Mitch Mason is a new watch brand, and like many others is looking to get their start through a crowdfunding campaign, which launches September 1. Their first watch, the Chronicle, is a take on the classic field watch, increasingly a genre new watch brands are comfortable starting out in. Besides the dive watch, the field watch is perhaps the most well understood, versatile type of sports watch. There?s a certain ease in designing a field watch – the basic template has remained unchanged for decades. But there?s a challenge on the flip side of that equation: how do you stand out from the crowd" For Mitch Mason, the answer seems to be a funky case design, a variety of color choices, and a handset that?s not at all what you?d expect on a field watch.
Let?s start with the case, as it?s the least ?field watch? thing about the Chronicle, in my opinion. A field watch, the many varieties of which Ed Jelley covered in a guide back in April, tends to have a rigorously simple design. A circular case without a lot of ornamentation or decoration. The Chronicle?s case is highly angular with several distinct facets. I?m reminded of Seiko and Grand Seiko designs and their intersecting, zaratsu polished edges. The Chronicle has a squared off appearance that?s much more common to the strange sports watches of the 70s than the tried and true field watch. 

Not a typical field watch case

It?s the case?s dimensions that really tie it to field watch traditions. Meas...