Anatomy of a Field Watch
Every KOMPAS is built around one idea: time should be readable the instant you look. This is the long version, part by part, for anyone who wants to know exactly what is on their wrist.
- 39 mmSandblasted steel case
- 100 mWater resistance
- 42 hPower reserve
- 4 Hz28,800 beats per hour
- 24Jewels, Miyota 9039
- 2 yrInternational warranty
01 · Dial
The Performance Layer Dial
The dial is where a KOMPAS starts and where it differs from every other field watch. Twelve triangles ring the dial, one for each five minute block of the hour. They are not printed. Each one is a separate raised layer, so the dial has real depth and catches light differently as your wrist moves.
The idea comes from the RAF Sector Clock, the colour coded wall clock that let operations rooms judge the age of a report at a glance. We did not copy the clock. We took its logic, large blocks you read by position instead of small marks you have to count, and rebuilt it for a 39 mm watch. The layered construction is patented.
Inside the triangles sits a second scale of small numerals from 13 to 24, so the dial also reads in 24 hour time.
02 · Reading it
Each Triangle Is Five Minutes
On a conventional dial you find the minute hand, then count ticks. Here the minute hand always sits inside or beside a triangle, and each triangle is one five minute step: five past, ten past, quarter past. Your eye reads the shape before it reads a number.
- HourRead the short hand against the large numeral inside each triangle.
- Five minutesSee which triangle the long hand has reached. That is your five minute step.
- In betweenThe hand's position between two triangles gives you the minutes in between.
“Didn't expect it, but it's genuinely quicker to read than anything else I own.”Owner, No. 21
03 · Lume
Readable After Dark
The hands and hour markers carry Swiss Super-LumiNova®, a non radioactive pigment that stores light and releases it slowly. A few minutes of daylight or a torch is enough to charge it. In the dark the dial keeps the same logic it has in daylight: the same blocks, the same positions.
Glow is brightest in the first minutes and then settles to a lower, steady level through the night, which is normal for any luminous watch.
04 · Crystal
Flat Sapphire
The crystal is flat sapphire. Sapphire is one of the hardest transparent materials used in watchmaking and resists the everyday scratches that mark mineral glass: keys, zips, rock, sand.
It carries an anti-reflective treatment on both sides. That matters on a dial built for instant reading, because reflections are what usually hide a dial in direct sun.
05 · Case
Sandblasted Steel
The case is stainless steel with a sandblasted finish. The matte surface does two jobs: it does not flash in sunlight, and it hides the small marks a tool watch collects over years of use.
At 39 mm across and 46.5 mm from lug to lug it sits inside the edges of most wrists, and at 10.4 mm thick it slides under a cuff. The caseback is an exhibition back, so you can watch the rotor and balance at work.
- Diameter
- 39 mm
- Lug to lug
- 46.5 mm
- Thickness
- 10.4 mm
- Lug width
- 20 mm
- Weight
- ≈ 90 g
06 · Movement
Miyota 9039, Automatic
Inside is the Miyota 9039, a Japanese self winding mechanical movement from Citizen's movement division. There is no battery. A rotor swings with the motion of your wrist and winds the mainspring; fully wound, the watch runs for about 42 hours off the wrist.
It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour, eight ticks a second, which is why the seconds hand sweeps instead of jumping. It runs on 24 jewels and is rated to within −10 / +10 seconds per day. Pull the crown and the seconds hand stops, so you can set the time to the second.
The 9039 has no date mechanism. We chose it for that: the dial stays symmetrical and there is no date to correct after a few days off the wrist.
07 · Straps
Two Straps, No Tools
Every KOMPAS ships with two straps: a rubber strap in the colour of its direction and a nylon strap. Both use quick release spring bars, so you can change them with a fingernail in a few seconds.
The lugs are a standard 20 mm, which means almost any aftermarket strap fits. Rubber is the choice for water and heat; nylon is lighter and dries fast.
08 · Water
Rated to 100 Metres
The case is rated to 100 m (10 bar). In practice that covers rain, washing, swimming and time on open water. It is a field watch, not a dive instrument, so it is not intended for scuba diving.
- Make sure the crown is fully pushed in before the watch goes in water.
- Rinse with fresh water after salt water.
- Do not operate the crown while the watch is wet.
09 · Build
Designed in Great Britain
KOMPAS watches are designed in Great Britain, powered by Japanese movements and assembled in Hong Kong by experienced watchmakers. We say so plainly because where a watch comes from should never be a guessing game.
Each watch is produced in limited numbers. The first production batch passed quality control in November 2025 and the first watches reached their owners that December.
KOMPAS is a Trade Member of the British Watch and Clock Makers Alliance.
10 · Full specification
The Whole Watch, On One Page
- Reference
- KOMPAS 01 · North, East, South, West
- Case
- Sandblasted stainless steel
- Diameter
- 39 mm
- Thickness
- 10.4 mm
- Lug to lug
- 46.5 mm
- Lug width
- 20 mm
- Crystal
- Flat sapphire, anti-reflective on both sides
- Caseback
- Exhibition, movement visible
- Water resistance
- 100 m / 10 bar / 330 ft
- Dial
- Patented 3D Performance Layer Dial
- Luminous material
- Swiss Super-LumiNova® on hands and markers
- Movement
- Miyota 9039 automatic, made in Japan
- Jewels
- 24
- Frequency
- 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 42 hours
- Accuracy
- −10 / +10 seconds per day
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, central seconds, stop-seconds
- Straps
- Rubber and nylon, quick release, both included
- Buckle
- Stainless steel pin buckle
- Weight
- Approx. 90 g
- Designed in
- Great Britain
- Assembled in
- Hong Kong
- Warranty
- 2 years, international
Warranty
2 years, international
Covers manufacturing defects in the movement, dial, hands, case and factory water resistance, from the date of delivery.
Warranty terms →Service
Every 3 to 5 years
Like any mechanical watch, a KOMPAS should be serviced by a professional watchmaker every three to five years.
Care guide →Choose Your Direction
Four watches, one specification. North, East, South and West.