Hands-On With A Trio Of Colorful Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba Watches

Two of the colorful new Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba watches are easy. One comes in yellow and the other one in orange. But the third one is a bit more puzzling. Is it pink? No, I think the right name for the color Hamilton so boldly decided to use is magenta, a purplish-red hue. You could say it’s a shade of pink, but because of the different saturation, it looks bolder and stronger than pink. Why did Hamilton pick magenta instead of more traditional pink? Maybe because it’s the color of universal harmony and emotional balance? Nah, I think the brand just didn’t want to bring yet another pink watch into this world.

Case closed in terms of colors, I suggest. We have a bigger fish to fry — the water resistance of the jolly-looking Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba watches. The three models are water resistant to 100 meters. Watches like that are perfectly okay in the shower and while swimming, poolside diving, and snorkeling. But what about Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (or, simply, scuba) diving? Well, one way to determine the worthiness of a diving watch is to see if it complies with the ISO 6425 standard. This requires that the watch be water resistant to a minimum of 100 meters. ISO 6425 also states that the watch “… shall allow the reading of the diving time with a resolution of 1 minute or better over at least 60 minutes.” Since the Khaki Navy Scuba satisfies both requirements, I’d say it’s worthy of the Scuba name, at least by those two metrics.

Trying on the colorful Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba watches

I can imagine that with that mention of the ISO 6425 standard, you want to dive deeper into its other requirements. I won’t do that here, but you can by reading Gerard’s in-depth article on the topic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make time to take these three Hamilton watches swimming or diving. But I did get a chance to inspect and wear them.

First impression? Loud! Bright! The second impression comes when putting a watch on the wrist. And it’s almost always a different experience. When you see a watch with a brightly colored strap and matching color details on the dial lying flat on the table, it can come across as too much. But when you see it on the wrist, the strap becomes a much less dominant visual factor. Don’t get me wrong; watches with bright yellow, orange, and magenta straps and the same colors on the dials don’t magically become understated. But the appearance does change once you have them on the wrist.

Hamilton catering to the eclectic crowd

Handling the Khaki Navy Scuba trio made me wonder if fans of the Khaki Field Mechanical can also root for these colorful timepieces. Honestly, they seem to be exact opposites. You would have to be blessed with an eclectic taste to wear a white-dial field watch one day and a very fruity diver the next. But hey, wait a minute. I like wearing my small Timor Field ATP with its creamy white dial as much as I enjoy my Maurice Lacroix Aikon #tide Benzilla now and then; talk about opposites. And I am convinced I am not alone in this.

All three color variations are very lighthearted watches. Their frivolous nature probably won’t get them on the wrists of serious scuba divers, but they do make for excellent daily wearers and maybe even more perfect summer watches. They’re rugged, sporty, and fun at the same time. Also, with their steel 40 × 12.95mm cases, they are easy to wear.

Inside the case of the yellow (H82395332), orange (H82395331), and magenta (H82395330) Khaki Navy Scuba beats the caliber H-10. This is a modified three-hand automatic ETA 2824 with a date function. As the H-10 is just a version of Swatch Group’s Powermatic 80, it has a power reserve of 80 hours — no surprise there. Even the watch’s price of €895 isn’t a huge surprise. And if it is, it must be a pleasant one.

Who are these Khaki Navy Scuba models for?

These brightly colored watches might make you think you’ll get bored with them pretty soon. If one of them is your only watch, that could very well be true. But these strike me as better second, third, or even fourth watches in a collection. By the way, the brightly colored 20mm strap shouting “KHAKI” can easily be swapped for a black one without any text. And when you put a regular black rubber or Tropic-style strap on the yellow or orange version, both these Khaki Navy Scuba models (almost) become serious watches. The magenta-colored version, however, does not. Even with a black strap, that watch will always be bright, jolly, and different.

Hamilton created fun watches, but the dial does show some serious details. The applied luminous indexes are large and nicely shaped, and the 24-hour indication adds a bit of instrumentality or field cred. The size is right too. At 40mm wide, 12.95mm thick, and 50mm long with sloping lugs, the case has a very wrist-friendly stance.

If you’re looking for a do-it-all sports watch for the upcoming summer and want to show your true colors at the same time, any one of these three new Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba watches could be a good choice. The price is fair. And when you “invest” in an extra black strap, you get yourself a timing companion when autumn rears its ugly head in a few months.

What do you think? Are these Hamilton Khaki Navy Scuba models too bright for your taste, or would they perfectly match your swimming trunks? Let me know in the comments below.