Hands-On With The Tuul Filthy 13
I sat on a stool in a Brooklyn dive bar on a rainy Wednesday evening, sipping a Negroni. Two of my friends were with me as we just had dinner a few hours earlier in a nearby restaurant. We were chatting, enjoying our drinks, and eagerly waiting for someone (who shall remain nameless) to pull up with a special package in his bag. When our friend arrived, we quickly moved to a table, turned our phones into flashlights, and started to examine the pack. It was a handful of prototype watches from a newly formed brand. That was the first time I saw the Tuul Filthy 13.
Fast-forward to a month later in Geneva. As fate would have it, I was at another bar, the famous (or infamous) Grand Duke, with one of those friends from New York. The drinks were different this time, but the watch he pulled out of his suede jacket (I’m still envious of that jacket) looked familiar. That was the second time I had the Tuul Filthy 13 in my hands.
Tuul
As you may have guessed, the name Tuul is a play on “tool watches,” an obvious conclusion once you take a closer look at the timepieces the brand offers. The young company hails from Brooklyn, New York, and focuses on tool or field watches that take inspiration from military timepieces from a bygone era. More precisely, I’m referring to the Dirty Dozen, a group of 12 timepieces produced by various Swiss brands in 1945 for the British Ministry of Defense. Makers like Longines, Buren, Grana, IWC, Omega, and Jaeger-LeCoultre successfully submitted their versions of the field watch that would become a part of the Dirty Dozen. Tuul, this young and ambitious watch brand, aims to examine, learn from, and better the details of every watch of that 12-pack to create a superior and contemporary “what if?” version. As the brand says:
“Now, almost eight decades later, we offer you our version of the iconic Dirty Dozen watches: The Thirteenth. A modern take on the old-time classic, our watch weaves together the old with the new to create a timepiece that’s rugged, durable, reliable, and timeless.”
Filthy 13
The Tuul Filthy 13 has a fabulous wrist presence. Thanks to its 38mm case diameter, it fits wearers with more prominent and smaller wrists. Diameter is not everything, yet the watch’s other measurements are equally satisfying. At 45.9mm from lug tip to lug tip, the Filthy 13 sits nicely on the wrist. It does not feel too large or too long. Thanks to the slim case that is only 11.25mm thick despite the automatic Sellita movement, this “tuul” watch is comfortable, even with long sleeves. Now, I must add that the timepiece feels a tad thicker due to the NATO strap, but swap it for a two-piece strap, and you are good to go. As a comparison, the manual-wind Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanic is 8.5mm thick, so at just less than 3mm more, this automatic timepiece is still fairly slim.
A military-ready timepiece
Like a genuine field watch, the Tuul Filthy 13 has a bead-blasted 316L steel or CuSn8 bronze case, a matte dial with small seconds, and a railroad-style minute track. You can choose from four versions — a black dial in a steel or bronze case, a white dial in a steel case, or, my favorite, a green dial in a bronze case. Another throwback element I love on vintage or modern watches is a set of drilled lug holes. While the strap bars here are not welded like those on the original Dirty Dozen watches, the drilled lugs make it extremely easy to switch between straps if you don’t wear the watch on a NATO. Lastly, the large 7mm crown makes it easy to wind the watch or set the time. Aside from that, I like a time-only watch with a relatively large crown too.
Still modern
That’s enough about the vintage nods. Let’s look at some of the Filthy 13’s modern features. First, we have a sapphire crystal on top and an all-steel screw-in case back. Lume is also ever-present and as bright as daylight. The Super-LumiNova is “aged” to a deep cream color for maximum vintage flair. Regardless of the dial color or the case material, you get the same lume, and I agree with this consistency. Inside the Filthy 13 is Sellita’s SW261-1, a 31-jewel automatic movement with a 41-hour power reserve, a 28,800vph frequency, and a Nivaflex mainspring. Tuul removed the date feature for more historical accuracy, and there’s no “ghost date” position. Thanks to the movement and other attributes, the watch proudly sports the “Swiss Made” designation on the dial. Other than that and the brand name, there is no other text. It’s clean and legible, just how it should be.
The Tuul Filthy 13 on the wrist
I was lucky enough to have spent some time with steel and bronze versions, and I can only say that the watches did not disappoint. Knowing the passionate and driven people behind the brand, I completely understand their approach and attention to the smallest details of the Filthy 13. With its 10ATM (100m) water resistance, the watch quickly classifies as a GADA timepiece. Both the black and army-green NATO straps I tested were soft and comfortable. Buyers can choose between those two or a khaki version if they fancy a more desert look. Finally, the Filthy 13 comes in a Pelican-style tactical case. At US$899.99 in steel or US$1,099.99 in bronze, the Tuul Filthy 13 has a fantastic price-to-value ratio if you consider all the features listed above. It’s not too late to get your summer field — no, sorry — Tuul watch.
Check out the Filthy 13 on Tuul’s official website, and let us know what you make of it in the comments.
