The Camp Fieldtimer is an excellent, alt-take on a field watch, with custom fonts and lacquer dials
Borna Bošnjak
The field watch formula is a well-defined one, and one quick glance at the likes of the Hamilton Khaki Field sums it up pretty well. But every once in a while, we get a brand that sidesteps the norm and introduces something genuinely different in a format that still works. When it comes to field watches, Studio Underd0g might come to mind with its 02Series, but if you leave the colour knob where it is and turn up the vintage/nostalgia one to 11, you might get something reminiscent of the Camp Fieldtimer 39. As much as it is a 1950s-inspired field watch, the Fieldtimer is also a celebration of design, which makes sense considering the brand’s founder, Justin Jakobson, is an industrial designer. There are quite a few small details that we need to get through here, so let’s dig in.
The dials
Let’s start, of course, with the dials. There are three colours available, each finished in an opaque, stove-enamelled lacquer. The execution of the surface finish really is excellent, and drew me immediately when seeing these watches in person. The press release notes 15 layers of enamel, for an overall dial thickness of 1.3mm – and if you’re wondering exactly what “enamelled lacquer” is, I was too. Rather than using a glass powder like in a traditional enamel dial, think of it like a sped-up paint drying process, with the heat treatment giving the lacquer coating additional durability. By the way, if you’re generally wondering about enamel, lacquer, porcelain, or ceramic, Buffy has the article for you.
Once I caught myself staring, I also realised that each of the three dials sport a unique typeface. I wonder whether this was the result of not being able to decide which one Jakobson liked the most – in any case, it works for me! So many brands are let down by a poor choice of font, which can easily ruin anything else the dials have going on, and I’m glad that’s not the case here.
To go into a bit more depth about the individual dial colours, there’s the Atlantic Blue, Florida Green, and Malaga Red, all making use of printed Arabic numerals for the indices. The Florida Green is the exception here, as Jakobson decided to make it a sector dial, too, with a faint orange crosshair matching the minute track hashes and seconds hand tip. Apart from the Camp logo and “MECHANICAL 100M” below the pinion, the dials are really clean and have the right amount of text to provide a good balance.
Finally, Camp didn’t forget to equip the Fieldtimer with a decent bit of lume too. The two-tone Super-LumiNova covers the hands and indices, as well as the Camp logo which is a neat touch. Having said that, these are just printed dials, so lume longevity will not be as good as with applied or ceramic block indices.
The case
The Fieldtimer 39 name gives away at least one aspect of the watch’s case, as it does indeed come in at 39mm in diameter. The steel case is impressively thin at just 10mm, with a lug-to-lug of 47.2mm. Despite its vintage inspiration, the Fieldtimer very much wears like a contemporary watch – think of it like a slimmer Tudor Ranger, if you will.
The finishing isn’t overly flashy, but it is really good. The brushed surfaces and double-stepped bezel are handsome and smooth except for where a sharp transition is needed, but my favourite bit of case design is down the bottom and the sides. Camp cuts away at it with a wide, polished chamfer, which makes for a more comfortable on-wrist experience, and also just a really neat, unique look that fits with the quirkiness of the overall design very well. Finally, the knurled, Camp-branded crown seals in 100 metres of water resistance, which is on par with what you’d expect from a field watch.
The strap
Adding to the value proposition, Camp will ship each Fieldtimer 39 with three different straps: a vintage-style leather, firm leatherette-backed Cordura, and an awesome Bonklip-style bracelet. All have quick-release tabs and the case has drilled lugs, making these strap monsters straight out of the box.
It might be silly to say with so many well-considered design elements of the actual watch, but my favourite bit of design is the steel pin buckle. I mean, just look how cool it looks! Camp explains that the design was achieved via a micro-metal injection moulding process, usually used for easier mass-production of small, intricate components for which CNC machining would be wasteful and time-consuming.
But to get the full Fieldtimer experience, I’d probably wear it the most on the Bonklip bracelet. It’s almost infinitely adjustable, as you can attach the clasp to every single link, though the head of the watch does make it feel a bit top-heavy, as the bracelet is a little dinky. I could certainly see some being hesitant given the unusual design, but luckily, you do have two excellent straps (and buckles!) as backups.
The movement
The Sellita SW210 is at the entry-level of the Swiss movement ladder, and there’s not much to complain about here. This is the manually wound variant of the SW200/ETA 2824, beating at 4Hz and has a 42-hour power reserve. The manual-winding function makes sense, and I’d happily trade an automatic movement for a couple of millimetres in thickness, which the Fieldtimer trades successfully. If I had to nitpick anything at all, I wonder whether a solid caseback could shave of another millimetre or so. If that was the case, I’d personally prefer the slimness over seeing a movement that’s a bit too small for the case. To be fair to Camp, they did option a custom-engraved gear train bridge that makes up for the otherwise undecorated movement.
It should be no surprise to you reading this that I’m a fan of this watch. If Justin Jakobson’s goal was to create a design-oriented, vintage-style field watch (as niche of an idea as that might be), he has certainly succeeded. The Camp Fieldtimer sets itself apart with its several carefully considered touches such as the typeface and that excellent pin buckle, and while it is a bit pricier than most of its similarly specced competitors, it easily outdoes them in flair.
Camp Fieldtimer 39 pricing and availability
The Camp Fieldtimer 39 is available directly from the brand’s website, with each of the three colourways limited to 100 pieces. Price: US$900
| Brand | Camp |
| Model | Fieldtimer 39 |
| Case Dimensions | 39mm (D) x 10mm (T) x 47.2mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | Stainless steel |
| Water Resistance | 100 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Enamelled lacquer in dark blue, beige green, and cherry red |
| Bracelet and strap | Leather strap, steel pin buckle Cordura nylon, steel pin buckle Steel Bonklip-style bracelet |
| Movement | Sellita SW210-1b, manual winding |
| Power Reserve | 42 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds |
| Availability | 100 pieces in each colour |
| Price | US$900 |
Made in partnership with Camp Watches. However, the opinions expressed in this article are our own in accordance with our Editorial Policy.