Momentum Atlas Field Watch – $91.12 – $135 
A little bolder with a titanium case, Momentum’s Atlas field watch is a hair more affordable than the J. Crew Timex military watch. At around 36-37mm in diameter, the Momentum Atlas is still a traditionally sized (read: smaller) field watch, but comes with larger numbers, an arrow point hour hand, and a screw down textured crown.
Atlas dials come in black, white, green, red, brown, and even orange. Available straps include rubber, nylon/canvas, and leather. Pretty impressive for just one small model of field watch. The width of the band/lugs is a well proportioned 20mm, so the J. Crew watch straps should get in there just fine.
The newest versions come with what Momentum calls their “V” movement, which according to them, gives you five years of battery life. Get it? V? Five? Fancy. Movement is Japanese Quartz. (Full specs here, WARNING, it’s a PDF)
Slightly different face, a little cheaper, and plenty of out of the box choices. Not a bad way to avoid the J. Crew markup.
For more, see our archive of similar looking watches that cost a whole lot less. Top Photo Credit – Momentum
I love the site but your fascination with the J Crew Timex borders on annoying. There are so many better thing that you could be covering. There are two articles covering this subject on the front page of the site.
If you want to cover watches what about an article on how to buy used higher end watches at a good price. For instance I just bought a Hamilton Jazzmaster with a retail price of $600 for half the price. It is in mint condition as the previous owner only wore it 3 times.
Sorry for the rant but I like to see fresh content on one of my favorite sites.
Gotta agree with Steven, especially when the J Crew Timex’s are ridiculously overpriced. You can get a Timex easy reader and a new strap for <$40.
^ What a bunch of Debbie Downers.
FWIW, Momentum is an awesome company. They’re based out of Vancouver and have an incredible reputation for customer service. I actually posted a pretty in-depth review of one of their watches at one of the watch forums and, when I mentioned that the included rubber strap was too long, their CS rep actually PMed me and told me to expect one of their newly-made shorter straps in my mailbox, free of charge. It’s pretty awesome that they’re not only paying attention to what their customers say, but actively work to provide assistance and seek out customer feedback on their products and service.
Additionally they have one of the best warranties in the watch biz. They call it the 2-4-6 plan, and basically at the end of every two years, if you send the watch in to their service center for battery replacement/maintenance, they extend the warranty for another two years (up to 6).
It’s also worth mentioning that Momentum formerly went as St. Moritz, and they built their reputation in dive shops rather than jewelry shops. While the Atlas is obviously not a dive watch, you can expect it to live up to its 100m WR. These little watches were designed to be tough and functional. Because they aren’t a “heritage” brand or one of the newer “boutique” diving brands they don’t seem to have gotten much hype, but they definitely deserve it.
Ouch. Think that was a little undeserved. The J. Crew Timex is just a style–one that many want, but aren’t willing to shell out $150 for. What’s wrong with Joe recommending some alternative field watch styles?
Perhaps you didn’t see this is part 2 of a week-long series. I don’t see this as an obsession with the J.Crew watches so much as an exploration of stylish, affordable watches that will appeal to those who like the J.Crew ones but don’t want to succumb to the absurd markup. Given the nature of this website, I think that’s pretty well in keeping with the Dappered ethos.
I do agree with you that the Jazzmaster is a beautiful piece. But Dappered is about working the retail system, not about how to sift through shady and non-shady secondhand deals on eBay and web forums. Joe can’t post a link or a coupon code to get a deal like yours. All he could really do is offer generalized hints on where to start looking for deals and how to avoid obviously bad ones, and frankly that info is already available in abundance on the various watch forums.
BOOM! Love this site. Yes I am tired of the JCREW watch facination that all the men’s style blogs rant and rave about…but you show us alternatives. Damn fine good ones too. Thank you! Momentum watches bookmarked and seriously be considered!
“I like to see fresh content on one of my favorite sites.” We post three new features every day except for the weekends. This is just a week long mini series. Don’t worry Steven, it’ll be over soon.
The design nerd in me is LOVING the 3/6/9/12 on these faces.
$100 for Timex??? Aren’t these made in China?
I’m not sure if you’re talking about Timex or Momentum… Momentum is a Canadian watchmaker, entirely unrelated to Timex. They source their watch movements from Japan and Switzerland and other components, like cases and straps, from around the world. Their website provides that one of their typical watches might have a Swiss movement, a Japanese steel case, and an Italian strap.
From what I understand, some assembly is probably outsourced (likely to China or another major manufacturing country) and some assembly takes place in Canada. The Momentum rep I’ve talked to has commented that “We are headquartered in Vancouver and do our service here. We do some light assembly and customization in Vancouver. Components are imported from various parts of the world.”
My Momentum M1 diver is marked as having a Japanese movement and being “designed” in Canada. I know from reading one of their product catalogs that the rubber band is made in Italy. But I have no idea, and the watch does not say, where the whole thing was assembled.
Check out this page: http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/WatchesClocks/MomentumStMoritz.jsp
For what it’s worth, ten of the fifteen Momentum watches sold by MEC (Canada’s version of REI) are marketed as being “made in Canada.”
Clearly inspired by IWC. Good stuff.
I have no complaints. I just wanted to say that all these Timex alternative articles are just making me want the J Crew Timex even more! Worry not though. I will never pay $150 for it.
Make that $175. The Andros is the only one that interests me.
I’m with you on the Andros D.F.McF. Y’know, this small series isn’t about trashing the J. Crew Timex line. To me, they all look incredible. More power to em’. And I love the look of the Andros. It’s why it only got 3.25 floating Frank M. heads: http://dappered.com/2011/07/muytjens-ometer-test-the-j-crew-timex-andros/
certain targets have them for 35 bones
also there’s a target merona knockoff, which i mistook for the timex, for 13 bucks
I avoid those due to pricing too, but they do look pretty clean compared to anything similar.
I avoid those due to pricing too, but they do look pretty clean compared to anything similar.
Some Momentums are being sold on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_watches?_encoding=UTF8&node=377110011&field-brandtextbin=Momentum
Sorry, should’ve been clear. Was talking about the J Crew Timex. (should’ve exclaimed “More than $100 for Timex!) Paying more than $40 for a Timex watch is asinine. No, I know about Momentum. I used to have a Momentum dive watch, I ended up giving it to my brother who had his eye on it. It was/still is a great watch.
Joe does not mention that the Atlas is available with a sapphire crystal for an additional charge (I have seen $40.) With it, the watch looks terrific for years. I love mine. It is a seriously durable watch that is not ridiculously overpriced, or oversized. The white face version glows particularly brightly at night.