Thoughts on Swiss Hamiltons

I’ve only had experience with vintage American hamiltons, though there are a few Hamilton khakis that have caught my eye. Would anyone like to share their thoughts and experiences with newer Swiss hamiltons? Particularly the khaki?

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I have the Hamilton Khaki Field and I love that watch, it keeps time and had no issues. I did swap out the straps for a rubber strap I found on Amazon. For the price it is a great watch. 

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@HamiltonJuan is your man. I'm personally pretty happy with my Hamilton Khaki aviation day date auto. Apart from the stupid name I'd recommend it. A.k.a. 'the Cooper'. 

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Well, that may be enough to justify the purchase. I found a khaki in new condition but needing repair.  About a hundred bucks under retail.  

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Khaki mechanicals and automatics also seem to be 👌. Both on my list.

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I really like mine. It’s very comfortable of course as a titanium it’s really light. But I think it looks great and from what I can tell works very well. It is new though and I’m probably still in the honeymoon phase. 

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My Hamilton kfa is my current favorite watch that I own. 

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The only Hamilton I've had is my Khaki Pilot (H647150). I purchased it pre-owned primarily to get a feel for how a very large watch (46mm) would feel on my wrist.  At the $375 CDN I paid, it was an absolute bargain. It has decent case finishing, and the ETA 2836-2 movement keeps amazing time. I don't wear it often (mainly due to its large size), but when I do, its never gained more than 1 second per day. The only negative is the crown action. It feels "uncentered" when setting the time or date, and winding isn't as smooth as it should be (and also a bit on the loud side). Based on my experience with this watch, I'd have no problem adding another Hamilton to my collection.

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Thank you all for the input. I went ahead and bought the watch. I have a feeling my wrist watch collection is going to increase qiet a bit since I joined this forum.  Now my only issue is hiding them from the wife.  I figure layaway is my best bet. 

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She’s come to terms with my pocket watches only because I’ve promised to sell the majority after ive repaired and serviced them, but some of them are just so nice I’m going To have to hide them. 

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I have a Khaki King I got because I like the full day on it.  I love everything about it except the glare.  It is annoying looking down and trying to find a proper angle to read the time.  I'd recommend trying one on first if you can and seeing how you feel about the glare.

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I have four different modern-ish Hamilton and all have been hassle free.

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Brodaag

I have a Khaki King I got because I like the full day on it.  I love everything about it except the glare.  It is annoying looking down and trying to find a proper angle to read the time.  I'd recommend trying one on first if you can and seeing how you feel about the glare.

The Khaki King is so nice at 40mm.

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Hamiltons are Versatile. 

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JohnnyChaz

Thank you all for the input. I went ahead and bought the watch. I have a feeling my wrist watch collection is going to increase qiet a bit since I joined this forum.  Now my only issue is hiding them from the wife.  I figure layaway is my best bet. 

What did you go for?

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I have a 42 mm Jazzmaster. The build quality is excellent, per details, fit, finish, and design. Hamilton today is a "remix" of Swatch family products, and I can see many similarities between it and family brands such as Tissot and Mido. They appear to take the same basic designs and create "USA" or "Italian" or "Traditional" looks through styling touches. It comes across to me as what GM did back in the day when restyling the same basic cars to be sold as Chevrolet, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, or Cadillac.

 My brain likes the Jazzmaster but my heart not so much. It wears very large on my wrist, per substantial weight and thickness, a bulging and magnifying domed crystal, and undercut case that catches on things (the top flares out). If buying again I'd choose 40 mm instead. 

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TimeCop

What did you go for?

Well, what I thought was an older field pioneer, but after some reading which I should have done first, I found out that there are a ton of copies.  I’m going to cancel my order. 

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JohnnyChaz

Well, that may be enough to justify the purchase. I found a khaki in new condition but needing repair.  About a hundred bucks under retail.  

WAIT! It'll likely cost you more to repair than the $100 difference.  You might as well get a new one. 

