Field watches are popular today for good reason. Their defining military look draws directly on the A-11 watches issued to soldiers in WWII, giving them a genuinely utilitarian feel, a familiar look and an interesting backstory. This origin helps define a field watch as basic but rugged, and many find the typically smaller diameter offers a unique look on the modern wrist.
Best of all, however, their simplicity helps make them some of the most affordable watches out there, and the easiest to recommend for beginners and collectors alike. Here are some of our favorites that retail for under $500.
MVMT Field AT
- Diameter: 41mm
- Movement: Quartz (unspecified)
MVMT has a very modern take on the field watch. Its dial strays from the traditional designs and incorporates contemporary elements, but still feels convincingly like it's intended for "the field." It's also one of the few watches of this type that offers a larger diameter for those who want a bolder wearing experience than many field watches tend to offer.
Vaer S3
- Diameter: 36mm
- Movement: Miyota 2035 quartz
Assembled in the US, Vaer watches include the S3, a classical field watch design offered in a range of contemporary iterations. It features sapphire crystal over the dial as well as a solid Japanese quartz movement inside. We like it in its 36mm version as field watches feel most genuine when they wear small, but it's also available in 40mm (automatic versions are also available but cost over $500).
Bertucci A-2T
- Diameter: 40mm
- Movement: Japanese quartz
Bertucci's entire lineup essentially consists of variations on the field watch theme. This particular example is one of the strongest values, offering the simplicity and durability a field watch should deliver but with the added value of a lightweight titanium case. This is just the kind of field watch that seems built to live out its purpose.
Timex Expedition North Field Post
- Diameter: 38mm
- Movement: Hand-wound mechanical (unspecified, Chinese)
A modern descendent of a Timex watch actually built for the military in the 1980s, the Expedition North Field Post has a link to that history while offering a slightly more contemporary design and specs (including a sapphire crystal). Many quartz Timexes are fun and affordable, but with a hand-wound movement, the Expedition North adds a whole other level of interest that we find irresistible.
Merci LMM-01
- Diameter: 38mm
- Movement: Seiko VH31 quartz
A more sophisticated and playful take on the typically brutish field watch comes from French brand Merci. The LMM-01 has an undeniably elegant design but remains tastefully unfussy, and it's available in a quartz version (as well as a mechanical one which is over the $500 line).
Seiko 5 Sports SRPJ Field Watch
- Diameter: 36mm
- Movement: Seiko 4R36 automatic
As if any list of affordable, awesome field watches would skip over the celebrated Seiko 5 field watch. As if! The old SNK series is still a shockingly solid value at under $200, no longer in production, it's not quite as cheap as it once was. Its modern, upgraded successor is the Seiko 5 Sports field watch in a similarly diminutive package at 36mm (though other versions and sizes such as the 39.9mm SRPG are also available). You'll definitely want to throw it on a NATO strap.
Boldr Venture
- Diameter: 38mm
- Movement: Seiko SII NH35A automatic
The Boldr Venture stands out with an authentic field watch feel featuring an automatic movement and titanium case. It's also a little different from its competitors due to the brand's signature case shape which, along with a range of interesting and vivid color options, lends the Venture a fresh, contemporary feel.
Bulova Hack Watch
- Diameter: 38mm
- Movement: Miyota 82S0 automatic
Bulova, one of the companies that made the original MIL-W-3818A spec field watches for the US military in the '50s and '60 brought back its famous "Hack" watch in a new Military collection. Though the brand is now owned by Japanese conglomerate Citizen, it's hard to argue with the cool factor of a military watch of historical significance from the very brand that originally made it.
Marathon General Purpose Mechanical
- Diameter: 34mm
- Movement: Seiko NH35 automatic
Marathon is a Canadian company that's known for making watches actually used by militaries today as well as for its use of tritium gas tubes for dial illumination. Its General Purpose Mechanical basically does what the name says: it's an all-around rugged watch with an automatic movement. (It comes in several versions, including quartz for less money.) This one has a plastic-like composite case with a "sage green" color and a diameter of only 34mm.
