This Affordable Field Watch Takes a Brilliant New Approach to Military Time

The military field watch, as we know it, was codified by the US government in the late 1950s and early 1960s. One of the defining elements is a military time dial, featuring a numerical hour track joined by an additional, smaller hour track numbered 13 through 24.

Countless variations of the military time dial have emerged over the past 60 years, but the Australian indie brand Erebus has taken a mechanical approach that simplifies the concept. With the help of a custom module added to an automatic movement, the Twenty-Four adjusts to military time on its own.

Erebus Watches

The concept is so simple that it’s a wonder no one has created it before, at least not that I’m aware of. The hour markers sit on a disc below the dial plate and are exposed through a dozen circular cutouts, like so many date windows.

At midday, the 1 through 12 track switches to a 13 through 24 track, then reverts back at midnight. A simple mechanism removes the inference work from reading a military time dial while also cleaning up its appearance.

Erebus Watches

The Twenty-Four sits inside a classic, rounded field watch case made from brushed stainless steel. It is available in a 40mm case that offers 100m water resistance and a 38mm case that cuts the water resistance in half.

Both case sizes are available in 10 different dial colors, including a few texture variations. Every option comes on a leather pin buckle strap that matches the dial color.

Twenty-four hours a day

A few visual details run throughout the Twenty-Four collection. Every variation has metallic obelisk hour and minute hands with Super-LumiNova inserts, joined by an arrow seconds hand with a red-framed tip holding a lume insert.

Erebus Watches

Both hour tracks are written in white on a color-matched disc below the dial plate, and every dial variation features a small track around the outer rim with arrows adjoining each hour window and four dashes spaced between.

A majority of the dials use a sector design with a coarse texture for the center circle, featuring a crosshair framed by a 60-dash ring. The Erebus logo sits below 12:00, and “Twenty-Four,” along with the water resistance, is printed above 6:00.

Erebus Watches

The hour track sits in a glossy track, surrounded by a coarse outer ring that holds the printed minutes track. One knock on the design is that the dial lume is limited to the hands and the tiny triangle markers on the outer rim.

Both case sizes offer a black dial with a topographic map printed on the center sector, along with a couple of options that feature the circular Erebus logo at the dial’s center.

Erebus Watches

The clever changing of the hour markers is accomplished with a custom-built module added to a Miyota Caliber 9039 automatic movement. Other than the switching numbers, it functions like a standard automatic movement, beating at 4Hz and providing a 42-hour power reserve.

Availability and pricing

The Erebus Twenty-Four is available for preorder now from Erebus for $499, which is $100 off the standard price once the watch launches in October 2026.

Erebus Watches

Erebus The Twenty-Four

Specs

Case Size	38mm or 40mm
Movement	Custom Miyota Caliber 9039 automatic
Water Resistance	50m or 100m

• $499 at Erebus Watches
  $599 (17% off)

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