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If it’s counterfeit, which it most likely is, it’s worthless.  If it was genuine, I am a horologist by hobby and am more than capable of repairing and servicing.  😁

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JohnnyChaz

If it’s counterfeit, which it most likely is, it’s worthless.  If it was genuine, I am a horologist by hobby and am more than capable of repairing and servicing.  😁

If you want a new one from a reputable source, theres plenty of deals to be had. 

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I love my Khaki and enjoy it on a variety of straps. 

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Love the Khaki Pilot Pioneer.  One of my issues with many of their models is the reflection on the dial and their long lugs which don't fit me well.  Tried at least 4 different models on and none of them work for me.  They are generally great value and movements and some really nice dials.

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Ah Hamilton. 😄  Great watches at resonance prices. Never have had a problem with one really, the worst issue being the second hand of the chrono on a X-Wind not returning to zero, a common issue with the 7750 family. That was corrected when in for some overdue service. BTW, Hamilton does fantastic service work for reasonable fees. 😄Now of my wrist would just be as thick as it was 10 years ago, those too small straps would fit again. 😂

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I love Hamiltons! I have a sizable collection of vintage Hamilton electrics from the late 50s / early 60s particularly all of the asymmetric designs (later homaged by Gilbert Albert of Patek Philippe) and I also have a nice collection of modern Hamiltons.

Here are some of my favorites from the modern references:

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Field watches are Hamilton’s thing. If you want a classic, solid, clean looking field watch, Hamilton absolutely crushes it. The intra-matic panda and reverse panda are super classy. That’s where they shine. I find their dive watches to be fine but nothing great. The jazz master dress line is fine but not amazing imo. So if you want a field watch, don’t think twice about getting a Hammy

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My one is a definite keeper in my collection, 38mm auto with accuracy of +6 sec a day is pretty good for an off the shelf 2824 movement.

Very comfortable on wrist as well, only thing is no AR on the sapphire, but I can live with that given the price and what the watch offers.

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Love my Hammy. The best part is that mine is running 0 spd for 3days measurement vs atomic clock. 😊

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LucasAndacielos

Field watches are Hamilton’s thing. If you want a classic, solid, clean looking field watch, Hamilton absolutely crushes it. The intra-matic panda and reverse panda are super classy. That’s where they shine. I find their dive watches to be fine but nothing great. The jazz master dress line is fine but not amazing imo. So if you want a field watch, don’t think twice about getting a Hammy

I’m definitely a function before form kinda guy. Not really into dressy watches except for special occasions in which I prefer a pocket watch.  My work watch is a Casio wr100m, though heavily modified, because it’s durable, has a 10 year battery life, and foremost cheap. Outside of work I wear a seiko 5 sport  matte finish with a nylon band Because it fits the same criteria, though quite a bit more expensive than the Casio, and because I prefer mechanical watches over electric by far.  No frills, reliable, and keeps decent time of course, and doesn’t break the bank.  

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JohnnyChaz

I’m definitely a function before form kinda guy. Not really into dressy watches except for special occasions in which I prefer a pocket watch.  My work watch is a Casio wr100m, though heavily modified, because it’s durable, has a 10 year battery life, and foremost cheap. Outside of work I wear a seiko 5 sport  matte finish with a nylon band Because it fits the same criteria, though quite a bit more expensive than the Casio, and because I prefer mechanical watches over electric by far.  No frills, reliable, and keeps decent time of course, and doesn’t break the bank.  

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If you’re serious about it, do it. The Khaki Field watches are so good. I have this one (H70555533) and I love it. Definitely gets the most wrist time out of my rotation. It checks all my boxes: sapphire crystal, clean, high contrast dial, 80 hour power reserve (caliber H-10 which is Hammy’s mod of the ETA C07.111; they slowed it to 3 hz to get the longer power reserve). And you can put literally any strap or bracelet on this bad boy and it looks amazing.

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Fiatjeepdriver

My Hamilton kfa is my current favorite watch that I own. 

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Same here, I also have mine on bracelet. It’s such a versatile watch. Probably best watch for one in this price range by a mile.