Fab Four Redux: Week On The Wrist With the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chrono, Ref H764090
Myron Erickson
If Carl Linnaeus Were a Watchmaker.
Ever notice that Hamilton’s pilot’s watches have names like Bond movie titles from the Brosnan era? Just pick four or five words, rearrange them, and voila! — a new movie title. Die Again To Live Another Day. Die Today But Not Tomorrow. Don’t Die Again Tomorrow Until Yesterday. And so on. Well, this is how I feel about Hamilton’s naming conventions for its Khaki line.
Hamilton’s promo image of the KPPM. If I had to guess I’d say this is a composite picture of the watch superimposed on an average wrist. Converted to real-world, this guy’s wrist would be about 8”. Image compliments Hamilton watch.
Like the movies, I’m a fan of these watches and have owned numerous examples, but can’t imagine how someone who isn’t Khaki-fluent can make sense of it. I guess maybe if you learned the mnemonic device for remembering taxonomic classification back in high school biology class, “Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Scotch,” then Hamilton’s schema might make some sense to you. In the case of Hamilton’s pilot’s watches it would work like this:
Domain: Swatch Group (versus every other watch manufacturer on earth)
Kingdom: Hamilton (versus the other fifteen (!) watch brands in Swatch Group)
Phylum: Khaki (or American, Broadway, Jazzmaster, or Ventura)
Class: Aviation (or Field, or Navy)
Order: Pilot (or X-Wind, or Converter)
Family: Pioneer (versus non-Pioneer, I guess? This level of taxonomy seems quite useless in Hamilton’s lineup.)
Genus: Hand-Winding “Mechanical” (or Automatic, or Quartz)
Species: Chronograph (or Day-Date)
Dear King Philip joins us for cocktail hour with the KPPM.
Honestly, I thought Tudor’s naming schemes were bad, but if they followed Hamilton’s conventions, my Black Bay 58’s full name would be the Tudor Black Bay Diver Pioneer 58 Auto Blue. Anyway, stupid naming convention rant over, and welcome to my review of the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chrono. Let’s just agree to call it the KPPM from this point forward, and be glad we don’t have to use Latin terminology.
Scotch & Watch.
Regular readers will know I have a soft spot for Hamilton’s field and pilot’s watches. When the Khaki Aviation Khaki Pilot Pioneer Auto Chrono (and I shit you not on that name) came out, I rejoiced, being the Fab Four fan that I am. I tried no fewer than three times to love that watch, but finally had to admit that it was a swing and a miss from Hamilton, for me at least. It’s just too damn big, with a date window that was too damn ugly, and lume that was too damn lame. Then when the retro motorsport-themed Intra-Matic 68 Auto Chrono was first announced, I put money down at my local AD. What with the late-60’s look-back design and Hamilton showing such restraint in the nomenclature department, they had me at “Intra.”
The impossibly named Khaki Aviation Khaki Pilot Pioneer Auto Chrono. Image compliments Hamilton watch.
Alas, that watch was just too damn big for what it was, too, a fact Hamilton themselves seemed to acknowledge when they introduced the downsized Intra-Matic Auto Chrono a year or so later. So I tried that watch — twice, before giving up and trying its dateless sibling the Chronograph H. Both these watches are drop dead gorgeous, but there is just something about the angular, pointy lugs, the height/length of the case, and thin-rimmed bezel that made the overall wearing experience an uncomfortable one for me. I did end up getting its time-only little brother, the Hamilton Classic Intra-Matic Auto and love it, which confirms, for me at least, that the Intra-Matic lug design needs less case in order to work and be comfortable.
The Intra-Matic 68 on my 7.25” wrist. Holy hangover, Batman.
So here I’ve been, for a couple years, without a daily wearer chronograph from Hamilton. Then, in 2022, Hamilton announced the KPPM, and my Fab Four heart went pitter patter. Until I saw the 14+ mm case height and the 22 mm lug width. “Nope, not again,” I said. “Who do they think I am?” I said. “A complete rube?” Two-plus years went by, and I resisted the KPPM’s charms. Until one day.
