There are plenty of watches with a solid naval heritage; most of the big players of the Swiss horological world have dabbled in overseas military ops at some point in their illustrious histories. The operative word there though is ‘dabbled’. After all, those watches weren’t created by the guys that were actually going to wear them. The same can’t be said of Winfield watches.
Winfield founder Mark B Miller spent ten years of his extensive military service in naval intelligence, working with Naval Special Warfare and Naval Aviation supporting tactical missions in Iraq. We’re talking about a man who has seen action and knows what a serious watch needs to survive – and who knew that, in 2019, it was time a credible watch company stepped up to the plate.
That said, it wasn’t just a case of starting Winfield from scratch. While living overseas, Mark decided he needed a hobby and, like many a mechanically-fascinated would-be watchmaker turned to the chaotic realm of custom Seikos. If you’ve not delved into that particular well, it’s worth a look, even if you might never come out again. It’s the perfect entry point to self-taught watchmaking.
After that, Mark took his hobby one step further, creating pilot’s watches for friends and family, working things out as he went, from thermally bluing screws to assembling his own automatic movement. From there, Winfield watches was just a short – albeit momentous – step. Winfield doesn’t make mil-spec watches; what it does make however is rugged, field-tested adventure watches with a distinct vintage military design. The Mission Series looks like a modern evolution of the old, military Breguets and Blancpains with their notched bezels and aviation-friendly, lumed dials.
Winfield watches are, however, bigger at 41mm – not oversized by today’s standards, but large compared to their aesthetic progenitors, bringing them more in line with contemporary adventurous tastes. Otherwise they have one thing going for them above all else: they are built to survive.
That means a selection of heavy-duty straps in a number of different styles and incredibly solid heat treated 316L around a quartz movement. After all, a mechanical movement’s all well and good until it lets you down halfway up a cliff face. Prestigious as automatic and manual-wind calibres are, they are comparatively fragile, something a serious adventurer just can’t afford – and Team Winfield are serious adventurers.
Team Winfield is the watch company’s secret weapon. A group of climbers, athletes and general outdoors maniacs, if anyone’s going to put an adventure watch through its paces, its them. The fact that Winfield’s Mission Series has survived a multitude of expeditions speaks volumes for the build quality behind them.
So, to summarise: you have military-style adventure timepieces designed by an ex-Naval Intelligence officer and tested by serious adventurers. The fact that they are eminently affordable (our personal favourite, the grey and black MT1/S is just $399) is just the icing on the proverbial cake. Or the snow at the top of the mountain.
Find out more at Winfield Watch.
