If you’ve been near the accessible end of the Swiss market lately, you’ll know the Formex Field – hardened titanium and a sandwich dial. The Formex AirField builds on that same 40mm titanium case and aims it at the cockpit, with a redrawn dial and a solid engraved caseback.
Field watches and pilot watches grew out of the same military thinking – one plain and compact enough to disappear on a soldier’s wrist, the other built around big dials and crowns for the cockpit. Different jobs, same instincts. The AirField sits where the two meet, with the standard Field staying in the range alongside it.
The dial is where the transformation happens. Formex has dropped the current Field’s dual-component sunburst for a single finely grained, stamped surface – flat, matte and closer in spirit to the original Field. Broad sword-shaped hands replace the slimmer set, and a triangle flanked by two dots marks 12 o’clock in the classic aviation manner. A sloped chapter ring rises towards the crystal, which is how Formex builds depth into the dial without adding height to the case.
The seconds hand carries a small aircraft-shaped counterweight. It’s a charming detail, though it does tip towards gimmick – a touch much if your taste leans more understated – but there’s no arguing it sets the AirField apart. Recessed numerals are hand-filled with Super-LumiNova, BGW9 on Horizon Blue, Jet Black and Tarmac Grey, though Desert Sand gets a blacked-out treatment and a red-tipped seconds hand it shares with Tarmac Grey. The bevelled date window sits at six, each colourway paired with a colour-matched date wheel.
Underneath, this is still very much a Field: the AirField’s case is 40mm Grade 2 titanium, hard-coated to around 900 Vickers, and weighs just 54 grams. Water resistance stays at 150 metres, the crown screws down, and the sapphire crystal is treated with anti-reflective coating. At 10.5mm it’s a fraction slimmer than the standard Field’s 10.6mm, but the bigger change is the lug-to-lug, which grows from 46.6mm to 48mm – enough to notice on a smaller wrist. The caseback is solid titanium, engraved with a radial aero engine and propeller.
Two straps are offered: washable nylon Velcro or Bolgheri leather on Formex’s carbon-fibre deployant clasp with 7mm micro-adjustment – both quick-release, no tools required.
Powering the AirField is the Sellita SW200-2 Power+, running at 4Hz with 26 jewels and a 65-hour power reserve. It’s the updated version of Sellita’s workhorse SW200, announced in February 2026, and it lifts the reserve from the outgoing calibre’s 41 hours – enough that you can leave the watch off from Friday evening to Monday morning and still find it running. Formex has been rolling it out across the range, and the current Field now uses it too, so the AirField gains nothing here that its sibling doesn’t already have.
The Formex AirField costs £860 on the nylon Velcro strap and £970 on leather with the carbon-fibre deployant clasp. Pre-orders open on 24 September 2026, with deliveries from the end of October. UK prices include all duties and taxes, and every watch carries a three-year international warranty.
That puts it a modest step above the standard Field, priced at £780 on nylon and £890 on leather. For the extra £80 you’re getting the full aviation redesign – a new dial, sword hands and an engraved caseback. On a watch this close to its sibling in every other respect, that’s a fair price for a genuinely different character, and the AirField is the more interesting of the two to look at.
Price and Specs:
More details at Formex.
