About a year ago, I started, what I thought was going to be a great idea, the Canadian Watch Guild. I had contacted nearly every Canadian watch company I could think of. I received positive replies from most of them, including Marathon. The goal was to establish a community of watch creators that could help each other and foster the Canadian Watch Industry. Similar to what the British Alliance is doing.
You have likely heard the expression “The rising tide lifts all ships”, unfortunately; this is not how it was received. No matter how much effort I put into the project, no one was willing to lend a hand. I had no stake in the game and was putting in hours. Everyone was fine with me promoting their brands and generating awareness, but no one wanted to actively participate. I also heard that there was grumblings of helping the competition.
The long-term goal was to eventually do pop-up shows within
Canada, where companies could feature their wares, perhaps even make it a
travelling show to the major cities across Canada. Sadly, I was unable to
properly convey the “big picture” and I ultimately gave up. The Instagram
profile is still up and occasionally I post some Canadian content, but there
are a few positives have come from my efforts.
CASE & BEZEL
The fully brushed case is made of 316L stainless steel and is unlike any other micro-brand case. In fact, you will find there is very little, if anything, that is similar to other brands. The case measures 41mm in diameter, 50mm lug to lug and 12mm thin, with a 20mm lug width. I have hear many use the term “goldilocks” when stating measurements like these and they are not wrong. This size is right in the sweet spot for many.
The case back is screwed down, with a neat circular engraving, which is meant to look like the base of an artillery shell. The rings represent the primer and the details surrounding are about the watch instead of the projectile. Those details include the water-resistance rating (200m), the lot number, the Canister logo and a maple leaf. The latter detail is a really nice touch. Overall the case is very unique looking and hard to describe, thankfully, we have pictures for that.
The crown is screwed-down and has the most amazing knurling.
It looks like diamond plating, but itty-bitty. You would think it would be
rough on the fingers, but it is not. Just enough bite to make it a breeze to
operate, but not enough to chew up your fingers. The same pattern can also be
found on the edge of the bezel, but I will get to that in the next segment. A
couple of other things I really appreciate are the lug holes and the straight
end opening. This makes most straps look fantastic!
The bezel is one of the features that really shines on the
Fieldmaster. The aforementioned knurling on the edge is sweet perfection to
manipulate and I swear, the bezel feels so rock solid and precise, I would
think it is on a watch with an extra zero in the price tag! It does not feel like
a regular click-spring mechanism, but rather ball bearing mounted, like a
Damasko or Monta (or others priced even higher). How is that even possible?
The insert is ceramic and sits remarkably flush with the
bezel hardware and the sapphire crystal. You really have to see this in person
to see how perfectly level it all is. The overall look of the bezel, with its
thin surface lends itself well to the field watch design, while still being
dive watch capable. Not too many companies can straddle these too genres this
well. Kudos to the designer.
DIAL
The dial on my review subject is blue, a dark vibrant color,
which is unlike the metallic blue you so often see on many watches these days.
In the dark you can still see that it is blue, it does not turn to black, but rather
a darker shade. Like many field watches, there are two sets of numeral
markings. The larger one for hour markings and smaller, inner one for minute
markings. This gives it a very military look.
The 3 o’clock numeral is replaced by the date cut-out and
the hour markers beyond the numerals are lumed (C3). Most are lume dots, except
for the meridian points, which are triangular. The Canister logo, which looks a
lot like Bill Cipher from Gravity Falls (not a bad thing), is prominent under
the 12 numeral and the only other word on the dial is AUTOMATIC right above the
6.
The hands are flat polished steel and suit the watch very
well. Despite personally preferring polished hands and the reflections they
give off, I wonder if white painted hands would have been better suited for
this military no-nonsense design. Either
way, they are plenty long enough for the dial, something many watch brands
fail, and are super easy to read.
MOVEMENT
The movement beating life into the Fieldmaster is the venerable Miyota 9015. I have owned many watches with this caliber and it has quickly become my favorite Japanese movement. Not only does it perform well, it is very easy to set. I have found with Seiko (NH) movements, you have to fiddle with them several times before you get a perfect line up with the hash marks. Yes, I am one of those people! With the 9015, you do it once and boom, all lined up.
