Formex Turns Its Titanium Field Watch Into a Pilot's Watch With the New AirField

Formex is very well known for making sensible tool watches at honest prices, so the newly released AirField comes as no surprise. It takes the Field Automatic, a watch that I really fancy, keeps the case, and swaps the dial, hands, and movement. That sounds like a bit of a shortcut, but field and pilot watches have always been close cousins, separated mostly by their dials, so the conversion makes more sense than it first appears.

Nothing changes on the outside. The case is sandblasted grade 2 titanium with a 900Hv hardened coating, which should stop it picking up the desk scratches bare titanium, especially the softer grade 2, is known for. It measures 40mm wide and 10.5mm thick, with a 20mm lug width and a lug-to-lug of 48mm. On top is a flat sapphire crystal, out back is a screw-down caseback, and the screw-down crown brings water resistance to 150 meters.

The dial now has a grain texture, in four colors: Desert Sand, Horizon Blue, Jet Black, and Tarmac Grey. The recessed stencil Arabic numerals are carried over from the Field, and they are filled with Grade A Super-LumiNova. Surrounding the dial is a sloped chapter ring and there's a beveled date window at six o'clock. Brand new is the handset, a traditional pilot's set whose seconds hand ends in a small airplane counterweight. It's the one playful touch on an otherwise serious dial.

Inside is the Sellita SW200-2 Power+, which Formex has been working through its catalog. It runs at 4Hz with a 65-hour power reserve, a big step up from the roughly 38 hours of the standard SW200. Straps come in two flavors: a wrap-around velcro in blue, black, khaki green, or sand, or a Bolgheri leather in black, leone brown, caraffa brown, blue, or violet, paired with Formex's carbon fiber deployant clasp with micro-adjustment.

The Formex AirField Automatic 40mm is a non-limited model, priced at $1,060 on velcro and $1,200 on leather with the deployant clasp. See more on the Formex website.