Hamilton Khaki Field Auto vs Vaer A5 Field White - Best Sub $1k Automatic Field Watch?
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2024
- Here are two of my favorite field watches and two of the best field watches south of around $1600 (that is where Weiss Field Watches start and those seem like a significant step up from these two though I have not had any personal experience with Weiss Watches yet). Both of these watches are amazing and I hope this comparison is helpful and entertaining.
I have 2 different vear quartz models. Great quality. All the good marks for me. 1. Sapphire crustal, 2. screw on back, 3. Screw down Crown. I have now on back order the A5 Watch with the white dial. I rate dial as most important. Arabic Numbers, Good contrast. In fact the other beaters I use are Timex Expedition just because the dials are easy to read at a glance. At 80 years old that is a very important factor. I hate the "stylish dress with no numbers on indices for the hours, min.
Great to hear you are enjoying your Vaers as well! Yes I agree. Legibility is critical! I still have great eyesight good contrast in the hands and hour markers are still a must for me. If I am going to be staring at my watch, I want it to be because I am admiring it’s beautiful rather than trying to figure out what time it is.
Great video and beautiful pieces! Just getting into watches myself so loving these videos!
Thank you Lance! Yes they are great pieces and I am glad you are enjoying learning about watches!
Don't get in too deep though... ;-)
This was great, thank you! I own silver dial Khaki Automatic (with the new H10 movement) and I absolutely love it, particularly on a grey NATO strap. I've always been intrigued by Vaer, however, and I appreciate your insight here on the brand. The D7 diver, specifically, looks very nice. Something for me to look into... Thank you again!
Right on! Good to hear you are enjoying your watch! Haha, I deliberated for months between the black and silver dial Khaki Auto since both are so good. Yes I agree, those D7 divers look really nice. I have been quite close to buying one a few times now myself!
I too own both and happen to live near Vaer's headquarters in Venice beach California. Love both and your review is spot on👍
Wow that is so cool! I am so glad to hear you agree with my review especially given you own both pieces as well. Thank you for the input Steve!
I flooded my Khaki field auto also. And for that reason I now own the Vaer. I honestly prefer it.
Being in the service for many years I mainly used gshock; however, now I'm starting to get into watches. I recently bought my first automatic watch and am really enjoying learning about other brands. This was a great video! Very informative. I'd have to go with the VAER for being less expensive and having better features.
I own the Vaer C5 Field Watch which is the stepped up the model from the one you showed here. It's very similar but the C5 has a date window 'sword' hands, an all red arrow seconds hand and the numbers are a different font. I absolutely love it. I initially bought the watch because I wanted to replace my Seiko 5 SNK805 and also to support their American made initiative and I don't regret this purchase for one second. It's a really good everyday watch in my opinion. Great comparison video.
Right on! Glad you are enjoying your Vaer!
😊😊😊😊😊l😊l
I think Vaer is better. I give zero points for Hamilton's history. They are Hamilton only in name. Swatch is just cashing in on a former American brands success. Go Vaer. I actually have both.
Agree, Hamilton today is just swatch exploiting the real Hamilton’s name. Current Hamilton watches have nothing to do with the real Hamilton brand.
The Vaer is seems to have better specs for the money but the Hamilton seems to have more character to it and I can't wait to one day have my own.
Yes that does seem true. The Hamilton does has a bit more complexity in the dial and I really appreciate that while the Vaer leans more towards the minimalist side
great video. Vaer has sent me the C5 solar, A12 Dirt Dozen and D4 Arctic. I love them all. I love my Benrus reissue dtu-2a/p but they also sent that to me. If spending my own money I definitely would go with any automatic or swiss movement from Vaer. the screw down crown is so important to me with the silly things I do outdoors.
I’ve been really happy with my khaki field auto on the bracelet and when I last went watch shopping I seriously considered Vaer however when I saw a 40mm champagne dial khaki king on that brown leather strap. Whoa! Now I have two Hamilton’s. 🤷🏻♂️
I like the spreadsheet.
What I would remark in order to hopefully enrich your analysis is that not all the attributes matter equally to everyone so you could consider a weighted score base on how important those features are to a buyer. Otherwise excellent video and approach, I very much enjoy your style.
My Hamilton got stolen during a move and luckily i had a vaer C5 that didnt prefer at the time. While looking for a new field watch to replace my Hamilton i grew to love my Vaer even more and realize that i love it more!
That is a bummer your watch was stolen but good to hear your Vaer has been growing on you! I really like my Vaer!
I have the VAER automatic watch, along with two other of their models (quartz and solar). They are outstanding watches. I've looked at Hamilton models but have not bought any because of three main issues: no AR, poor lume, and a push-pull crown, all for a greater cost. The other thing to be considered is that VAER customer service is excellent and prompt.
Nice comparison. With regards to tje Hamilton's water resistance, I think it would be good practice to have them pressure tested. I did that with mine and I should be safe from water issues.
Great suggestion! Haha, that would probably have been the wise thing to do. I guess I lucked out since my Hamilton is still running fine but once I have it serviced and the seals replaced it would probably be smart to have it pressure tests every so often if I plan on going swimming with it.
I have the Hamilton and I just love it. But I have the H10 movement, which gives me that 80 hour power reserve - assuming that it's fully wound when I lay the watch down for a couple of days. My watch is accurate to within +4 seconds per day when the watch is fully wound, to -4 seconds per day when it's pretty wound down from a sedentary lifestyle. I also have other Hamilton Khaki watches, including the Khaki Mechanical with the old ETA 2802-2 hand wind movement. It loses about 3 seconds. per day, no matter how wound up it is. However, this watch was meant to be hand wound and the different feel is patently obvious.
