A look at the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Steel

The new manually wound Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer watch closely resembles the brand’s WWII timekeeping instrument – the Model 23. It comes equipped with old radium-style Super-LumiNova hands and a small second sub-dial to complete its vintage-inspired aesthetic

It’s no wonder that Hamilton is the topic of conversation right now. The brand has been releasing some very interesting wristwatches as of late. Some of which faithfully recreate popular models from the past, others that feel a touch more contemporary. What cannot be denied is the fact that the brand has very strong links with the aviation and military industry and is keen to draw the interests of its faithful fan base back to this point with one innovative piece in particular – the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer mechanical watch. Hamilton supplied the US forces with over 27, 000 wristwatches during the Second World War. This was in addition to marine chronometers, timing devices and many other mechanical instruments accounting for another million timekeeping tools. One of these reliable instruments was a pocket watch named Model 23, which the Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer watch closely echoes in terms of its style and design.

The Model 23 pocket watch offered some very useful features. It’s was a chronograph with a legible dial that served as a reliable tool for wearing to assist with all manner of military-related tasks whilst out on the frontline or when conducting crucial training. The spirit of the vintage Hamilton pocket watch is present and strong within the design of this Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer. What’s more, this particular watch is powered by a hand-wound movement that enables the wearer to connect with his timepiece by manually winding the engine secured inside the watch’s robust stainless feel case. Manually-winding watches offer the wearer a very personal timekeeping experience and are often the preferred choice for those who like to spend time marvelling at the intricate components of a mechanical movement and how it works. By winding the mechanical movement at the same time every day, the watch is maintained and keeps accurate time during the day and night.

Model 23 – the US Force’s best friend

To appreciate the similarities between the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer watch and the vintage Model 23 pocket watch, we must first examine the key features of the latter. The Model 23 pocket watch featured a matte black dial and crisp Arabic numerals that made the watch remarkably legible. It had a sweep second hand, a subsidiary hand and a register hand for the 30-minute sub-dial. Its high-quality nickel three-quarter plate movement had a lever escapement and a micrometer regulator.

The Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer mechanical watch is available in a stainless steel version as well as a bronze option, but we’ll be looking at the steel model in this article. The 43mm luxury pilot’s watch from Hamilton is larger than its automatic-powered counterpart also released alongside these two models. It features a matte black dial with a railway minute track executed in the same faithful way as the original Model 23 along with slim, legible Arabic numeral hour markers and cathedral-shaped hands. 

A visually attractive watch at a fair price

Offered at a very fair price, the stainless steel Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Hand-Wound watch is a visually attractive watch even if you don’t have a strong love for pilot watches in particular. Thicker and larger in size than the automatic version, you get a lot of substance with this mechanical pilot’s watch strapped to the wrist. An oversized onion-shaped crown not only serves the practical purpose of promoting an easy grip, but it adds to the vintage-inspired appeal of the watch as a whole package. The crown does not screw down but the watch does offer a water resistance of 100 meters and features a strong double domed lens of anti-reflective sapphire crystal glass across the top of the stealthy display, protecting it from dust, debris, light, heat and moisture damage. Most notably is the watch’s bi-directional rotating bezel in black, covered with a clear, scratch-resistant mineral glass. The insert has a 60-minute scale for measuring elapsed time. Inside the bezel is a matte black dial with a grained surface that closely follows the dial of the Model 23 pocket watch. Instead of the bicompax dial layout, the watch features a small second sub-dial at 6 o’clock in an off-white colour to add to the watch’s retro-inspired appeal. With a pop, the nickel cathedral-shaped hands of the dial illuminate at night and glow richly. In the day they boast an old radium-coloured finish.

The Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical watch is finished on a brown vintage-style leather strap and encloses comfortably against the skin with a pin buckle crafted from stainless steel. Inside the watch’s 100-meter water-resistant case is a large hand-wound calibre named the ETA 6498-1. Its simple decoration is put on show through the back of the case with an exhibition feature crafted from scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass. Once fully wound, this movement can keep perfect time whilst off the wrist for up to 50 hours

All-in-all the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer watch is a modern-day pilot’s watch that ticks all the key qualities one would expect of any luxury pilot’s watch; legible indexes and hands, a clear and concise dial, a strong case, comfortable leather strap and reliable movement, without losing any of the charm and appeal of the famed Model 23.

If you would like more information on the steel or bronze version of the manually-wound Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer watch from Hamilton (the latter of which we covered here), you can check out the product pages from our online collection here, or call our Jura Watches sales team on 01335 453453

Technical specifications of the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical watch

• Case: 43mm – stainless steel – 13mm height – 100-meter water resistance - double domed sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective coating – sapphire crystal glass exhibition caseback – bidirectional rotating bezel with mineral glass insert and 60-minute scale
• Dial: Matte black – grained surface – luminous Arabic numeral hour markers- old radium-style luminous cathedral-shaped central hands – small second sub-dial
• Movement: ETA 6498-1 – manual winding – 50-hour power reserve – 18,800 v.p.h – 17 jewels – hours, minutes, small second functions
• Strap: Dark brown - leather strap - stainless steel pin buckle
• Reference; H76719530
• Price: £1,080