Tactical Watches. Reality or Hype?

Over the past few years we've seen a myriad of watch companies, many of them microbrands, peddling their wares under the banner of being 'tactical'. Is there any actual validity in this claim or is it all hype on their part? Let's take a look at some of the claims to see just how they stack up.

Tactical

Just what does the word 'tactical' mean? Collins interpretation is: To describe an action or plan which is intended to help someone achieve what they want in a particular situation. This is how most people would describe it, although some, along with other sources, do associate the word with the military. But just what is needed and what is superfluous to requirements?

The Basics

Many of the watches that sport the term 'tactical' are incredibly complicated; their dials are littered with all sorts of markings, scales and numbers. Yes, it all looks incredibly, well, 'tactical' you might say. In reality 99% of this is not needed or indeed required. In fact, it often becomes such a hindrance that it renders the watch almost useless for the purpose intended. It's always nice to have additional information at your fingertips, but when it gets in the way it becomes of little use. Generally speaking, something that attempts to do many things often fails to do one to the required standard. Over the years we seem to have lost the basics! The function of a watch, tactical or otherwise, is to record the passing of time accurately, and that's it! It needs to offer this information clearly and reliably under all conditions.

Analogue or Digital?

Without doubt, analogue! If you have an analogue and a digital watch it's easy to see why. While under normal conditions all is well, but try going for a cross-country run in both watches. A well thought out analogue watch can be read accurately at a glance while on the move, a digital watch can't. An engineer can read twenty analogue gauges on an instrument panel in the same time that it takes to get the information from one gauge in digital format. An analogue gauge is 'pictorial' and you're looking for something that's out of place, or not where you expect it to be. A digital gauge has to be 'read' and the information processed. The other problem with a digital watch is that under certain conditions they are quite unclear; an analogue watch works every single time, regardless of lighting conditions. They are also vulnerable to dirt on the crystal obscuring parts of the digital format and when the light is low it may go unnoticed, resulting in incorrect information.

Luminescence or Tritium?

Tritium is another 'buzzword', especially in this field. But does it actually measure up? Many years ago the argument could be made in favour of tritium; however, things have moved on somewhat and tritium no longer has the upper hand. Their are a few well known companies that use tritium, Ball, Nite and Traser being just three. I won't go into how the tritium actually generates the light as that's for another article; however, the difference between the two is important, especially with modern luminescent materials. Tritium has a half-life, and this means that the light emitted after this period is only half what it originally was. I had a Rolex Sea-Dweller with tritium illumination and after 15 years you could barely read it in the dark. Of course, Rolex said that there was nothing that could be done with it as they no longer use tritium, turning my trusty Sea-Dweller into nothing more than a useless fashion trinket! Tritium emits light continually but this is at a quite low intensity, until your eyes adjust to the low light it's not that bright at all. Luminescent applications have advanced significantly over the last few years and, in my opinion, are now far better than tritium. YouTube reviews where they fast-forward a video of the lume over a period of time is quite misleading, giving the impression that it's all over after about twenty minutes! They don't take into consideration the human eye and how it adjusts to low light conditions. When applied correctly, high-quality lume will still be clear and easily readable after 10 hours. If I get up at 5am to visit the bathroom (it's my age) my watch is glowing like a beacon, offering the information required at a mere glance. Returning from an illuminated bathroom my watch is invisible; the lume hasn't changed, my eyes have! Over 20 minutes or so the lume would return as my eyes adjusted once again to the darkness.

Black is Tactical

This is absolute bunkum! Tactical has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with light or dark or indeed, day or night. It's all a clever marketing ploy that seems to have had some success. The next up-and-comer is 'carbon fibre' and its association with 'stealth'; this falls into exactly the same category and has no basis in either truth or common sense. Many of these watches look fantastic and make a great addition to any collection. It's all about how people are conditioned to view certain things by what they see on the television and in advertisements. Diving watches used to be big, and predominantly black; it's what people expect. So! Just what is 'tactical'? A tactical watch is a watch that is extremely robust, waterproof, records the passing of time accurately and is crystal clear in all conditions, day or night. Look toward the Rolex Mil-Sub 5513 as a perfect example of the time. Things have moved on now, but the general attributes remain the same. While the new Submariner is an incredible tool, the undesirable stigma that now surrounds Rolex has resulted in professional users like myself wishing to distance themselves from the brand altogether. There are many watches out there that are worthy and don't cost a fortune.

Quartz or Automatic?

I have both in my collection but favour the automatic movement. Purely from an engineering point of view, the quartz is the better option as there are very few moving parts compared to an automatic. Timekeeping is generally regarded as better, and the 'low battery' indicator reduces the possibility of an impromptu stoppage; solar quartz movements are almost certainly the way to go if quartz is your decision. Citizen produce some of the best solar quartz movements, with Seiko and Casio being up there as well. If an automatic is your thing, a Sellita SW200 / SW300 or ETA 2824 / ETA 2892 are an excellent choice; however, don't disregard Seiko Instruments NH35A. Many microbrands use this automatic movement due to the low cost. Movement snobs often shun the NH35A, but it's one of the few automatic movements that has no inherent faults; it's also a reliable, robust workhorse. With a little 'tinkering' you can easily get one down to plus/minus 5 seconds/day and if you know which position to place it down at night this is likely to result quite easily into plus/minus 5 seconds/week!

The Last Word

Years ago in a previous life, we used to have leather watch covers, but they are few and far between now. So much so that I've made a simple press tool to make my own. These not only protect your watch but also eliminate glare from the crystal, reflection from the case and in addition, remove the possibility of the lume giving away your position. Tactical? Maybe. Sensible? Definitely. Functional? 100%. Never disregard the obvious!