A wristwatch with a silver minimalist design rests on a scratched metal surface. The watch face, known as "Light ✦ The Dark One," features a subtle grey gradient with slim black hour markers and hands. The grey leather strap complements the watch's modern, understated look, bringing light elegance to your wrist.
A wristwatch with a silver minimalist design rests on a scratched metal surface. The watch face, known as "Light ✦ The Dark One," features a subtle grey gradient with slim black hour markers and hands. The grey leather strap complements the watch's modern, understated look, bringing light elegance to your wrist.

Come see the Light! No. 493

The Light, general purpose field watch, in two colours.

Schofield introduces a general purpose field watch. After 15 years making watches with the same case shape and dimensions, the Light brings a whole re-design, from the ground up. At 40 mm diameter we now have a wholly new offering with no less complexity and detail as seen in other models.
Lighthouses have been Schofield’s inspiration for the last 15 years and these two new watches reflect their austerity, endurance and precision. Built for legibility and reliability – a functional watch with subtle military cues. Powered by an automatic, mechanical Seiko movement with 24hr GMT. The Light comes in two colours, aptly named The Light One and The Dark One. Both limited to 150 pieces.

Price is £2190 including VAT (UK / free shipping) or £1825 excluding VAT (US, Canada, Europe, ROW + shipping).

Why is it called the Light – a general purpose field watch?

The Light is not lite but plays on the fact that this is the most inexpensive watch we have ever made. However, designing it to be economical was, and is, impossible for Giles Ellis. By using a movement that although absolutely brilliant – as so many of Seiko’s products are – is reasonably priced compared to say the ubiquitous ETA 2824-2, helps, but not much. Another way is to make more, which we did. But way more important and relevant is Light, as in the use of the Lighthouse – the home of Schofield – and the coast, represented by these trustworthy beacons.
The Beam-of-Light logo is used in multiple places, for the first time in the crown, then on the dial and case back. General Purpose, because that helps define its reason to exist. Whether you wear it climbing to the lamp room is up to you, but you could. The Light can take it…
‘Field Watch’ is a pretty broad category for watches and links with military usage. At first glance the simplicity of the dial and case work would be akin to many other field watches but in fact the complexity and refinement in the design is revealed on closer inspection.
Military cues – the box sapphire crystal, high contrast (where it matters) monochrome colour ways, asymmetrical dial print, full numerical hour index and a crown at 4, matt finishing and robust strap and buckle.

The Case

Although field watches can be quite pedestrian, this new design is anything but. A heavy box sapphire crystal is mounted in a bezel that is vertically brushed to catch the light.

The surrounding metal on the top surface is a compound curve, dropping away steeply at the bezel and sweeping towards the lugs. Like our larger model watches the strap is rebated under a lip, this creates an all- in-one integrated feel and ensures it sits comfortably on all wrist sizes.

The crown at 4 o’clock is another point of difference with other Schofields and features ‘wheel arches’ machined into the case above and below which serve as crown protectors; the crown is fully rebated when screwed down.

The case back is printed on the inside of a mineral crystal and has tiny apertures through to the movement, the lamp of the lighthouse, the horizon and some stars that twinkle as they catch the light. This artwork is also aligned 12 – 6 and the case back is a screw-in type but with no opening holes. Apart from the bezel, the whole case has a fine matt finish.

The Dark One is PVD coated gunmetal grey. Both cases have further anti-fingerprint coatings applied.

Dial and hands

Classic Schofield in the layout, open and uncluttered, designed for legibility, all the hours are marked including a new slash-0 at 12. The number track is raised, typical of many Schofield dials and bordered precisely to the stepped level and colour change in the lower dial.

The print used on the inner section is ghosted as to not detract from the important job of telling the time. The hands are perfectly lacquered giving a 3D form, the hour and minute hands are applied with Super- LumiNova C3 with a green emission. The GMT hand colour matches the dial behind it, again to help remove any distraction for day to day time telling.

A quirk of the Light is the fact that the GMT hand completes one rotation every 24 hours. But the only index is 12 hours, so a little commitment to understanding how to read the GMT is required, then it is easy!

This episode of SOMETIME is all about this watch.

Straps and Sugar Free

Both Light colours come with the same two straps, the highly coveted and best in class India Rubber, lined with India Rubber, for smarts and water resistance and a new grey leather lined with bright red calf. These straps are branded Sugar Free. Sugar Free is a new sister company to Schofield and deals wholly with straps that are not 24mm between the lugs (all other Schofield watches). The Light straps are 22mm between the lugs and do not taper, so they fit normal Schofield buckles.

The buckle for the Light is the elaborate Obscura buckle, a donation from our most expensive offering.

✦ Peace!

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