A true field watch - Circula ProTrail

Field watches are on the rise. There is no denial that we are always after that GADA (go anywhere do anything) watch. German watches are expert on minimalism and robustness. And, when you put those two characteristics together, a great piece is on the making.

Circula it’s a family-owned brand since 1955. It is based in Pforzheim which is home for many tool watch houses such as Laco, Aristo and Stowa. All this heritage translates into beautiful but precise watches with their own design language. As a watch reviewer I have seen tons of generic cases, finishes and dials. This is not the case here, Circula is one of the few brands who can manage to keep the cost down but the quality up.

Today we have for review their ProTrail model. An antimagnetic field watch with all the latest specifications at a price that is hard to resist. Let’s begin the review for this special piece.

Specifications

Starting with the case dimensions. The Circula ProTrail is 40mm in diameter with a lug to lug of 46mm. it fits a great variety of wrists. It has presence but it doesn’t come close to overwhelm. The 3-part case is a work of art. The mid-case has bead blasted apertures making the thin case feel even thinner. The lugs are sharp with edges that contrast nicely with the round bezel. All looks great, very well design. The Circula Pro Trail case is also scratch-resistant up to 1,200 Vickers, this is due to a surface hardening treatment applied in-house.

The dial is executed with circular finish in the center and a metallic finish on the rail track. If you look at the dial in detail, there quite a bit of design elements. For example, white numerals to indicate the hours, a 24-hour scale in orange on the center and the seconds track at the edge of the dial. When you think about it, it should be too much, but it works, and it works well. The lancet hands are different in size, it is easy to distinguish them. They are filled with Superluminova. The second hand it is very long and includes an orange tip.

The Circula ProTrail is powered by the Sellita SW 200-1 Elaboré Grade and includes a soft iron cage. This makes the ProTrail antimagnetic up to 80,000 A/m. it is also water resistance to 150 meters with a screw down crown. As you can see the watch keeps on given in terms of specs.

On the wrist

The ProTrail it’s 12mm of height without the crystal. This makes it extremely easy to wear. Given that the watch is scratch resistance, antimagnetic and water resistance, it feels that it can be worn in any situation. Once I strap the watch on, I have plenty clearance from both sides of the wrist.

Legibility is very good. The orange accents and large white numerals are easy to differentiate. Lume helps with low light visibility.

I wore the ProTrail to run and to ride a bike. The watch feels sporty and serious when it needs to. The sailcloth strap was also of great quality and a simple pin buckle makes the ProTrail even more precise. I am not a big fan of deployment clasps, less sometimes is more.

Conclusion

As you can read, I enjoyed the time with the ProTrail. The macros really show the quality, and the case exposes the great construction of the watch. If you read all the specs that are mentioned, I am sure you will think that this is a watch that would cost at least over 1500 EUR. Lucky for us, the Pro Trail is 755,46 EUR. It comes in several configurations including a sand variation which also gives you blued heated hands. I manage to look at this version in person and it has become my favorite.

I am curious to see what the brand from Pforzheim brings us in the future, perhaps a chronograph? With that built quality I am sure the list of enthusiasts will be very long.

For more information visit https://circulawatches.com/en/product/protrail/

Technical specification

· Swiss automatic movement, Caliber Sellita SW 200-1 Elaboré Grade

· Anti-magnetic up to 80,000 A/m with a soft iron cage

· Case scratch-resistant up to 1,200 Vickers through surface hardening

· Hands and indices filled with Swiss Super-LumiNova®

· 15 ATM water-resistant, lumed screw down crown

· 40 mm in diameter, 46 mm lug to lug and 12 mm in height