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Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533

Murph vs Khaki Field

Hamilton Khaki Field Murph vs Khaki Field Auto

Same movement, same crystal, same water rating, same warranty, same 38mm case. The differences are smaller than the price gap suggests — and one of them is a missing number.

By Sawyer V. · Published

The short answer

Buy the Khaki Field Auto 38mm. It is mechanically identical to the Murph — the same 80-hour H-10, sapphire, 100m and two-year warranty — and Hamilton publishes its 47mm lug-to-lug, which it does not for the Murph. Buy the Murph only if you want its dial specifically.

These two get cross-shopped constantly and the internet tends to discuss them as though they were different watches. On the specification sheet they are very nearly the same object: the same case size, the same crystal, the same water rating, the same warranty and the same movement.

That makes this an unusually simple comparison. If two watches are mechanically identical, the decision comes down to what is printed on the dial and what the maker is willing to tell you about the case — and on the second point there is a real difference.

On prices: we publish no figure we have not verified today. Where a live price is shown it came from the price layer this morning; otherwise the button reads "Check price on Amazon".

How we picked

We have not worn these watches. What follows is what we checked instead, on documents you can open yourself — the same criteria, in the same order, on every roundup on this site. The full method is on the methodology page.

  1. 01Movement

    Identical: Hamilton's H-10 automatic with a Nivachron balance spring and an 80-hour reserve.

  2. 02Published dimensions

    The Khaki Field Auto has a stated 47mm lug-to-lug. Hamilton publishes none for the Murph.

  3. 03Thickness

    11mm against 11.1mm — a tenth of a millimeter, which is nothing.

  4. 04Dial

    The only substantial difference: a plain military dial against the film-inspired one.

  5. 05Cost to keep

    The same for both. Hamilton publishes a European service price of 230 euros and no US figure.

Disclosure · Some links below are Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one we earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not decide what goes on this page or in what order — here is exactly how that works.

Quick picks

Ranked on the Keep Score below — six published specifications, weighted identically on every page. The last row is the one we would not buy.

#WatchBest forKeep ScorePrice
1
Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533

80-hour H-10, sapphire, 100m, and a published 47mm lug-to-lug.

The one to buy8.6/10
Check price
2
Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm H70405130

Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm H70405130

The same watch, styled for the film, with no published lug-to-lug.

If you want that dial8.6/10
Check price
Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931

An 80-hour hand-wound Hamilton — with a mineral crystal.

Skip this one

Not the third Hamilton to consider7.1/10
Check price

Keep Score is arithmetic, not opinion — six published specifications, weighted the same way on every page. The formula is on our methodology page, so you can re-run it yourself.

01

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533

Best for: The one to buy

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533

8.6/10

Keep Score

Crystal
2.5/2.5
Serviceability
2.5/2.5
Water resistance
1.1/1.5
Warranty
0.7/1.5
Strap standard
1/1
Cost-to-keep transparency
0.8/1
$795.00 · View on Amazon

#ad Affiliate link · Price as of September 24, 2026

Everything the Murph has — the 80-hour H-10 with its Nivachron balance spring, sapphire, 100m, a 38mm case and a two-year warranty — plus a published 47mm lug-to-lug, so you can check it against your wrist before buying.

11mm thick with a 20mm lug width, which is the most common strap size in the world. The dial is the plain military layout the Khaki Field is known for.

It is the less distinctive of the two to look at. If the reason you are here is that you like the Murph's dial, this watch will not scratch that itch.

Mechanically identical to the Murph and usually cheaper, because it does not carry a film's name. 47mm lug-to-lug on a 38mm case is a genuinely versatile footprint.

Manufacturer specifications for the Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm H70455533
MovementHamilton H-10, automatic, Nivachron balance spring
Power reserve80 hours
Case38mm stainless steel
Lug-to-lug47mm
Thickness11mm
Lug width20mm
Crystalsapphire
Water resistance100m
Warranty2 years

Specifications read from Hamilton product page, H70455533.

02

Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm H70405130

Best for: If you want that dial

Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm H70405130

8.6/10

Keep Score

Crystal
2.5/2.5
Serviceability
2.5/2.5
Water resistance
1.1/1.5
Warranty
0.7/1.5
Strap standard
1/1
Cost-to-keep transparency
0.8/1
$1,045.00 · View on Amazon

#ad Affiliate link · Price as of September 24, 2026

Mechanically indistinguishable from the watch above: same H-10, same 80 hours, same sapphire, same 100m, same two years, same 38mm case and 20mm lugs, at 11.1mm thick against 11mm.

The dial and hands are the entire proposition, and they are genuinely well done — this is a watch people buy because they want this specific object, which is a perfectly good reason.

Hamilton publishes no lug-to-lug for this reference. On a 38mm watch that is not a crisis, but it means the one number that decides fit has to be taken on trust where the other watch states it.

