Benrus DTU-2A-P

by Vincent Deschamps

War machines

Let us talk about what field watches are and what the modern Hamilton Khaki Field isn’t. Field watches are war machines and were an integral part of soldiers’ equipment from World War I to, according to this excellent article from Watches of Espionnage, the early 1980s when the U.S. Army started testing out digital watches and issuing Casio G-Shocks to its service members. Field watches were designed to be endowed with daytime and nighttime superlative legibility, and built to be shock and corrosion resistant. They also had to be comfortable to wear for extended periods of times, and say what you must about big tool watches being appropriate for everyday wear, physically speaking, smaller watches are lighter and therefore more comfortable to wear regardless of your wrist size and morphology. There, we’ve said it, it’s all good. We can move on.

Check out the History of YEMA Watches

And from what I can tell, most watch enthusiasts and discerning collectors—and us watch journalists, storytellers, and bloggers—regard the Hamilton Khaki Field as being the purest form of the iconic field watch. Perhaps it was so for a long time but today it isn’t anymore as Benrus just released a period-correct 34mm DTU-2A/P, the original U.S. Army field watch made in response to the 1962 MIL-W-3818B specification and before that Hamilton followed suit in 1965. (To be specific.) And it should be noted that Benrus has had a deep and intense involvement producing military timekeeping devices going back to 1940 with the Sky-Chief and a plethora of field and dive watches after that. I’m a hardcore military/tool watch/small timekeeping devices nut and so it is with a profound horological nerdistic pleasure that I’m writing this review today.

Key Features of the Benrus DTU-2A-P

Case and dimensions

The first thing you should know about the new 34mm Benrus DTU-2A-P is that it isn’t just sized properly to match the dimensions of the original, but that its technology was hugely improved compared to the original one (well, yes of course) which surpasses that which many other brands, which can also claim legitimacy in producing field watches for the military, offer today. (And what, I would add, few brands overall offer across multiple genres of watches.) First of all, a good caliber in the form of an ETA 2671 which beats at 4Hz and comes with 38 hours of power reserve, something that can’t be easy to source today, which inhabits a bead-blasted stainless case measuring 34mm in diameter, 40.2mm lug-to-lug, 10.9mm thick and coming with an 18mm lug width. As far as I know, these dimensions are extremely close to those of the original DTU-2A/P from the 1960s and to the civilian version worn by Steve McQueen in the 1968 movie Bullitt.

Dial and water resistance

But what interests us here today are the few extra specs which make this newest version of the DTU-2A/P so darn special. First, a generous amount of SuperLuminova BGW9 on the hands (including the seconds hand,) and the triangular markers nestled within the minute track, as the lume is indeed generously applied; a double-domed sapphire crystal with inner anti-reflective coating; and more importantly, a screw-down crown and case-back which endow this model with an excellent 100 meters of water resistance. Think about this for a moment: a 34mm watch with as much water resistance as a 40mm field watch with a push/pull crown, or double that of the current Hamilton Khaki Field. What the Benrus doesn’t have which the Hamilton has is 80 hours of power reserve which is something—selfishly—that doesn’t matter to me as much as water resistance does. Perhaps I’m not comparing apples to apples since the Khaki Field costs $365 less than the Benrus but I think you get my point.

Of Interest

And my point is that the 34mm Benrus DTU-2A/P is the better field watch compared to that being currently offered by other iconic and historical brands which have partaken in the supplying of timekeeping devices to the military. Again, I should frame this statement within a particular context, that of field watches made following government-issued military specifications—you know the Hamilton’s, Marathon’s, and Bulova’s of the world—and that is looking at the Benrus’ specifications, design and dimensions. Indeed, the design of this model is unchanged from the original—well, with a couple of exceptions, for example the lumed seconds hand—and it was perfectly translated to fit a smaller format where the hands, printed hour markers, and 24-hour military track are perfectly proportioned. I would argue that this design makes much more sense in this size than it does today in a 38mm case because it was formulated to fit a smaller watch as it was common to find in the 1960s.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, the 34mm Benrus DTU-2A-P is a marvel of legibility and of utilitarian horology. The combination of the semi syringe-style hour and minute hands with the printed Arabic numerals and triangular elements make it really easy to read the time at any distance and angle, which was paramount for soldiers. Moreover, I appreciate how the lume comes with a creamy colour on the hands and dial, which creates visual balance, and how the dial, overall, only has three colors: matte black, matte white, and cream. This adds a little bit more of visual interest than what a monochromatic dial would offer, without erring even one iota on the side of having too much of it, which would have distracted the wearer from being able to easily read the time. After all, the Benrus DTU-2A/P is a military watch and as such is, first and foremost, functional. The same forms-follows-function design philosophy can also be found on the simple, bead-blasted case.

Specs

Case	316L Stainless Steel 34mm Diameter 40.2mm Lug to Lug 10.9mm 18mm Lug Width Screw Down Case Back 100m Water Resistance
Dial & Crystal	Double-domed Sapphire Crystal Matte Dial Printed Numerals Syringe Hands BGW9 Super-LumiNova
Movement	ETA 2671 25 jewels 28 800vph 38-Hour Power Reserve
Strap	Brown Leather Bund Green NATO

Benrus DTU-2A-P

Final Thoughts

In 2025, field watches remain hugely popular in all of their shapes and forms. With small, medium, or large cases. With monochromatic of colorful dials with poppy reds and neon yellows. With lumecast numerals or applied hour markers complemented by white-gold surrounds. With chronometer-grade Swiss movements or dirt-cheap battery-operated Japanese quartz ones. And field watches remain hugely popular because they are the purest form of military horology and of horology as a whole, with roots dating back to the first wristwatches from the early 20th century. And there is certain romanticism we can easily attribute to time-only watches, a deeply-rooted philosophical way of keeping track of the passing time and of keeping things simple. And I for one would argue that the 34mm Benrus DTU-2A/P is the purest form of the field watch today as it was 60 years ago.

About the author

Vincent Deschamps is a museum professional, originally from France, with more than 10 years experience as a researcher, producing visitor experiences for national and international organizations. He is also the founder of mainspring.watch. You can follow Vincent on Instagram.

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