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chefSpotted May 2023

Chef Philippe Etchebest spotted wearing a Hamilton

chef Philippe Etchebest spotted wearing a Hamilton H70595523
Who & what: Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic Steel H70595523 — Philippe Etchebest

French chef Philippe Etchebest, best known internationally as a Michelin-starred cook and a fixture on French television's culinary competition circuit, was recently spotted on the wrist with a Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic reference H70595523 — a watch that speaks the same language as the man wearing it: functional, disciplined, and rooted in serious craft.

The Hamilton Khaki Field Automatic H70595523 is a 38mm stainless steel field watch wearing its military ancestry openly. The matte black dial carries Arabic numerals, a seconds sub-dial at nine o'clock, and applied luminous indices — a layout lifted almost directly from Hamilton's Second World War-era GI-issue watches. The case measures 38mm across and 9.5mm thin, proportions that slide effortlessly under a cuff. Water resistance is rated to 100 metres, respectable for a dress-adjacent tool watch.

The movement inside is the Hamilton H-10 calibre, an ETA-based automatic wound to deliver a class-leading 80-hour power reserve. For a watch at this price point, that figure is genuinely exceptional — most competitors in the segment struggle to exceed 42 hours. The H-10 beats at 21,600 vph and runs in a 25-jewel configuration, offering solid everyday reliability without pretension.

Among collectors, the Khaki Field Automatic occupies a smart niche: it is one of the rare watches where the value proposition actually improves on paper the more you know about it. The 80-hour reserve, the military lineage, the restrained dial — none of it requires explanation to people who understand watches. It has built a loyal following among enthusiasts who distrust marketing and value substance, which is precisely why it keeps appearing on wrists that know better.

Etchebest, a former boxer turned Bocuse d'Or competitor and owner of the Bordeaux restaurant Le Quatrième Mur, has a public persona built on intensity and directness. A Hamilton Khaki Field on his wrist is consistent — no luxury signalling, no ostentation, just a well-engineered tool chosen for what it does. On the market, the H70595523 retails comfortably under $600, and grey-market pricing remains close to retail, a sign that demand is steady rather than speculative.

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