Caliber: Number 9015
Movement Type: Automatic
Jewels: 24
Linges: 11.5”’
Diameter: 26mm
Height: 3.9mm thick
Vibrations Per Hour: 28,800 bph
Shock System: Parashock
Lift Angle: 51 degrees
Hacking: Yes
Hand-Windable: Yes
Rotor Winding Direction: Clockwise (uni-directional)
Credit: Caliber Corner © 2022, Source: https://calibercorner.com/miyota-caliber-9015/
Mine has been performing very well, but do not just take my word for it, check out the Watch Accuracy Meter screen capture! Very impressive numbers out of the box! Honestly, with performance like this and ease of operation, do you really need a Swiss Movement?
Let us
start with the great and that is the clasp! Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU
Canister for not going with the giant, clunky and out of place clasp most micro
brands use. You know the one. The one with the terrible double push-button
extension that most try to pass on as micro-adjustment, but looks horrible when
open from the sides. Instead, this one is a milled clamp shell with, get this, six
holes for micro-adjustments!
Beginning of rant. (in the voice of Lewis Black) Sliding push-button extensions are overrated. Do I like them, sure, do I need them, absolutely not. Neither do most of you! On the fly adjusting because you are bloated my butt! 10 years ago, no one needed these things and we were just fine enjoying our watches. Ever see someone at a restaurant take off their watch and adjust it because they had a salty meal? No. You see them adjust their belt and that is it. Besides, just like electronic seats in a car, give people too many options, you spend half your time fiddling with it and trying to get the right comfort and you are never happy. End of rant.
As for the bracelet links themselves, they are fully brushed and tape from 20mm at the lugs to 18mm at the clasp. They are sized by split pins, which is pretty easy to size and quite common for watches in this price category. And then we come to the not so great part of the bracelet, the male end-links. These bad boys bring the overall length from 50mm to nearly 60mm. Now they do curve down considerably and this does help with the fitting, but it is too long in my opinion. A straight end link would have been perfect. Having said all this, seems to fit fine on my 7.5” wrist, but on anything smaller than 7”, a strap would likely fit better.
I was fortunate enough to receive the Fieldmaster with a tropic style rubber strap, which looks and feels fantastic and a very impressive NATO strap, with matching hardware. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of NATO straps, never have been, but for those that enjoy them, I believe they will be impressed with its quality. The rubber feels like silicon and is extremely supple. If the bracelet had not worked on me, I would likely have chosen the latter for my every day wear.
For those of you that are familiar with my reviews, you will know that I rarely, if ever, talk about packaging. Most of my watch boxes clutter my closet and are a source of contention with the wifely unit. However, Canister has you covered, as it does not come in a box per say, but a well… a canister! A brown tube, which seems to be half the length of a Pringles can, that opens from either end.
Inside the canister was a waxed canvas watch roll, with leather hardware. Once unfolded, you have four watch spots. One for the watch, two for the extra straps and I used the last one to store the MANY extra links. When I say MANY extra links, I mean I had to remove six of them to fit my aforementioned 7.5” wrist. So even a Canadian Sasquatch should be able to wear this one without needing more links. Anyway, back to the watch roll. What a welcome way to receive a watch. Not only is it super cool, it will be functional and will not just collect dust and ire from my wife.
CONCLUSION
Have you noticed how I have gone nearly 1700 words without ever mentioning the price? I did that on purpose, as I was saving the best detail for last. Canister is selling the Fieldmaster for 399$, yes, you read that correctly, three ninety-nine! In addition, that is in Canadian funds! At today’s exchange, it would be 297$ in USD and get this, shipping is included!
I know, I know, I was a little liberal with the exclamation marks, but seriously, if that is not a bargain, I do not know what is. I bet it would be spectacular on one of those 20-30$ Amazon shark-mesh bracelets, so if the end-links are an issue, who cares! You are getting so much watch here, that if you want to try other bracelet or strap options, there should still be plenty left in the piggy bank to do so.
I honestly cannot think of a better value proposition right now than this Canister Fieldmaster. You get everything you would ever need in a field watch with dive watch capabilities. Sapphire crystal, ceramic bezel, bulletproof movement, excellent build quality. I mean, what else could you ask for?
What are you doing still reading this review? Go to the Canister website and get one for yourself now!
