History:
Nite watches was founded in 2003 by a man named Roger Green. Roger Pioneered the first ever privately owned British watch brand to utilize Tritium illumination. Tritium had been around the watch world for some time but had not yet landed in the UK, Roger changed that. Their watches are made for a life of adventure or even your day to day grind sporting some serious specifications. Roger, understanding the key properties of tritium, set out on creating a collection of watches which would feature this reliable illumination for outdoor activities. Nite Watches have been making watches for over 20 years now and have stayed faithful to their commitment to provide quality timepieces made with the best components, a blend of high end materials, tritium lume, Swiss made movements and tough sapphire glass.
Tritium Illumination- Is a highly dependable form of illumination and is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen that has a half life of 12 years! Which can naturally occur by being formed through an interaction between gasses and cosmic rays but is extremely rare on Earth. Our atmosphere has only small traces of it, although it can be produced artificially by irradiation of lithium metal.
One of their first ever watches was selected by the United Kingdom's Special Forces because of its robust design and the quality of components. These decisions are not made in haste, understanding SOF Units thorough process in selecting a timepiece to ensure it is reliable in operations is no easy assessment.
With a mission statement like “We are an independent British brand with a mission to create classically designed watches that can endure any outdoor passion” You begin to understand why the SBWC took notice. Their catalog features The Alpha Dive watch, The MX10 Field watch, and what I would call a hybrid, the “Hawk” , an all-terrain watch which we will focus on today.
HAWK - Night Fall
Un-boxing:
Upon opening the box (which is very minimalist and I love that) you're greeted with a cool graphic of waves crashing against the coastline that has the words “Hawk All Terrain Watch” at the top with the Nite Logo at the bottom and the words “Proven Through Passion”. Immediately you have a sense that this company means business. When you lift away the graphic and manual the Hawk is revealed. Upon first impressions I thought to myself this is a tough, intimidating piece with the time set already to my local time. Nice touch Nite. The indices were perfect and you could tell in the low light they were ready to perform brilliantly. I ordered the model with the Orange and Green Tritium Lume where the green is the majority and the orange is at the 12 in a double bar configuration to ensure proper orientation at night. Once pulling the watch from the box I realized how light it truly was. Almost toy like until you feel the case and you understand that this watch is truly built tough and very robust. They added in a neat money clip at the bottom of the watch box which I found convenient and a nice addition to my EDC wallet.
On The Wrist:
At first glance as stated earlier the Hawk feels large, maybe a little intimidating but not in a way that affects your daily life. It has a low profile which helps keep the Hawk flat to your wrist and not top heavy. Speaking of weight, the strikingly tough looking case is made of a Black Poly-carbonate that keeps this watch light on the wrist almost to the point where you forget you have it on. Crucial if we are speaking in military terms where ounces equal pounds, and no one wants an unnecessarily heavy watch while you're lugging around a 100 pound Bergen. The sapphire glass is very clear, coated with an anti-reflective layer mitigating reflection and is Ultra-Scratch resistant. Strapped to your wrist with a tough black polymer strap the Hawk is ready for any adventure. At first the strap seemed a little tough to operate but this is for good reason. At the request of certain communities the strap was engineered to be tough to get on and off to ensure it has no chance of coming undone on its own.
The lume is incredible and I field tested this on some late night bike rides and working late 12 hour shifts hanging from ropes welding and I was always capable of glancing down at what felt like a nuclear powered watch telling me the exact time. Speaking of Power The Hawk contains the reliable Swiss Made Ronda 715Li which has a 10 year battery life from the factory. The hour and minute hand are a subtle Grey and sport tritium lume as well. They are very balanced and effective. The red seconds hand gives you a sense of low light tactical timing with a plot of Tritium also. The dial is very subdued matte black with Grey text stating the Company logo at the 12 O'clock and just above the 6 it reads Hawk 200m. The Hawk also comes with a date complication as well resting just passed the 4 O'clock position.
Moving outward the crown which has easy purchase and is a screw down crown allowing a water resistance of 200ms. Lastly the bezel is unidirectional with a tritium lume pip at the 60 Minute marker or 12 O'clock position, it's very "toolish" and stiff which is trustworthy in my eyes and very responsive.
Official Specifications Run Down:
Case Finish - Black Polycarbonate Case
Strap - Black Polymer Strap
Crystal - Sapphire Anti Reflective Coating
Lume - Tritium Green and Orange
Bezel - Unidirectional
Movement - Swiss Made Ronda 715Li
Crown - Screw Down 200 Meter Water Resistance
Dial Diameter - 33MM
Case Diameter - 51MM
Case Depth - 14.6MM
Lug Width - 24MM
Weight - 70g
Battery Life - 10 Years
Overall the Nite “Hawk” all terrain watch is very well built and will stand up to many harsh conditions and adventures you throw at it. Nite's history being 20 years although to some it may seem small in comparison to other companies out there does not dictate their quality and mission. They are a great company looking to make time pieces for an end user that has an adventurous lifestyle and uses their tools.
This watch was sent to me by Nite to review and to share my opinions of their great time pieces with the world. Of course I am a big fan of their company and support them in their mission but I must say the watch is no longer with me. Do not worry this story has a happy ending!
On my wedding day I gifted the Hawk to my best man who fought beside me in Afghanistan under some of the most hellish conditions imaginable and who has always had my back for many years post service. He left the service many years before I did and continued a career in para-medicine achieving primary care, advanced care status, flight crew paramedic and finished out his time as part of the Ontario Provincial Police Tactical Team as a Medic. He has now made the transition to Ontario Provincial Police and had recently just finished shortly before my wedding his Incident Response Team Qualification. As you can tell he's a “Go Getter” and a perfect person to own such a robust and kick ass timepiece!
I'd like to personally Thank Nite watches for sending me this watch and to let them know it's out there in the wilderness, in the gym, serving warrants and kicking doors down the way it was designed too.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this article, I hope you have enjoyed it.
As Always,
Stay Sketchy
-Derek