Photo: Formex
Hardened titanium, 54 grams — a field watch that went to flight school, at $1,060.
Verdict
| What it is | Formex AirField Automatic Tarmac Grey — 40mm Grade 2 titanium aviation field watch, hard-coated to roughly 900 Vickers, Sellita SW200-2 Power+, 150m |
| Price | $1,060 on the nylon Velcro strap — Formex's own store, checked Thu Nov 12, 2026 |
| Availability | Available for order on the maker's store at check |
| The angle | Formex takes its titanium Field platform into aviation — and hard-coats the case, so the lightest case metal stops behaving like the softest |
| Verdict | A 54-gram case you do not have to baby. That combination is rarer than it should be. |
What it is
Formex's new AirField takes the Biel-Bienne maker's titanium Field platform into aviation. The dial furniture changes first: broad sword hands, a triangle-and-dots marker at 12, and a seconds hand whose counterweight is shaped like an aircraft, tipped in red. The grained grey dial recesses its numerals and fills them by hand with BGW9 luminous material, so the numbers sit in the dial rather than on it.
The case is the story. It is 40mm of Grade 2 titanium, 10.6mm thick and 46.6mm lug to lug, and it weighs 54 grams before the strap. Titanium is normally easy to mark; Formex hard-coats this case to roughly 900 Vickers, far harder than standard titanium, and gives it a screw-down crown and a 150-metre rating. The caseback carries a radial-engine engraving — the aviation brief, finished underneath where only the wearer sees it.
Inside is Sellita's SW200-2 in its Power+ form, with 65 hours of reserve and 26 jewels. The watch is designed and assembled in Biel-Bienne, and the featured configuration rides on a nylon Velcro strap.
Why it matters
Field watches are usually steel, and steel is usually heavy. Titanium solves the weight and brings a new problem — a soft surface that records every door frame. Hard-coating answers that second problem directly: it treats titanium as a working material to be engineered, not a premium label to be charged for. At 54 grams, with a movement that runs for the better part of three days off the wrist, it is a tool watch specified the way tools actually get used.
Specs
| Brand | Formex |
| Model | AirField Automatic Tarmac Grey, SKU 0661.1.6546.822 (per maker) |
| Movement | Sellita SW200-2 Power+ automatic, 26 jewels, 65-hour reserve (per maker) |
| Dial | Grained grey, recessed numerals hand-filled with BGW9, aircraft-counterweight seconds hand with red tip (per maker) |
| Case | Grade 2 titanium, hard-coated to roughly 900 Vickers, 40mm, 10.6mm thick, 46.6mm lug to lug, 54g case only, screw-down crown (per maker) |
| Water resistance | 150m (per maker) |
| Crystal | Sapphire with anti-reflective treatment (per maker) |
| Strap / bracelet | Nylon Velcro strap in the featured configuration (per maker) |
| Lug width | Not stated |
What to check before buying
- 54 grams is the case only. The strap adds its share; the total still lands far under a steel field watch, but know which figure you are comparing.
- A hard coating is a surface, not a cure-all. At roughly 900 Vickers it resists the ordinary scratches plain titanium collects. Deep knocks are a different question, as with any coating.
- 46.6mm lug to lug. The 40mm case wears compact, but check the full span against your wrist before ordering.
- The price is for the nylon Velcro configuration. Other straps change the figure — confirm the configuration on the maker's store at order time.
Price record
| Price | $1,060 on the nylon Velcro strap |
| Source | Formex's own store (formexwatch.com), checked Thu Nov 12, 2026 — available for order |
| Featured on our Instagram | Thu Nov 12, 2026 — Spotted (daily series, watch lane) |
Want one?
- In the shop: browse current stock — one-off pieces, and they turn over fast.
- Hunting one? Join the Want List — tell us the maker and the budget; pieces like this surface in our trawl most weeks.
- This one: at the source — See it at Formex. Not our listing. See Disclosure.
Related picks
- Nodus Sector II Field Titanium – Dusk — a 45-gram field watch, at $600
- Baltic Aquascaphe GMT MK-II Grey — a true GMT that still dives, from €850
- Vaer D5 Meridian Black (39mm USA) — at $729
Spotted, not sold by us — this piece lives at Formex's own store. Prices are a snapshot from when we spotted it. Disclosure
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Shop the pick
Formex AirField Automatic Tarmac Grey
$1,060 on the nylon Velcro strap — Formex's own store, checked Thu Nov 12, 2026
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