As many of you already know, I am a huge fan of tritium powered luminescence. In fact, I have owned more Ball Watches than any other brand and there have been so many. That said, Ball Watch are not the only company to offer this type of illumination, far from it. In fact, if you are looking for something a little more “affordable”, there are many other brands such as Luminox, Tawatec and Nite, but what if you want something in between?
What if you want the premium materials, such as a sapphire crystal glass and a titanium case? How about a Swiss movement with GMT complication perhaps? How about screw bars at the lugs instead of spring loaded pins? Enter the KHS Missintimer 3 GMT. It has all of the above and then some. To find out more about it, please keep reading.
Now I have owned a solid half dozen blacked out / tactical style dive watches and very few actually do it right. What do I mean? Well, while I feel it is OK to black out the dial, case, bracelet and somewhat the hands, it still has to be legible! Some fail miserably in this department. My Hamilton Sub-Zero comes to mind. It was so large, yet so unreadable that I kept it all of one week. Drove me nuts! This is not the case with the KHS, as the hands and markers are adorned with Microtec MB Tritium tubes, which offer plenty of contrast in daylight, without being overly showy.
The dial opening is plenty large and since the bezel is nice and thin, in the dark it looks like you are wearing a much large watch. The latter clicks 120 times around the dial and feels incredibly reassuring when set. It is also dead-center at 12 o’clock, which seems to be getting rarer and rarer these days; Kudos to KHS for their precise engineering.
The dial itself is well balanced, with blacked-out numerals and GMT hand. One thing I would change however is the use of a black on white date wheel. It sticks out like a sore-thumb and should not be so prominent on a tactical style watch. Swap it for a white on black date wheel and you would have a perfect combination.
Speaking of dark, that is when things get interesting. So few companies use WHITE tritium tubes, let alone RED, but this watch has both with a sprinkle of BLUE. Now, red is a little hard to see with unadjusted eyesight, but once it does adjust, it is fantastic! All of the markers except the one @ 12 and second hand are white. The one @ 12 is red, along with the hour hand. The remaining minute hand and pip on the bezel are blue. Perfect for a Habs fan! (Montreal Canadiens Hockey Team)
The titanium IP Coated (mat black) case is exceptionally well made with chamfered lugs and screw-down caseback, which is nicely engraved with the KHS logo and Limited Edition number. The crown is smooth, easy to operate and screws down to ensure its 200m water resistance. The lugs are long, but not overtly so and feature the aforementioned screw bars (Allen-keys supplied) for easy strap changes.
The movement powering the Missiontimer 3 is a Swiss Made Quartz caliber that features anti-magnetic characteristics, the ability to function from 0° to 50° Celsius and is shock-resistant. Mine has performed flawlessly only having gained a handful of seconds in the 6 months I have owned it. Would I have preferred a mechanical movement? Sure, but there is something to be said about a solid quartz “grab n’ go” watch. This is not a watch I would wear every day, but I know that when I fetch it out of my watch box, it will already be telling the correct time and I can just take off with it. In this respect and for this type of functionality, I prefer a quartz movement for this watch.
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The supplied strap is a vinyl Nato style (1st picture above) with blacked out steel hardware and enhanced with a KHS Velcro badge. This last feature seems superfluous, but you know what? It works! It helps offset the entire strap that is folded up on the other side. Not sure if this was the original purpose, but I like it a great deal. Mind you I did find this awesome rubber strap in my collection, which seems to fit this watch perfectly and this is how I have been wearing it. Needless to say, this is a versatile watch that would even look great on a PVD shark-mesh bracelet or a fine calf-skin strap.
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Now 768 Euros may sound like a lot of money for one of these, but I assure you, it is worth every penny. I have yet to see another with this many awesome features, with the incredible tritium illumination and premium materials. If you are in the market for tactical diver, look no further, go to the KHS website (link below) and rest assure that you have chosen a solid watch that will take whatever you can throw at it.
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