The KPPM on an Arts & Crafts strap in Horween’s Natural shell cordovan.
It was a snowy, cold evening in January 2025, and I was sitting by the fire enjoying a not-so-wee dram with my long-suffering spouse when I caved and ordered a KPPM from a private seller on Chrono24. I saved well over a thousand dollars from Hamilton’s retail on a watch that had been bought new and literally worn once, more than enough to cover the first service, or so I rationalized. My friend Johnnie Walker agreed that these 2nd-tier Swatch Group watches depreciate like the Titanic post-iceberg, so buying either second hand or on the gray market made sense to Johnnie and me.
The Fab Four.
Vintage military watch collectors are certainly familiar with the UK’s asymmetrically cased, central seconds chronographs produced from 1970 and just into the 1980’s and affectionately known as the Fab Four. Without a doubt, the definitive article on the history of these watches was written by my friend and fellow watch geek Brandon Cripps. The article I linked to above is his, but here it is again if you don’t want to scroll back up. It is highly recommended reading.
Some yester-grails, my collection of Fab Four chronographs. L to R: Hamilton, CWC, Newmark, and Precista.
The nickname refers to the four suppliers, Hamilton, CWC, Newmark, and Precista, and was coined by members of the Military Watch Resource forum (as was “Dirty Dozen,” by the way). At one point I had all four of these watches, my yester-grails, and I’ve also owned the re-issues from CWC (very nice) and Precista (a little flimsy). Although it took two years, it seems I owed it to myself to at least try the new Hamilton, and I am happy to report that I am very glad I did.
On the Wrist.
On paper, the KPPM’s dimensions of 40 x 14 x 50 with 22 mm lugs may seem a little daunting, but they are still within the realm of reasonable, especially when compared to some of my other favorite tool watches, like the Sinn 156, Tudor Black Bay Steel, or Guinand Flieger Chrono Klassik. To be sure, if your wrist is much below 6.75” you’re probably going to want to search out one of the more classically sized original Fab Four pieces. But the good news for those who may be on the fence because of the KPPM’s nominal dimensions is that Hamilton has used a couple old Swiss tricks to make the watch wear a little smaller.
Familiar tool watches that wear similarly.
The two-piece case means there is no bezel, so the top few millimeters are the clear, boxed sapphire crystal. Moving down the side of the case past the crown and pushers, the case is stepped in, giving the impression of a mid-case. The screw-on caseback screws into this faux mid-case, and has a beveled profile that means the part in contact with your wrist occupies substantially less than the full area of the mid-case, a neat trick that the caliber 2500 Planet Ocean also takes advantage of. Do I wish the watch were really only 12 mm tall? Of course, but through thoughtful design, Hamilton has produced a watch of significant dimensions that still gives a pleasant, comfortable wearing experience.
Believe it or not, there is only 0.2 mm total height difference between the KPPM and the cal 2500 PO.
The Bulge & Crown.
It may sound like a naughty British pub, but I’m referring to the KPPM’s two most charismatic features. Without a doubt the stars of the show here are the asymmetrical case shape and the big, gnarly crown. The case shape is directly descended from the pilot’s chronographs the British MOD commissioned back in the 1950’s and ‘60’s, which were beautifully fulfilled by Lemania before being similarly supplied by Hamilton and the other Fab Four makers. The purpose of this asymmetry is pure genius; it gives a little more material that the otherwise vulnerable crown and button pushers can nestle down into, protecting them from the odd cockpit knock or bump while still allowing easy use. On the wrist, it translates to a substantial and unique wearing experience without telegraphing “look at me” from across the room.
The big, grippable crown of the hand-winding KPPM.
