Introducing the Bertucci Retroform A-2RA Field Watch

Bertucci is a brand with a very specific niche: they make high performance, value oriented, field watches. And I don’t mean that they interpret other watch styles through the lens of a field watch. They just make field watches. Scrolling through the watches available on their website is almost hypnotic, as you pass field watch after field watch, in a range of styles and dial configurations, but always adhering to the basic tenets of what makes a field watch a field watch. And the watches are affordable, with many examples coming in under $100, and none topping $500. Bertucci has always struck me as a brand with a lot of charm due to their sharp focus and value proposition. You can imagine both seasoned watch collecting veterans and newcomers getting something useful out of a Bertucci watch – it’s both an insider’s brand, and one that welcomes everybody. Their new watch, the A-2RA Retroform, has many elements of a classic field watch, but boasts a variety of upgrades that make it a solid and rugged choice.

True to form, what we have here is relatively simple at a high level – this is the nature of a field watch. It has a 40mm case (on the large side by field watch standards) with a highly legible black dial marked by crisp white Arabic numerals – a twelve hour track around the outer perimeter and a 12 through 24 hour scale inside of it. The minutes track is made up of open hash marks, punctuated by triangular lumed markers at the hours, which is very much a field watch staple. This is also a sterile dial, with no branding to speak of, just a “USA MOVT” designation near 6:00 and a reference number alongside it. 

If we take a closer look at the A-2RA Retroform it reveals itself to be something a little more modern than the midcentury field watches it would appear to be inspired by. The case is not made of steel, but rather a fiber reinforced polycarbonate material. This is meant to keep the weight down without sacrificing durability. Bertucci hasn’t provided a great deal of information on what, exactly, the material is made of, or the process behind its manufacture, but many brands have moved to cases using a variety of reinforced composite materials, including G-Shock, Marathon, and even Breitling. On the A-2RA Retroform the case has been given an olive drab color, which is a reference to the military roots of a field watch. 

The technical specifications for this watch are impressive given its $140 price point. It has 100 meters of water resistance, and uses a quartz movement with a five year battery life (some Bertucci watches ship with a battery that lasts a full 10 years). The watch can be purchased on a nylon strap in an olive drab color that matches the case, and Bertucci offers the A-2RA on khaki and gray straps as well. 

For more information, visit Berucci here.