# Seven Sleek “Field” Watches Under $5k



## bornintheussr

omega rules


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## ArchiMark

Yes, Omega rules......

But the Bell & Ross looks pretty handsome to my eyes too.


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## ibowers2

The Omega by a mile. Not even close. The water resistance, anti-magnetism, size, movement, lume, etc. all make a great package.


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## yycgee

My vote goes to the Ranger. Mark my words, it will be a future classic. 


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## Cordgear

Yeah, Ranger has that certain look to it. I can see it becoming a “thing”.


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## JamesJUK

The railmaster has got to be Omegas most underrated watch.
The Bell and Ross looks great, but are they overpriced for a watch with a generic movement inside?


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## Travissrobertson

The omega and bell are 🤩


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## dinhhong

Omega, Bell & Ross and Tutima


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## NotPennysBoat

I feel like the Tudor Ranger could use an update - should be a more popular watch


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## valuewatchguy

The Omega should be the clear winner on specs and case design BUT it has a certain ugliness to it. I think it comes from the color palette options used. The black dial with patina lume is not bad. But the rest of the options just dont look that good. Then whoever paired the blue dial with the denim strap needs to stop. It looks best on bracelet. It also doesn't help that the predecessor Railmaster was just a much better looking watch. Sorry but to me it's a miss for Omega on the current iteration.

If they offer better colors in the future, I could be swayed in my opinion.










Bell & Ross and Tutima are nice enough but forgettable.

Alpina is a looker but unfortunately wears large like a diver and doesnt feel like a field watch on wrist.

The Citizen is nice for the price.

The oris is really nice especially in the bronze options.

The Tudor is the winner of this bunch. Just a solid overall watch at a reasonable price. Nothing fancy. Its 41mm but for unless you have a 6.25 or smaller wrist I dont see this one being a problem. Looks great on strap and bracelet (I do wish it had fitted end links). Come on, how many watches can pull off a camo strap with style?


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## Barnaby'sDad

valuewatchguy said:


> The Omega should be the clear winner on specs and case design BUT it has a certain ugliness to it. I think it comes from the color palette options used. The black dial with patina lume is not bad. But the rest of the options just dont look that good. Then whoever paired the blue dial with the denim strap needs to stop. It looks best on bracelet. *It also doesn't help that the predecessor Railmaster was just a much better looking watch. Sorry but to me it's a miss for Omega on the current iteration.*
> 
> If they offer better colors in the future, I could be swayed in my opinion.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bell & Ross and Tutima are nice enough but forgettable.
> 
> Alpina is a looker but unfortunately wears large like a diver and doesnt feel like a field watch on wrist.
> 
> The Citizen is nice for the price.
> 
> The oris is really nice especially in the bronze options.
> 
> The Tudor is the winner of this bunch. Just a solid overall watch at a reasonable price. Nothing fancy. Its 41mm but for unless you have a 6.25 or smaller wrist I dont see this one being a problem. Looks great on strap and bracelet (I do wish it had fitted end links). Come on, how many watches can pull off a camo strap with style?


Yup. I don't know what they were smoking going from the previous generation Railmaster to the current one. The prior generation is on my short list for my first "nice" watch.

I've got two of the Citizen Promaster Tough. One black and one silver. I really like them, but they're a tad big. 1-2mm smaller and they'd be perfect (my two cents).


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## Richy Horologie

Although the Oris is a beautiful watch (and I may be picking up a steel, gray dial version myself in the near future), I don't see it as a field watch.

It just doesn't give off the vibes IMHO, although it does sport a screw down crown. I will be wearing it more as a daily beater/semi dress.


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## Richy Horologie

NotPennysBoat said:


> I feel like the Tudor Ranger could use an update - should be a more popular watch


I actually can't find it on their website, so not sure what happened.


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## valuewatchguy

Richy Horologie said:


> I actually can't find it on their website, so not sure what happened.


Discontinued as of July 2020


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## Barnaby'sDad

valuewatchguy said:


> Discontinued as of July 2020


Yup. The page for the watch is still live via a Google search, but if you click on it to go to the Tudor website...you get re-directed to another watch page.


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## NatsuDragneel

Love the Omega, might have to get one of those. I have the red dial version of the Oris it is a great watch, a great conversation starter. Has a cool retro vibe and pretty good price.


