 44mm, and the lug width is a generous 22mm. Case thickness is 12mm, and lug-to-lug length is 50mm. The dimensions seem to be aimed at individuals interested in contemporary proportions, but may likely turn off those interested in watches with more classic sizes, or those with smaller wrists.

In the Philippines these models can be purchased for around 130-150 USD. In other territories, expect them to be priced somewhat higher, perhaps in the 200-300 USD range...still a bargain, considering what you're getting.

The specific model featured in this post is the SRP713, which has a beige dial, black markers, black outlined hands, red-tipped second hand, a black bordered day/date window, black text on white background day and date wheels, and a brown calf leather strap. Photos of the other models in this line will be shared in succeeding posts.

SRP713.