I don’t do very well with heights. Ok, that might be an understatement. Heights, or more specifically, extreme exposure, rank right around the top of my biggest fears. As I stood in the middle of the Sonoran Desert, the sun just barely beginning to pierce the warm air and cool light of the pre-dawn morning, I watched as two of my colleagues held up the opening of a soon-to-be inflated hot air balloon.

I wasn’t nervous… yet. Maybe it was because I had been awake since 3:00 am, maybe I was too taken with the beauty of the desert landscape at such a rare hour. Maybe I was just having too much fun. But soon enough, I knew I’d find myself floating thousands of feet in the air, guided by the experience of our pilot and, more specifically, the whims of the desert winds, with my camera around my neck and a Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition strapped to my wrist.

We’d spent the last couple of days exposing ourselves and our watches to the elements – the extreme heat of Arizona in June, the shockingly cold waters of the Salt River, and the fine, powder-like dust and dirt of the Sonoran Desert. Short of dropping it on a rock, I had very little doubt that the watch was well suited to the challenges we’d been presented with. Would I myself be up to it, however? I was less certain.

New Straps and Case Sizes

The Khaki Field Expedition is a relative new-comer to Hamilton’s lineup of classic, dependable field watches, having been released less than a year ago in September of 2023. The 41mm steel field watch was extremely well received, with its utilitarian compass bezel, and clean, legible, heritage focused dial design. This spring, the collection received a few updates, some small, some big – er, smaller… let me explain.

The existing 41mm case, available in black, blue, and white dials, are all now available on coordinated NATO style straps. The khaki green straps are accentuated by rich, brown leather accents, while the navy blue strap is similarly appointed with black leather accents. It is such a natural and perfect combination for the watch that it is actually surprising they were not released with said options from the very beginning.

But the real update to the Khaki Field Expedition comes in the form of a smaller 37mm case size (get it? big update, smaller case… ahem, anyway, you get it). The new size is available with all of the same permutations as the larger 41mm cases – black, blue, and white dials, on various combinations of NATO style straps, cowhide leather straps, and steel bracelets for the black and white dials only.

Which Size Is Right

The size of the new 37mm case is, simply put, fantastic. The layout of the practical, legible dial is still clear and functional, though it’s given a little less room to stretch out. Despite this, it still doesn’t feel cluttered. If anything, the smaller presence on the wrist is in a way reminiscent of the 34-36mm field watches that Hamilton has been producing since the early 20th century. Both watches feature the H10 automatic movement, a dependable workhorse movement with 80 hours of power reserve, based on the ETA 2824-2.

As someone who is generally inclined to smaller watches, driven in part by my 6.5 inch wrist, I wholly expected to prefer the smaller 37mm case size. Despite this expectation however, I actually find I personally prefer the larger 41mm. Something about its presence feels robust and rugged. It will remind you that it is on your wrist, whereas the 37mm will fade into the background with the rest of your essential gear. This is all to say, you truly can’t go wrong with either case size.

Inspiring The Expedition

As I stood in the wicker basket, furiously snapping pictures of the awe inspiring landscape and trying to distract myself from the fact that we were 3,000 feet in the air, I looked down (something those of us who are afraid of heights are generally dissuaded from doing.) The ground was far below me, the horizon far beyond. I shifted my focus from the distance to my wrist, and a smile came to my face.

I did it. I was doing something I genuinely didn’t know if I would have the guts to do. And in a very real way, the watch on my wrist had brought me to this magnificent place, in this incredible moment. In my case, whether I was driving an ATV through clouds of abrasive dust so thick that visibility was reduced to just a few feet, or paddling along a frigid river, or floating thousands of feet in the air, the Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition had been a steadfast companion.

Watches are tools capable of telling you all sorts of essential, sometimes even lifesaving information. Yes, they tell you the time. But they also tell you how long you have been out in the elements, or how much farther you have to go. In the case of the Khaki Field Expedition, should you lose your way, by utilizing the compass bezel, it can also tell you where you need to go and how to get there – provided you can see the sun and know which hemisphere you’re in (though truth be told, if you don’t have the second piece of information, you probably have much bigger problems.)

But in addition to their utility, watches can also be an inspiration in and of themselves – a wrist bound call to adventure, reminding you as you glance down at your desk that there are deserts to cross, rivers to raft, heights to climb. And when you return, that same watch that aided in your expedition, becomes a memento to your experiences. Our watches remind us of what we were able to achieve and what we are able to overcome.

Perhaps more importantly, in a world and society where the grind of head down 9-5 is so often put at the highest priority, your watch can serve as a reminder that there is still more adventure out there waiting for you. When a watch is designed from the ground up to meet those challenges head on, as is the case with the Hamilton Khaki Field Expedition, that reminder is all the more palpable. All that’s left to do is decide that you’re up to the challenge, set the time, find your bearings, and go.

Tech Specs

Movement: Hamilton H10 Automatic movement with 80 hour power reserve
Function: Hours, Minutes, Seconds, Compass Bezel, Locking Crown
Case: 41mm & 37mm stainless case with exhibition caseback, water resistant to 100 meters
Strap: Khaki Green or Navy Blue Nato Style straps with leather accents, green or brown cowhide strap, or stainless steel bracelet
Price: USD 995 on strap, USD 1,045 on bracelet (41mm & 37mm)

Learn more on Hamilton’s website now