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## m j b

Great article, thanks for sharing. I've always wondered what was a "field" watch. Now I know.


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## Von170

For mine, it would be between the Railmaster, Ranger, and possibly the Tutima (but I like the FX model). I read recently that the current Railmaster textures and colours were in homage to denim traditionally worn by rail workers. I prefer the earlier Railmasters but the current design makes more sense to me now.


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## WatchEnthusiast1983

I'm a huge Omega fan, but it's the Tudor Ranger for me. I've tried a couple Railmasters on, and I've been underwhelmed by each one. Tudor is great value for the money as well.


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## tempusx

With any of these you cant go wrong. All solid choices. Have to say, that from the design point of view I would go with Oris. That bronze case and green dial combination, on top with super cool pointer date complication makes it a very attractive piece.


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## Trias

Okay, call me a fool, but seeing this thread continuously featured, the itch is too strong.



> Today's post (for the most part) takes us back to the basics. (...) Here are seven easy, breezy, and affordable watches suitable for many different environments


Affordable field watches ? What's this ?
Let's see what other sources say from it :

1 - What's a field watch

*Q: What Are Field Watches?*
_A: As we mentioned at the top of this piece a field watch is a descendant of the best military watch that came into wide use during the First World War. Those watches were actually reworked version of women's wrist watches of the day (men at the time did not wear wrist watches, they used pocket watches) that were given a rugged edge to make them palatable to the male audience. Today the descendant of the military watch is widely used by men engaged in less than extreme activities and occupations and yes, they're still used by soldiers in the field.
(...)

*Water Resistance* - Since a field watch is not likely to be exposed to the kind of environmental abuse a tactical watch will encounter it is not typically necessary for it to demonstrate the same degree of water resistance. Still, a field watch should be water resistant enough to withstand landing in a puddle or being exposed to rainfall for extended periods of time. If it's not r*ated to at least 50 meters* you'll likely want to take a pass or checking out a deep sea scuba watch.

*Luminescence* - You'll want the hands and numbers on your field watch to be luminescent. They should be clearly visible on even the darkest nights. There are several ways to achieve this. One way is by having hands and numbers that soak up solar energy during the day and release it at night. Another way is to backlight the face of the watch so that everything is visible. And the third and best way is to have hands and other features that self-illuminate using tritium gas.

*Face Type* - Some people will prefer an analog face, others a digital face. It's really up to you which one you choose. A few types of military field watch will have both an analog face and a box that displays the time digitally in 24 hour military format. For a field watch such an option is largely redundant. The most important thing is that, whichever face style you choose, it be* easy to read both day and night*.










*Size and Weight* - While a field watch is typically *smaller and lighter than a tactical watch it is still a fairly large device* and you'll want to make certain the one you're strapping to your wrist isn't too large or too heavy for you. If you're a big guy you should be able to wear any of the larger watches listed above with no problem. There are also a number of smaller, lighter field watches available such as the Szanto Military Watch and the Timex Expedition that will look great on thinner arms._

(...)

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*Bulova MIL-W-3818A*


_*Size:*__32mm x 16mm__*Movement:*__Caliber 10BNCH__*Year:*__1958 - 1962__*Rarity:*__Common__*Depth Rating:*__30M__*Used Price:*__$300 - $600__*Find Used:*__*WatchPatrol* or *Ebay*_

_The first military issued watches to see action in Vietnam were developed per the MIL-W-3818A standard and fulfilled by Bulova and Elgin. These watches were an evolution of the A17 navigation watch developed during WW2 and were issued to Green Berets and Special Forces.

The watch design is a transitional model, sharing the *plain arabic numbers and 24-hour dial of modern field watches *with the more ornate cathedral handset found in watches from WW2 and WW1. There is some confusion between this watch and the Bulova A17A, as they both look almost identical from the outside. The primary difference between them is the movement inside, with the latter containing a more accurate 17-jewel movement (as opposed to a 15 jewel movement). From a collector stand-point, the A17A is more desirable, just be on the look out for A17-A cases fitted with MIL-W-3818A movements.

This specific watch contains the Bulova 10BNCH movement. Although most manufacturers simply modified movements used in civilian models to meet military specifications, it appears that this engine was built specifically for this watch.

