Hamilton Khaki Field King Automatic Ref: H64455133 - A well balanced watch, A Review

This is my second Hamilton watch. When I bought my Hamilton khaki Field Officer Auto H70615733 (http://westernwatch.blogspot.com/2013/12/hamilton-khaki-field-officer-auto.html) back in 2013, I was on my way to Jakarta. This time around, I got another Hamilton on the way to Jakarta. The watch that I got is the Hamilton Khaki Field King Automatic H64455133.

I had to take four links out of the bracelet to allow me to wear it comfortably.

The discount that I got from the airport shop in KLIA would never be as good as in Kuala Lumpur. Nevertheless, I still wanted to buy it there as it will be a memory of something unique about this watch.
The watch has the army type concept with three main reference scales on the dial; the outer scale has sub-minute micro markers with numeric reference every 5 minutes; the middle scale has the traditional hour markers in Arabic numbering from 1 to 12; the inner scale is similar to the last except that the numbers are from 13 to 24.

The watch comes with a date complication as well as a full day complication. What I like about these two complications is the location Hamilton designers decided to put them on the dial. The full day window is at 12 o'clock while the date window is below it. Although these two windows eliminate some markers, at least it makes the dial look symmetrical. I truly appreciate this.

An interesting thing to note is the dial texture. Whereas most of the dial is black, there is a band along the middle scale that has a multiple fine lines. This creates a toning effect.

This watch was bought for RM1,700.

The watch has a diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 11 mm. This watch has a tough look with its elegant brushed stainless steel case and bracelet. The lug width is 20 mm and it has a display case-back. Both the dial and case-back are protected by sapphire crystal glass. The sapphire crystal protecting the main dial is domed which makes it look cool at an angle. The design allows it to withstand water pressure of up to 5 ATM or 73 psi (164 feet).

The crown is located at the traditional 3 o'clock position. A push-in crown with gear-like edge for grip, the letter "H" is prominently stamped on the main surface. To protect the crown, a substantial shoulder guard protrudes from the casing where it hides in the push-down position.

Due to the dome sapphire crystal, the bezel doesn't offer a great deal of protection from glancing glows.

The standard bracelet has a reference H605.644.104 and comes with a simple locking mechanism. Access to the locking mechanism is via a push button stud on both side of the clasp. The bridge that joins both halves of the bracelet is machined instead of stamped metal sheet which makes it feel more ‘expensive’. On the clasp, the "HAMILTON" brand is prominently etched on it.

The rotor on the movement is decorated by Hamilton.

The movement on this watch is the caliber ETA2834-2. Based on the standard ETA2824-2, the ETA2834-2 has an additional day complication added to the caliber. It is a self-winding mechanism with the option to manually wind. It has hours, minutes and sweep seconds hands. When adjusting time, the seconds hand will stop. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour or 4 Hz, it uses 25 jewels with approximately 40 hours of power reserve.

Key reference points on the dial are painted with Super-LumiNova such as the hours and minute hands, the tip of the seconds hand as well as the numbered markers and the point hour markers at the edge of the dial. Unfortunately, the luminescent is rather poor.  

 

Below is a short video of the movement of the seconds hand.

 

This is a comfortable watch to wear. The size is just nice to be able to wear in all occasions. The numbers and markers are easily recognizable and quick to refer to. Apart from the rather poor luminous paint job on the watch, overall, a well balanced watch that one can wear everyday.

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