This is what happened: in 2020 I received my first loaner from a brand called RZE. Actually, back then it was called Reise but had to change its name midway through production of its first collection due to copyrighting issues (this shit happens.) The watch was the first iteration of the Resolute which set the pace for many fruitful years of independent horology and camaraderie between the folks of RZE and myself. The Resolute stood out from the already growing see of micro/indie brands for being made of hardened titanium, for looking as singular as the first aliens we meet (or met already, who knows) will look like, and for being a complete package of a timepiece. It was presented as a modern field watch although it didn’t look like your typical field watch: the dial was deprived of Arabic numerals but endowed with a date aperture. It was a small revolution in this sphere of horology and RZE is responsible for a few other ones since—i.e. the 200m titanium digital watch. 

Then a while ago I saw a an Instagram post appear and quickly disappear. In the fractional amount of time I could look at it I saw a watch resembling an RZE but which didn’t have the brand’s logo printed on the dial. Then it appeared again many months later and I could finally make it out: Ti. What on earth is Ti I wondered. I googled it and came across a website called BiGi Design, an American company which specializes in mostly titanium innovative Every Day Carry (EDC.) It turns out BiGi partnered with RZE to create their own collections of the perfect tool watches, which is why it carries (a first pun intended) the Singaporean’s design DNA but with a twist. A couple of months ago I saw another post about a Ti timekeeping device and I finally decided to contact the brand because what I saw was rather special: the Ti Field Watch which is infused with RZE’s iconic visual pizzazz and paired with everyday functionality in the day/date complication and the bund-style bezel. 

Better yet: it retails for $499 USD which is right in the sweet-spot for a good attainable tool watch. 

Specifications 

Through a few chats with the kind folks of BiGi I learned that the Field was their vision for the perfect earth-bound utilitarian timepiece. As such, it combines the lightness of titanium with the legibility of a contrasty dial, the daily pragmatism of a day/date aperture and of a simple timing element which BiGi ships on two “Neightoe” straps (I love this): one made of green nylon with matching titanium hardware and the other made of horween leather also accompanied by titanium metal pieces. The package is lightweight indeed as it clocks in at 63 grams on the nylon which means it is a delight to wear everyday. (Note: if you own an RZE Resolute or UTD-8000 then you can fit their titanium bracelet onto the Ti Field Watch which I did and which is awesome. I prefer the look of the latter as the color of the beadblasting matches the Ti better over that of the former.) So indeed this is a field watch in the purest sense of what this style of watch is: something we can wear day in and day out, in the field, in the mud, in the rain, in the city, and on deployment. 

What RZE did in 2020 and which BiGi did with the Ti Field Watch is to create a new type of field watch which is more functional than a World War II-era/through the 1980s three-hander. For many of us, a field watch is an everyday watch even though it doesn’t look like what many other folks see in what they wear everyday. And it’s neat that BiGi decided to build from RZE’s perfect canvas. So, from a technical standpoint we find the following: a grade 2 titanium case measuring 40.5mm in diameter, 46mm lug-to-lug, 12mm thick and coming with a 20mm lug width. The 7.3mm crown screws-down, so does the case-back, for a healthy 200 meters of water resistance. The movement inside is a Seiko NH36A (3Hz/41 hours of power reserve) with a day/date complication. The top crystal is a double-domed sapphire with inner anti-reflective coating and we find sapphire on the see-through case-back as well. Nighttime legibility is guaranteed thanks to generous applications of green-glowing SuperLuminova on the hands, printed markers, and bezel pip. 

BiGi thought through everything you will need for a reliable, comfortable, legible field watch and your $499 USD stretch far I must tell ya. 

Design

It was love at first sight when, in 2020, I saw the first images of the Reise Resolute. And it was, again, love at first sight when I saw the first images of the BiGi Ti Field Watch. My excitement for this timepiece increased twofold because it threw me down memory lane to the beginning of Mainspring before it was called Mainspring, discovering the Resolute whilst being on COVID-19 lockdown. In a way, the Resolute was my first encounter with a titanium field watch, a titanium watch altogether, and an Asian microbrand and I instantly got a taste for what RZE was capable of and what the micro/indie world was all about: technical innovation, design avant-guardism, and good value. And RZE has always been at the forefront of doing things differently without charging mid-range luxury Swiss prices for their stuff, and the culture the brand has created for itself is superbly carried out in the Ti Field Watch. Moreover, if you glance at BiGi’s catalog, you’ll see that the brand digs modern and brutalist designs which permeate through this timepiece. 

