Have you ever put on a watch and thought of everything you wanted to do with it? Have you imagined all the adventures you could have or even thought about how it might get its first scratch? Honestly, it doesn’t happen to me too often, but occasionally, a watch will evoke those thoughts in me. The Circula Protrail is one of those watches. The Protrail looks and feels like the field watch I never knew I wanted. There are elements of the Protrail, like the upgraded utilitarian looks and blued hands, that I can equate to the “glamping” version of a watch. However, that doesn’t stop it from being as tough, if not tougher, than its predecessors like the Hamilton Khaki Field.
On the Wrist
The Protrail feels excellent on the wrist, and there’s no denying it. Despite its chunky appearance, it feels airy while being worn. The Protrail comes in at 40mm wide, 46mm lug-to-lug, and 13.5mm thick (12mm wrist-to-crystal). At just a touch under 100 grams, it has some heft to it, but with a watch like this, I want to know my watch is there, and some weight helps with that. The lugs have angles for days. I would typically say they turndown dramatically or something to that effect, but on the Protrail, they fall off a cliff. They hug the wrist nicely, especially for a 40mm wide watch.
The 20mm lug box is straight and looks like it was hooded at some point in the design phase, and they decided to go all Pimp my Ride and chop the top off. It works exceptionally well as it creates the appearance of an even shorter lug-to-lug because the strap looks closer to the watch head. The integrated look this creates is perfect for the two-piece strap connoisseurs out there.
The Protrail, as with all field watches, needs supreme legibility. The sand dial I had in review is purpose-built with that in mind. The, you guessed it, sand-colored dial has black painted numerals, and the heat-blued hands contrast perfectly. It is easy to read at a glance, and when you see the lume shot down below, you’ll have no problem day or night.
Circula Protrail Specs | |
Case Width 40mm | Lug-to-Lug 46mm |
Case Thickness 13.4mm | Lug Width 20mm |
Wrist-to-Crystal 12mm | Weight 96g |
Water Resistance 150m | Strap Sailcloth Strap |
Crystal Sapphire | Lume Super-LumiNova Old Radium |
Movement Sellita SW-200 | Price $800 |
Dials Details
Instead of jumping into the other dial elements, I want to start with the lume here. When I get a watch in for review, I like to do what I do with movies. Skip the trailer. I try not to read all the specs and pour over the brand’s photos to experience the watch for myself. When I set up to take the lume shot, I was blown away by the lume application. The entire outer ring of the dial is fully lumed. It was so easy to read the time it made me wonder why this type of application isn’t more common. Sure, you see it a lot with white dial watches, but this isn’t exactly white. Little surprises like this are why it is a joy to go in blind and find some of these things out for yourself.
The dial of the Protrail is packed with small details that come together cohesively. Starting from the outside, we have the lumed outer ring I discussed above. The black Arabic numerals have a slight shine that looks great in sunlight. The minute track flanks the numerals is black with coordinating blue accents near the numerals.
As you move toward the center of the dial, there is a small step down into the inner section. Concentric circles add depth and texture to the 24-hour track and branding text. Speaking of the branding text, it is kept to a minimum, with only Circula at the 12 o’clock position and Protrail Automatic at 6 o’clock. Clean and simple.
Outside of the lume, the hands are the star of the show on the dial. We have true heat-blued hands that will appear black until the light hits them, and they blow up with that rich blue hue we all love from heat-treated hands.
Case & Strap
When a brand decides to bead blast a case, it will create a simple look or a blank canvas to add touches that might get lost in a brushed case. The Protrail does the latter. Several details on the Protrail elevate it from an ok field watch to a great-looking one.
I’ve mentioned the angles several times, and the Protrail uses them perfectly. The midcase has almost nothing round, and even the sides of the case that stick out from the bezel have slight angles. Combined with the angles on the lugs, you have a case with almost 100% flat surfaces.
The sides of the case have a textured recess. In the past several months, I’ve seen more watches with this type of recess, and the Farer Jackson and Roebuck Ranger come to mind. This recess avoids the slab-sided look some watches can get, and in the case of the Protrail and all its flat surfaces, this is a requirement.
The bezel, which is pretty much the only round part of the watch, has a polished chamfer. I love seeing polishing applied to bead-blasted cases. The Orion Hellcat was one of the best examples of this, and the Protrail is right up there. It creates some much contrast between the polishing and the dead matte finish of the bead blasting that it sticks out in the best way possible. The bezel of the Protrail sits slightly inside the case diameter, which accomplishes two things. One, it makes the Protrail look a touch smaller than it really is, and two, it gives the case more room to show off those angles.
The nylon sailcloth strap is leather backed, and although it was a little stuff out of the box (most sailcloth straps are), it loosened up after a couple of days of wear. Throw in some sweat on a hot day; it will conform to your wrist in no time.
Final Thoughts
The Protrail looks and feels like what the military might design if they had a hand in making a field watch today. It breaks away entirely from the traditional field watch case design while keeping the soul of those field watches with its dial.
This is a field watch I want to take out hiking and run through its paces. Although I’m not a massive fan of the term beater watch (I don’t like to intentionally beat things up that cost hundreds of dollars), this fits into that category. It is a watch that can take a beating, and it looks like a lightweight titanium field watch without any of the daintiness that comes with it.
Check out more field watch reviews at The Watch Clicker here
Check out the Circula website here
