Some watches are built different, and these few are certainly not shy about a bit of a rough and tumble.
We tend to take for granted the ability to tell accurate time down to the very second. In fact, we now have the world’s time at our fingertips, and we assume that this all came through the smartphone. But a rich swathe of history precedes how that came to be, dating all the way back to the sundial.
What use do we have for accurate timing? Telling the difference between the first and second swimmer at the Olympics, for one. Or coordinating flights between countries on opposite ends of the world.
Another example of the utility of time goes back to the times of worldly conflicts, when soldiers executed missions solely through the agreed-upon time based on their field watches. It is in this spirit that is exploring this month’s theme of ‘home is where the heart is’.
Many soldiers have worn watches while defending their motherland, which soon evolved into the field watch. But apart from that, many other timepieces can handle the rigours of a rough vocation. Here are a few of them.
Hamilton: Boots In The Field
While Hamilton is known for its appearance in blockbuster titles such as Interstellar, Dune, and Oppenheimer, it is perhaps the best brand that champions the field watch aesthetic today.
Its extensive line of Khaki Field watches covers many different designs and technicalities, ranging from automatic to hand-wound movements. Not surprising, seeing how Hamilton produced watches for the US Army during World War II.
And here, its 2025 iterations highlight the best parts of a field watch — legibility, simplicity, and a utilitarian edge — with sunburst-coloured dials that add a contemporary touch. In contrast, military-issued field watches of decades past only sported black dials. They were tools, first and foremost, so they only had to tell the time.
The Khaki Field Automatic collection of today has graduated beyond utility and now accommodates for style too. The canvas or NATO straps have made way for leather straps as well as steel bracelets. All the better to style your business casual wardrobe with.
This specific variation of the Khaki Field is sized at 38mm and 42mm, with khaki green or dark blue dial options. Field watches of the past were not as flashy, but this one is, a perfect example of how to take something with heritage and infuse it with contemporary features.
Tudor: Into Unknown Territory
Continuing down this line of field watches, we get the Tudor Ranger. It is hard not to look at Tudor and not associate the entire brand with rugged living — its motto is ‘dare to dream’ after all. So most of its collections, namely the Pelagos and Black Bay series, are synonymous with robustness.
Yet the Ranger takes point for being a tough watch thanks to its tied history with the British North Greenland Expedition in 1952. Yes, the watch had existed long before that, but it was this aforementioned expedition that would propel the Ranger into rugged hall-of-fame.
At the behest of Tudor’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf, the adventurers wore the Ranger watches to pit them against the elements. And what better place to test the hardiness of your watch than in extreme weather and elevation? Some 2,700 metres and -90 degrees Celsius, to be exact.
Unsurprisingly, the watch stayed accurate despite the challenging circumstances, and in a thank-you letter written by one of the expedition members, it was also noted that the watch had not needed to be rewound by hand and was well-synced with the time announcements on the radio.
Today’s version of the Ranger comes at a versatile 39mm, with its Calibre MT5402 movement providing COSC-certified accuracy. While there is little need to subject this watch to similar abuse today, it has proven that it can take whatever is thrown at it, and then some.
Panerai: Tough Collaboration
Panerai has always been associated with the military, with one of its longest collaborators being the Italian Royal Navy. In fact, this partnership has existed for more than a century now. The Submersible Chrono Marina Militare stands as one of the brand’s toughest watches to date, but to appreciate that fact, we first have to go to the beginnings of Panerai and the Italian Royal Navy.
Their first jointly-developed technology was not a timepiece, however. It was Radiomir, the patented luminescent material that was to be used in timepieces and sights of equipment. Soon enough, the development grew to include watches, with robust features incorporated into the design. This included the welded lugs, water-resistant leather straps, and sandwich dials that increased luminosity. The last bit apparently resulted in lume that was so strong that the personnel on the field had to cover the watches with mud to prevent them being spotted.
That brings us back to the Submersible Chrono Marina Militare Experience Edition PAM01699 of today, which pays tribute to yet another military chapter that is the Italian Navy aviation branch.
Many of the hallmark features that give this watch its utilitarian reputation are present here — a large 47mm dial, crown guard, Grade 5 titanium case, and a P.9100/R automatic calibre movement, which adds many operations features that are rarely found in other movements. This includes the resetting of the seconds hand to zero when pulling the crown, which allows quick syncing of the time rather than having to wait till the needle makes its way to 12 o’clock.
One more feature that makes this a tough watch is its 500-metre water resistance, making it a prime choice for deep sea exploration, though only a handful of people will ever truly test this rating to the limit.
To top it all off, buying one out of these 35 limited-edition watches grants clients the Experiences Programme, which allows participants to experience life in the Naval Air Station in Grottaglie for three days. Now, how is that for a tough collaboration?