In other words, RZE and BiGi were bound to work together and I for one am glad they did. 

From the Resolute the Ti Field Watch borrows the case design and proportions as well as the dial’s hour markers. Whilst the Singaporean brand has changed the dials of the Resolute throughout its numerous iterations, BiGi opted for the OG design which is my favorite one: large applied hour markers shaped like batons with faceted tips and finished with a pearlescent gray matte paint set against a finely textured black dial matched with a large day/date aperture also finished with that sparkly gray color. Next to each hour marker we find lumed dots and the twelve hour marker was altogether replaced by the collection’s logo printed crisply and fully lumed. The Ti also retains the simple minute track with the five-minute increments spelled out with numerals, and the white printed day/date against color-matched discs which is my favorite way of handling such aperture. The hour and minute hands are straight elongated rectangles almost fully covered with luminescent compound whilst the seconds hand is painted in a glossy green. 

Then there is the case and its superb modern/brutalist profile and the multitude of its sharp angles. On the right and left sides we find faceted protrusions which transform into crown-guards on the east flank, stubby lugs made of multiple facets and cuts which turn down towards the wrist in several stages, straight cuts in-between the lugs, but a surprisingly simple, narrow, and smooth bezel which adds a little bit of welcome balance to an otherwise aggressive case design. Speaking of which, the bezel has a bund-style allure a la German underwater commando with one simple marking decorating the sterile bidirectional, friction-fit bezel assembly. This dot can be used as a timing device to track elapsed time or count-up minutes and even mark a stop when timing something to the precise second. (On BiGi’s website, a physician talked about using the bezel when taking patients’ vitals in his product review.) I have used the bezel in several situations to time things and found it practical even though not being as precise as a dive bezel. 

The Heart of the Matter

Those who backed RZE's (Reise) initial Kickstarter campaign for the Resolute did so, I suppose, because they were intensely attracted by the idea of a lightweight and durable field watch which looked like nothing else on the market and which retailed for a reasonable amount of money. That was 2020 and the Resolute offered tremendous value. Now in 2025 things are much different in the micro/indie watch territory as brands charge more and more for their creations whilst not necessarily improving the specs or value of said creations. The 2020 Resolute was special for that reason in addition to being visually unique, and it is that singularity and affordability which I find to be particularly seductive with the BiGi Ti Field Watch: for $499 USD you get everything you need from a specifications point-of-view whilst design-wise, you can still get an OG-Resolute-inspired contemporary and modern field watch which still doesn’t have a match on the market. 

So at the heart of the matter today is this: on the one hand the Ti Field Watch is the purest representation of a modern field watch which fits into anybody’s EDC. On the other hand it preserves and builds upon RZE’s nascent legacy and what it has contributed to our niche world of micro/independent horology—something unique which didn’t disrupt the industry perhaps but kicked its ass on its face most likely. So to speak of course. Or we could see it as having been a quiet revolution at first but one which is gaining steam with each new release from the popular Singaporean brand and which BiGi, therefore, is fanning the flames off whilst founding its own niche path into the horological market. 

Conclusion 

Following my glorious use of the English language I will continue by saying this: I may sound like an old fart in my reviews because I repeat myself quite often. One idea which I always go back to—and which intensifies the more watches I review—is that of good tool watches which don’t cost $50 nor $1,000 but around $250-$750 which is a sweet spot for a reliable, legible, and practical utilitarian timepiece. That is one which we don’t shy away from using to do stuff with. And looking at the market today and seeing where many brands want to go—mostly upmarket—it is refreshing to see that a brand such as BiGi decided to double-down on the idea of the perfect field watch most of us can afford. So do yourself a favor and go check out the Ti Field Watch. 

Thanks for reading.