Introducing the Hamilton N. Hoolywood Limited Edition Khaki Field Watch

It has been a little more than a decade since Hamilton and Japanese streetwear brand, N. Hoolywood collaborated to produce their very own edition of the Khaki Field. Fast forward from 2009, both brands have connected once again to create another Hamilton Khaki Field that goes full  stealth mode.

The collaboration will be a part of N. Hoolywood’s upcoming Fall 2021 collection for their ‘Test Product Exchange Service’ capsule, or ‘TPES’ for short, which draws inspiration from the brightly color-coded uniforms donned by crew members aboard military aircraft carriers, or otherwise known as, the ‘Rainbow Gang’. However, the latest design of the Hamilton N. Hoolywood TPES collab doesn’t match the brightly colored tones seen throughout the Fall capsule. Instead, Diasuke Obana, the designer behind N. Hoolywood, opted to create a Khaki Field that’s more suited for cloak and dagger military missions than high-vis carrier assignments. 

At first glance, it’s pretty difficult to even recognize this watch as a Hamilton Khaki Field. My eyes immediately gravitate towards the stark white hands, inner 24 hour numeral ring and minute track that sharply contrast with the black matte dial, which, in passing, one may think were the only markers on the entire dial. However, looking closely, in true military-esque fashion, the anthracite Arabic hour numerals, Hamilton logo and even the central part of the seconds hand anchored by Hamilton’s ‘H’, are camouflaged, giving the entire dial a restrained and rugged aesthetic. 

The sandblasted black PVD coated stainless steel case is uniform with the blacked out dial, and measures 40 mm wide, 11.5 mm thick and 20 mm lug-width, respectively. Turning the case over, the Hamilton N. Hoolywood TPES Khaki Field sports a smokey display back case with the watch’s specs printed directly on to the mineral crystal. The way that the Hamilton LE specs are displayed on the caseback is reminiscent of how the specs were imprinted on vintage military watches, but the bold and sharp typeface on this edition’s caseback has a contemporary take to it. The drawback is that it somewhat blocks out the visual of the display back case, making it difficult to appreciate the movement. Speaking of the movement, the Hamilton N Hoolywood TPES Khaki Field is powered by the automatic, 25 jewel H-10, which is a modified ETA C07.111 and comes with an 80 hour power reserve. The watch comes on a black NATO with matching PVD coated pin and buckles, which I totally dig, because it maintains the uniformity of the entire collab and showcases the attention to detail.

This edition of the Hamilton Khaki Field isn’t blacked out just to look the part of an under the radar military watch. Diasuke Obana believes that the color black signifies “Responsibility, precision and accuracy” and that those traits embody everything about the men and women serving in the military, and that for sure includes the “Rainbow Gang’. This collaboration will be limited to 300 pieces and is currently priced on the Hamilton website for 970 CHF, which roughly equates to $1058 USD. Check out the Hamilton N. Hoolywood TPES Khaiki Field LE and the rest of the Khaki Field catalog right here.