I have a manual wind khaki on the way. How many winds does it take to fully wind?
Can you review the new Hamilton Khaki Field Titanium 38 & 42mm?
Hey man you should check out the Baltany 7024! Its a spec monster compared to these but comes in at only around 150. Its got a screwdown crown, domed sapphire and swiss Superluminova. I picked one up this November and haven't put it down!
I have the Hamilton and love it, but I find the date is somewhat unnecessary. And if you put down the watch for a few days, when you put it on again, you need to find midnight, then set the time, then the date. With a Vaer, just put it up, set the time, and you're ready to go.
You mentioned one thing that bothers me on a lot of watches. Thank you. Winding a watch should have a physical feedback. I have found several swiss watches to be mushy when winding down. My SARB033 Has wonderful feedback When being wound
Glad to hear I am not the only one who cares about this! Yes, funny enough I do prefer the way most of my Japanese watches feel when winding than my ETA based Swiss watches.
@@TheTimelyFocus Do they have more teeth on their gears compared to the Japanese?
Any idea who makes the original leather strap that came with the Hamilton? might just get one and put it on the Vaer!
I do not know if Hamilton buys their straps from a third party. If I were to guess I bet they make their own in collaboration with the rest of the Swatch group. I did enjoy the original strap of the Hamilton. I should point out that this strap in the video is not the OEM strap. That one lasted about 6 years of heavy use before being replaced with that which is on it now which I picked up from Hadley Roma. They make a huge array of straps. This one was only $25 and is debit as nice as the OEM, but for a quarter the price is hard to argue with.
And what do you think about the battle between Hamilthon Khaki KING vs Vaer A5 Field White?
What do you think about the bronze Hamilton Khaki?
Oh I think those are cool! Most of the watches out there, and my collection, are all stainless steel so bronze would add something unique and interesting! I think they are very cool
I'm selling my hardly worn Vaer D5 Tropic on Chrono24
VAER makes functionally superior field watches, while (IMO) Hamilton makes better looking field watches. I run the tactical VAER for tasks that may require a more functional and robust field watch and the Hamilton to look nice. Best of both worlds.
If you’re going swimming or rafting, why not wear a dive watch or a G-Shock instead of your field watch? Why take the chance?
When Hamilton puts Screw-Down Crowns & Good AR Coating onder the Cristal, I will be 1st in line to buy one, until then, I'm looking at the Vaer, However, Vaer only offers 36mm. & 40mm. with Long Lug-to-Lugs. I guess it's true, there is NO perfect watch...🤷
Oh yes that would be great! Those are definitely reasons why I appreciate the Vaer though. Not sure how large your wrists are but the 40mm Vaer sits quite well on my 6.75” wrists. Especially because the lugs curve down so much, the lug to lug actually feels pretty short. But yes, there always seems to be things we would like to be slightly different.
My Hamilton has an 80 hour power reserve.
Yep, that is the new model. Mine is the older version with the ETA 2825-2. Both great watches! Hope you are enjoying yours!
What kind of strap is that on the hamilton?
Good question! It is a pretty inexpensive strap from Hadley Roma. They have loads of options. I think this one cost about $25 so compared to the OEM strap it is very inexpensive but I think the OEM one is much nicer.
I think both pieces are beautiful. But I choose the Hamilton because it can be dress or casual. Also a new strap changes the whole look and feel.
I hope to be getting the Hamilton from wife this October for our 10 year wedding anniversary
The leather srap Vaer offers really makes them look nice. I just leave it on mine all the time now. Definitely worth a look.
What is the point of hacking when a watch loses up to 15 seconds per day? Serious question. Also, there seems to be a preference among some for mechanical movement.
Is it just a matter of nostalgia? To me having to wind a watch every day sounds aweful
That is a great question! Very valid question. There is actually still a reason for it. Even a hundred years ago when watches were not that accurate hacking could be useful for soldiers or anyone who needed to synchronize watches.
Nowadays a lot of watches (like many Vaers) claim an acceptable standard daily deviation of 15 seconds. However in my experience most are closer to +/- 5 seconds per day with many from Rolex, Omega, and the like coming in at basically 0 seconds of deviation per day. So, having a hacking movement can be very helpful.
Manually winding a watch is a habit many enjoy. As you say it can be nostalgic. However manually wound movements can also be thinner and more elegantly display the movement given the absence of a rotor.
Great questions. Thank you and hope this helps!
I don’t understand your scale. Lol
Haha, sorry about that. Yes I do admit it is a bit arbitrary. I was trying to set 10 and being equivalent to what I would consider perfect and 1 as simply existing. However if you are used to 100k handmade limited edition watches then your definition and expectation for perfection would be different than mine. Hope this helps
Vaer is definitely a better value.
I agree!
Vaer is better❤
theres no way that Vaer is hundred percent American....thats just a marketing ploy.
Unfortunately that is correct. I believe I talk about it in the video but Vaer is working to do more and more in the US. Currently they get their movements either from Japan, Switzerland, or the US. I believe they manufacture a number of their crystals and cases in Asia too. It is hard to move everything to the US when currently there is no real watch manufacturing industry here but I do really appreciate that Vaer is trying to change that!