Although Bulova watches performed well for U.S. military, their contract was lost to Benrus in 1962 when the military updated their specification to MIL-W-3818B. Bulova submitted prototypes to the department of defense for an updated model, but only the Benrus DTU-2A/P passed and the contract was subsequently lost._

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From those two sources :

Military inspired design, from the watches that were effectively used on the fields.
Fast and easy to read :
Strongly contrasted dial : bright hands and dark dial, often white on black. Hamilton Khaki Field line's design is no accident.
Lume, the watch must remain readable under all conditions.
Arabic numbers to ease/quicken the read, with sometimes even 24H military time as secondary.

Relatively accurate (±30s a day max deviation).
Intermediate size (larger than the usual, but smaller than a flieger). Usually 38-42 mm.
Moderate water resistance (the soldiers can be led to briefly swim, or to crawl in watery environments).
Those are modern field watches examples :
















Hamilton Khaki Field Auto ; and Bertucci DX3 Field.

2 - Affordable

*affordable*
[ uh-fawr-duh-buhl ]

See synonyms for affordable on Thesaurus.com
adjective
that can be afforded; believed to be within one's financial means: attractive new cars at affordable prices.
noun
Usually affordables. items, expenses, etc., that one can afford: a variety of affordables for your gift list.



> * what is the upper limit of an "affordable" watch? *
> 
> 
> *under $100*
> Votes: 16 6.5%
> *under $200*
> Votes: 75 30.6%
> *under $500*
> Votes: 97 39.6%
> *under $1k*
> Votes: 47 19.2%
> *under $2k*
> Votes: 6 2.4%
> *under $5k*
> Votes: 1 0.4%
> *under $10k*
> Votes: 1 0.4%
> *i'm a baller, money like water, every watch is affordable ;-)*
> Votes: 2 0.8%
> 
> 
> Total voters 245
> Poll closed Mar 12, 2009.


Turns out the terms depends about everyone's means, which are variable.
Over those 245 voters a majority considered "affordable" was *< $500,* with some considering <200, and some <1K.

Sources :
- A brief guide to the iconic watches of the Vietnam war
- Gearhungry
- Dictionnary.com
- Watchuseek

Readers, make-up your own mind about what is and isn't an affordable field watch.


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## Viseguy

Glad to see the Citizen Promaster Tough included in this line-up. Battle-ready, and great value for money.


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## gd1977

Which is the worst watch of this bunch? Anyone not rank the Tutima last??


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## Mitchtheitch

This seems to be a thread about affordable field watches, none of which I would want to bring to a battlefield in the 21st century. Is there a term used like "desk diver" for field watches ?


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## Cunningham1

I like the Oris. They are all high quality watches. The Ranger is a bit boring for my tastes, and I just don't like the Omega's aesthetics. I would rather have the Seiko Alpinist over all of these save the Oris.


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## snowbongo

+1 for the Railmaster and Ranger. I wish they both came in 38 mm options. "Affordable" is relative...not sure "under $5K" fits that definition. I would agree that many of these are not technically field watches.


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## BundyBear

Mitchtheitch said:


> This seems to be a thread about affordable field watches, none of which I would want to bring to a battlefield in the 21st century. Is there a term used like "desk diver" for field watches ?


LOL. You guys are a tough bunch [emoji23]

In the same way that dive watches are hardly used for diving these days, these field are hardly combat ready.

I have come across WUS members asking about field watches for use in the field&#8230;. by scientist and environmentalists who go into the fields to check on wildlife.


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## MonacoMD

The Omega seems like a better watch and even value given resale, but I do love the uniqueness of the Oris


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## bhoffman28

Love Bell & Ross!


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## rschmidt97

I'd be all over a Tudor Ranger at 39mm.


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## AaronW123

Noted


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## mtiberiusn

The Ranger and the Railmaster are equally matched for me, would even go together in a collection.


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## cobramonkey

I think I'm a sucker for denim. That Omega just completely does "it" for me.


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## vmgotit

Tudor Ranger, of the 5 in the group. ETA movement what’s not to like? Vance.


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## Sauerkraut

Why not the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical? I'd honestly pick the Hamilton over any of these for its simplicity and ruggedly handsome looks.









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## jascolli

I wasn't aware of that Bell & Ross.what a good looking watch


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## cal3.2.1

Honestly I think the Oris takes it


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