And then there’s that big, beefy crown that probably makes Oris blush and Rolex sniff and look away. A full 8.2 mm in diameter, and perfectly tapered to live down in the cutout of the case’s bulge but remain fully grippable and windable as it is still proud of the case. This detail alone will give big crown guys a watch woody, if you are predisposed of course.
The Dial and Handset.
The dial is a feast for the eyes with its matte black textured finish and fauxtina details. The hands perfectly recapitulate the original design, and are similarly filled with Super Luminova Old Radium lume. It’s personal preference obviously, but the fauxtina isn’t overdone here; I find it gives the watch a vintage warmth and is legitimately respectful of the original watches, which are now 45-55 years old. And speaking of aged lume, the KPPM offers only marginally better luminescence than that 50-yr old vintage watch did originally. As I have said many times, lume freaks aren’t buying Hamiltons. But still, it’s better than its stable mates discussed above, and when I went to bed at midnight one night, I could still read my KPPM at 7 AM the next morning.
The KPPM starts out with decent lume, and is still readable 6-7 hours later.
Although I am glad Hamilton avoided adding silly details to the dial, like “MECHANICAL,” or “KHAKI,” or heaven forbid an ugly date window designed by the intern, I will say that an appropriately sized pheon would have been welcome to me. I mean, they put it on the 9965 Field Watch back in the early 1990’s, and I’m sure the world of watch reviewers would have liked having something to bemusedly explain to their readers. I am equally sure that 99% of Fab Four collectors would have spurned it. It’s a moot point, obviously, since the dial’s only text is Hamilton’s Jet Age logo at the top. It’s tasteful and clean, and avoids the entire debate (and may in fact avoid conflicting with its upmarket Swatch Group cousin — hello, Omega Seamaster 007…).
The KPPM on Horween’s Dark Cognac.
The Movement.
The KPPM’s movement is Hamilton’s caliber H-51-Si, which seems to be a step up from their past efforts in this department. With a 60-hour power reserve, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this movement had not been de-tuned from 4 Hz to 3 Hz to afford the longer power reserve. The result is a smoothly ticking and silkily sweeping 28,800 vph action, which shows nicely when the chronograph is activated. The “Si” stands for silicon and refers here to the balance spring, which means greater resistance to magnetism. This is a serious tool watch feature, and something not normally seen at this Hamilton’s price point. The caseback is solid, so there’s no view of the movement, but that’s probably just as well and might even save us a few tenths of mm in height.
The utilitarian caliber H-51-Si. Image compliments Hamilton watch.
After wearing the watch 24/7 for a week, and winding it once a day, I can confirm excellent time keeping that averaged +2 sec/day, and surprisingly slightly-better-than-mediocre lume. I can also report getting a couple compliments, and a very comfortable, pleasant wearing experience. This one has the feel of a keeper.
The thankfully plain caseback of the KPPM.
The KPPM’s strap is typical Hamilton fare, uncomfortable and untapered in this case, but the color is perfect for the watch so I made my own tapered Arts & Crafts straps in Horween’s Dark Cognac and Natural shell cordovan colors. It’s the icing on this very sweet cake and makes me look forward to Living Another Day And Not Dying Again Tomorrow, especially with such a great watch on my wrist.
Horween’s Dark Cognac (L) and Natural (R).
Thank You.
When I looked around for reviews of this watch, I could only find the usual press release types, and they all appeared to be using the same watch with “SAMPLE” engraved on the caseback. At least they were written by real people; Squarespace, which hosts roverhaven.com, now offers A.I. functionality. No, thank you, that would seem to defeat the purpose of a watch review.
The KPPM on Horween’s Natural shell cordovan.
I hope you enjoyed this article, which is based on real ownership and use, genuine lived experience, and actual intelligence. Do you have a Hamilton Khaki Pilot Pioneer Mechanical Chrono, or one of the original Fab Four chronographs? I love hearing from readers and welcome your thoughts or factual corrections.