Hamilton fits Nivachron across the Khaki Field line — an antimagnetic hairspring, addressing the failure mode that used to send affordable mechanicals to the bench. This is a watch designed around the twenty-year case.

Manufacturer specifications for the Hamilton Khaki Field Murph 38mm H70405130
MovementHamilton H-10, automatic, Nivachron balance spring
Power reserve80 hours
Case38mm stainless steel
Lug-to-lugNot published
Thickness11.1mm
Lug width20mm
Crystalsapphire
Water resistance100m
Warranty2 years

Specifications read from Hamilton product page, H70405130.

Skip this one

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931

Best for: Not the third Hamilton to consider

Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931

7.1/10

Keep Score

Crystal
1/2.5
Serviceability
2.5/2.5
Water resistance
1.1/1.5
Warranty
0.7/1.5
Strap standard
1/1
Cost-to-keep transparency
0.8/1
$975.00 · View on Amazon

#ad Affiliate link · Price as of September 24, 2026

It is the Hamilton that gets suggested when someone wants the brand in a smaller case: 36mm, 9.95mm thick, hand-wound, 100m, with the same 80-hour reserve.

It has a mineral crystal, where both watches on this page have sapphire. Mineral marks permanently and cannot be polished back, and at Hamilton money that is the one compromise not worth making.

If you want hand-wound and thin, the Khaki Field Mechanical is 9.5mm with sapphire.

Everything about this watch is right except the front of it. Hamilton fits a mineral crystal here and sapphire on the Khaki Field Mechanical at a similar level, which on a watch bought to keep is the difference between a case that ages and a face that does.

Manufacturer specifications for the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer Mechanical H76419931
MovementHamilton H-50, hand-wound
Power reserve80 hours
Case36mm stainless steel
Lug-to-lugNot published
Thickness9.95mm
Lug width18mm
Crystalmineral
Water resistance100m
Warranty2 years

Hamilton lists the case as 36mm x 33mm — the asymmetric RAF-issue shape, not a round 36mm case.

Specifications read from Hamilton product page, H76419931.

Side by side

Read from Hamilton's own product pages for H70455533 and H70405130.
Khaki Field Auto 38Khaki Field Murph 38
MovementHamilton H-10 automatic, NivachronHamilton H-10 automatic, Nivachron
Power reserve80 hours80 hours
Case38mm, 11mm thick38mm, 11.1mm thick
Lug-to-lug47mmNot published
CrystalSapphireSapphire
Water resistance100m100m
Lug width20mm20mm
Warranty2 years2 years
Read from Hamilton's own product pages for H70455533 and H70405130.

What the H-10 gives you, on both

The H-10 is an ETA-based automatic with an 80-hour power reserve — put either watch down on Friday evening and it is still running on Monday morning. The Nivachron balance spring is the antimagnetic part, which matters more than it used to now that laptops, phone cases and headphones all contain magnets.

Because it is ETA-based, any competent watchmaker can service it and parts are not a question. Hamilton publishes 230 euros for a full maintenance in Europe and no US figure, so the cost is knowable in principle but not stated for American buyers. That applies equally to both watches.

The one number that separates them

Hamilton publishes a 47mm lug-to-lug for the Khaki Field Auto and nothing for the Murph. On this site that is scored as a real difference, because lug-to-lug is the specification that decides whether a watch fits — see best field watches for small wrists for how much it can vary between watches of the same diameter.

In practice the two cases look the same size and the Murph is almost certainly very close to 47mm. But "almost certainly" is not a published figure, and this site's rule is that an unstated number stays unstated.

If neither, then what?

The Khaki Field Mechanical is the hand-wound version at 9.5mm — noticeably thinner, because there is no rotor — with 50m instead of 100m. And the Seiko 5 versus Khaki Field comparison covers the cheaper Japanese alternative.

Questions people actually ask

Is the Hamilton Murph worth the extra over the Khaki Field Auto?

Only if you want the dial. The movement, crystal, water resistance, case size and warranty are the same, and the Khaki Field Auto additionally has a published 47mm lug-to-lug.

Do the Murph and Khaki Field Auto use the same movement?

Yes — Hamilton's H-10 automatic with a Nivachron balance spring and an 80-hour power reserve, in both.

How thick is the Hamilton Murph 38mm?

11.1mm, against 11mm for the Khaki Field Auto 38mm. The difference is a tenth of a millimeter and is not something you would feel.

What size wrist fits a 38mm Hamilton field watch?

The Khaki Field Auto's published 47mm lug-to-lug suits wrists from about 16.5cm upward. Hamilton publishes no figure for the Murph, though the cases appear closely matched.

Sources

Every specification and figure on this page came from one of these documents. Where a manufacturer does not publish something, the page says so rather than filling the gap.