The Small But Mighty Watch - The Hamilton Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Review by WatchGecko

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KHAKI AVIATION PILOT PIONEER MECHANICAL - Your Next Watch Review

WRITTEN ARTICLE: https://www.watchgecko.com/the-hamilt...

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Model Wrist Sizes
7 inches - 7.25 inches

Products featured;
KHAKI AVIATION PILOT PIONEER MECHANICAL
https://www.hamiltonwatch.com/en-int/...

Besford Premium Quality Genuine Leather Watch Strap - Shorter Length
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Cordura® Water-Repellent Watch Strap
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Genuine Vintage Bond NATO by Geckota
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Welcome back to Your Next Watch, an ongoing series that looks at the watches you’re considering buying at the moment and breaks them down based on real honest hands-on experience with them.

Today we have Hamilton’s follow up to the Khaki Mechanical that featured in our 10 for 10 series, the new 2019 Pilot Pioneer. Hamilton has looked towards their supplement of Hamilton W10 watches to the armed forces (specifically the Royal Air Force) from the 70s with this release.
Watches from this time period needed to be legible, durable as hell and compact. Let’s see if Hamilton has kept those key features and made them relevant for 2019 wrists…

The Hamilton Pilot Pioneer - What it does

When discussing the Khaki Mechanical earlier this year we talked about the watches ability to feel like a genuine authentic field watch from the history books. To be honest, the Pilot Pioneer is actually better suited to that statement.

The watch comes with at 36mm wide with a lug to lug length of 42mm and a thickness of 10mm. And I know what you’re thinking. ‘At 36mm this watch is just too small”. To be honest, you’re right, it is...on paper. These statistics don’t translate well to actual wrist time which I believe is a good thing.

It’s true that watches have started to become smaller with the slowing down of the big watch trend and ‘the rise of vintage’ but 36mm hasn’t quite become the norm yet.

The Hamilton harnesses a tonneau shape to the case which means we’re not so reliant on the case width to quickly determine a watches wrist presence. As this watch is essentially a 1 for 1 of an original military watch from the 70s the design feels relatively familiar.

The black dial keeps things simple and naturally suitably W10 like with just hours, minutes and seconds being presented to the wearer seen through the mineral crystal. Pencil/sword hands, Arabic numerals and a clean railroad seconds track complete the dial of the watch.

On the topic of the dial, the addition of the grain texture is welcomed and simply beautiful. It adds another dimension to the watch, oozing character. The Khaki Mechanical’s flat matt dial feels a little lacklustre on this...

The watch also comes with a vintage coloured lume for both the hands and indices, something which although many of us have become immune to the presence of is still welcomed and makes perfect sense here. Through the solid case back we have the H-50 hand-wound movement which is also found in the Khaki Field Mechanical and with 80 hours of power reserve, is pretty hard to knock. It feels smooth and reliable on the wrist, zero complaints here.

How does it wear? - a long weekend with the Hamilton Pilot Pioneer

For this on wrist segment, The Hamilton Pilot Pioneer receives a special road test as we head over to Germany. Travelling is heavily reliant on timing to ensure you’re in the right place at the right time; this suits the Hamilton down to a tee. Its distinct, clear dial means that quick glances down to the wrist to make sure a train isn't missed or there is plenty of time remaining before a flight are made a lot more efficient.

The watches shrunken size means it is incredibly comfortable and unobtrusive. 50% of the wearable thickness is down to the crystal, which in day to day wear it’s very easy to forget you’re even wearing the watch as the physical steel visible is so minuscule. The most prominent outcome of this is the watches ability to slip under jacket sleeves easily. Surprisingly it is actually refreshingly versatile as well. Throw it on the right strap and you'll be able to go from daily to evening attire effortlessly. Sure it's not a patch on the Cartier Tank or a Calatrava, but it's not embarrassingly inappropriate.