Timex Transforms the Humble Mechanical Field Watch into a Fun, Affordable Everyday Companion

Field watches were the original men’s wristwatch, and as such, they tend to be pretty plain. Born in the trenches of WWI, their job has always been to provide a clear view of the time with as few distractions as possible, while also being rugged enough to take a beating.

But who says a field watch can’t have a little personality — or even a big personality?

Many brands have been experimenting with the field watch form for a while now, including Timex, which is taking perhaps its funnest crack at it yet in a new collab with Worn & Wound cheekily dubbed the “Field Watch w/a Twist.”

Worn & Wound

Twist and shout

The Field Watch w/a Twist has many characteristics that we associate with classic field watches. Its brushed stainless steel case comes in at just 37mm across, keeping in line with the traditionally small size of the genre.

It’s powered by a manually wound hacking movement, just like the iconic A-11 of World War II, AKA “the watch that won the war.” The Timex uses a Chinese-made Sea-Gull Cal. TY6 hand-cranker, which Worn & Wound says was chosen for its “tactile experience,” which I assume means you can really feel the gears turning when you wind the watch.

The dial is decidedly legible, incorporating bold lumed Arabic numerals for the hours, a full minute track and an inner ring denoting 24-hour military time — classic field-watch stuff. There’s also a domed acrylic crystal, the same sort you’ll find on most vintage watches, and the strap is a military-style nylon NATO.

Worn & Wound

The classic field watch bona fides are very apparent on this new collab, but what sets the watch apart from other field watches is the fun-loving dial.

Those three aforementioned time scales? They’re printed concentrically with a pair of railroad tracks separating them, creating a flashier-looking dial reminiscent of a classic sector dial.

And those Arabic hour markers? They’re italicized and arranged so that they’re all oriented with their bottoms toward the handstack. It’s a unique effect that makes it look like the numbers are running a lap around the dial. This effect is amplified at night, as the hour markers — along with the hour and minute hands — are fully lumed with a thick application of Super-LumiNova C3.

Worn & Wound

Then there’s the watch’s use of color. Field watches tend to be a bland affair of black and beige, but not when they’ve been given a “Twist,” apparently.

There are two versions of the new Timex: “Whirlpool” features a mix of blue and dark blue on the dial with yellow and sky blue accents, while “Storm” features a mix of silver and anthracite with accents in sky blue and red. Whirlpool gets a blue strap, Storm a gray one.

Pricing and availability

With their wearable size, fun dials, abundance of lume, shatter-resistant acrylic crystals and 50m of water resistance, the Field Watch w/a Twist ought to make for a great everyday watch. And the best part is, they’re so cheap that you might as well get one of each color.

Worn & Wound has priced the Field Watch w/a Twist at just $299, which is dirt-cheap for a mechanical field watch with such an original design as this. Both variants are limited to 500 examples each, and they’re available to preorder now at W&W’s Windup Watch Shop.

Worn & Wound

Timex x Worn & Wound Field Watch w/a Twist

Specs

Case	37mm
Movement	Sea-Gull Cal. TY6 manual-wind
Water Resistance	50m

• $299 at Windup Watch Shop

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.

Related Topics