Field watches have been around for more than a century for a good reason: they constitute the epitome of purpose-driven horological design. Their sole raison d’être was to provide maximum legibility. Period. They were not about complications, intricate dial patterns, or precious metals. They were created because soldiers needed accurate and easy-to-read wristworn timekeeping devices to go along with the modernization of warfare—that is equipment and tactics. And the combination of three hands + numerals was not reserved just for field watches but also for pilot, marine, and even elegant watches. And this combination was also the predominant one (if not the only one) for pocket watches and thus for a good reason: it worked. That was back when watches were a necessary daily tool rather than an accessory or an object through which we signal our status in society. 

Today, as we are headed towards the end of 2024, we find brands big and small, historical and new, still making these types of watches. More often than not, however, the combination of the three hands + numerals appear on military/field style watches rather than elegant/boardroom pieces. (The Cartier Tank being one of the few exceptions.) If you like field watches then you will appreciate the model we’re going to take a look at today: the Draken Aoraki Mil-Spec. A Dirty Dozen-styled field watch, well-spec’ed, and reasonably priced at $399. You should know that in the Aoraki line up there are other dial configurations should you not appreciate the straightforwardness of this one. Thus far I’ve reviewed two Draken’s, the Tugela GMT and the Peregrine Version B which indicates that I appreciate what the brand is doing.  

Specifications

As I was getting started writing this review I asked myself what are good specifications any watch should have and what makes some models cost more than others? Is it because what the watches are made of or where they are actually made? Most, if not all, micro/indy watches that sell for less than $1,000 are partially or fully made in Asia, either China or Hong Kong. It is well documented that many established and historical Swiss brands also get parts made in China because Chinese manufacturers make high-quality stuff at lower prices. The same is true of all machines and objects we use on a daily basis—cars, phones, kitchenware, and our clothes. While I like the idea of watches being fully manufactured in France (where I live) or in any developed country for that matter, if it were so the watches we love buying and collecting would cost much more. 

A Draken Aoraki Mil-Spec, therefore, would not cost $399 but $1,000 or more. This matters to me and perhaps to you too. 

Anyway, all of this is to say that things are such nowadays that brands need to knock at the door of Chinese manufacturers to get good products made. Affordable watches that come with a long list of incredible specs so that in 2024 we can get the equivalent of what the military could buy a few decades ago without having to invest the entirety of the defense budget into watches. And Draken, in my experience, offers really solid watches and the Aoraki Mil-Spec is a prime example of that. A fully brushed stainless steel case, 100 meters of water resistance, sapphire crystal, blinding lume, and a Miyota 8S25 caliber (4Hz/42 hours of power reserve) wrapped in a soft-iron cage providing a resistance to magnetism up to 20,000A/m—watches are deemed protected against magnetism starting 4,800A/m and paramagnetic at 33,000A/m. So the antimagnetism in the Draken is really impressive. 

Dimensions wise the Aoraki Mil-Spec commands a reasonable wrist presence measuring 39mm in diameter, 46.5mm lug-to-lug, 12.35mm thick and coming with a 20mm lug width. Two of the Draken’s I have reviewed thus far have a distinct side profile, tall with a fully integrated fixed bezel, and angled upward, reminding me of the hulls of cargo ships. The case profile makes the watch appear taller on the wrist than it actually is on paper, and this is a good feeling to have (to me, at least) for a tough field watch. Lastly, the fully brushed treatment confers a definitive utilitarian appearance to the Aoraki and, at the same time, softens the side profile by minimizing light reflections. 

Design

The design of the Aoraki is pretty straightforward as you can see from the photos. The dial is a mix of classic Dirty Dozen and A-11 which were issued to American paratroopers during World War II. From the former it gets the large pencil-style handset and small seconds sub-register at the six. From the latter it gets the simplified minute track and sans-serif typeface for the Arabic numerals. From both it gets the highly legible, contrasty, and monochromatic dial layout. Most of the printed elements you see on the dial of the Aoraki are lumed. Not just “lumed” but “LUMED!” if you know what I mean. There is so much lume, actually, that it requires little exposure to light (natural or artificial) to charge and that it glows throughout the entire night. (I sleep 7-9 hours per night—TMI?—so you get an idea of how long it lasts.) 

Although I already touched upon the case in the previous section I will talk about it again for a little bit here. Draken likes to engrave the brand name on the left side of the case of their models which I thought would bother me because one day I heard a reviewer say that it bothered him because it was “unusual” and I naively thought it should bother me too. Say what you must but I too am a sheep sometimes. But after wearing the Aoraki, the Tugela GMT, and Peregrine this detail did not bother me at all. So little or none at all actually because I don’t see the brand name when wearing the watches. And besides the name, Draken really wants you to know you are wearing one of their watches because they lumed the crown making their logo appear like the Batman sign being projected above foggy Gotham. But again, it doesn’t bother me. I actually like it. 

The Heart of the Matter

At the heart of the matter is the fact that Draken created a good tool watch that comes with great specs, a well executed design, and a visual character of its own. We often read or hear how brands modernize classic designs to bring them to the 21st century, something I am guilty of writing about in my own articles. And this kind of statement makes sense when looking at the Aoraki Mil-Spec. On one hand, it pays tribute to the Dirty Dozen and many military field watches that came after them; on the other hand, it invites amateurs of these types of watches to revisit the original designs and to consider what a 2024 field watch should and can look like. If I was in the military or working for the Ministry of Defense, I would look for brands such as Draken to equip soldiers with legible, robust, and purpose-driven wristworn timekeeping devices. 

Moreover, combining design elements of the Dirty Dozen and A-11 makes sense since both models were contemporary with one another, and Draken managed to modernize both by making the hands, hour markers, and the minute track bold in appearance. The minute and hour hash-marks and the Arabic numerals, are extremely legible during the day and at night as they are fully made of luminescent material. The hands are also legible being long, fully brushed, and reinforced by slithers of metal crossing them almost midway. (I believe this is also done to prevent long streaks of lume to break into smaller pieces.) In a way, Draken respectfully revisited the design codes of classical military watches whilst adding its own personality in the execution of not only the dial, but also the case. 

With the Aoraki Mil-Spec, the case design and proportions support the layout and the direct, utilitarian character of the dial. I believe it’s really well done. 

Conclusion 

As mentioned in the introduction, the Draken Aoraki Mil-Spec retails for $399. It is currently out-of-stock but will return in the new year (I’m publishing this article on November 28, 2024.) And, as also mentioned earlier, the Aoraki comes in other dial layouts: the Flieger, the Vector, and the Zulu, each offering a different approach to modern field watches. I opted to review the Mil-Spec because it was the one that came the closest to the Dirty Dozen and A-11 (two of my very favorite military watch designs), but I would have written as enthusiast a review should I have looked at the other options. 

As always, I recommend checking out the brand’s website to discover its full line-up. 

Thanks for reading.