Smith & Bradley Ambush PVD

An Endlessly Versatile Field Watch

EDC Specialties First Look Review

Another remarkable product from the watchmakers of Smith and Bradley has arrived here at EDC Specialties. This beautiful timepiece is known as the Ambush… Just like all other Smith and Bradley products, the Ambush offers a perfectly balanced mix of features, quality, style, and functionality at an affordable price. These attributes put the Ambush in a league of its own, with competitors few and far between. In this blog we will break down the Ambush and its features that make it  “A superior quality” AMERICAN MADE watch “with the best possible components, that is both affordable enough to own, and rugged enough to wear.”

Features:

• Proprietary Swiss movement specially designed for the Ambush
• Digital and Analog display
• 316 L stainless steel case
• PVD Coated
• 44 mm case (without crowns)
• Sapphire crystal (AR Coated)
• TPU rubber strap to contour the wrist
• Black NATO strap also included in box
• Alarm, Chronograph, Compass, Dual Time zone functionality
• Blue back-lit LED digital display on Matte Black Dial
• Bgw9 Lume on Dial and Analog hands to match the Digital Lume
• Screw Bars rather than Spring Bars for a more Secure Lug Fit
• Water resistant 100m
• All Smith and Bradley watches are built in the USA at Smith & Bradley’s Sidney, Illinois workshop.

Display

The first aspect of this watch that quickly caught my eye is the digital-analog display. Bold numbers easily define the analog display making time acquisition second nature and giving the watch a stylish tactical/sporty look. All analog features including the Hour and Minute hands are illuminated by Smith and Bradley’s Lume technology. With the Lume technology, the watch glows in low light just as tritium does while offering the same glow as tritium. Lume is definitely a unique aspect to all Smith and Bradley watches but still brings you great performance while lowering the price that tritium would require. Jerommie Smith of Smith and Bradley said that the biggest hurdle with the design of Lume was going in a different direction from tritium, but they were able to make a comparable product that easily competes with tritium in the Lume technology.

The digital aspect of the display offers two separate time functions as well as an alarm, compass and a chrono function. Four different LED digital displays show the time, date and the and time function that is currently being displayed. The time display switches when on the compass function to display the angle between North and 12h. While in compass function, the analog hands also point towards North with the minute hand, and your current heading with the hour hand.

Crystal and Bezel

On top of the display and dial is a Sapphire crystal and a Uni-Directional bezel. The bezel features compass headings as well as each degree between North and 12h. The bezel turns smoothly with a nice positive click. It is not to hard to turn, but not easy to knock off what ever you set it at.

The Sapphire crystal is common among high end watch makers due to its extreme hardness. Standard glass is only half as hard, making sapphire the easy choice for a watch and eliminating the worries of the glass being bumped or scratched. Sapphire is also extremely strong at 2,000 mega pascals, about 10 times more than stainless steel, so chances are very unlikely that you will ever break it. Sapphire rates 9 around the Moh scale, (that’s the measures of relative hardness of materials) and it is just behind diamond which measures 10. With Sapphire, you’re easily getting the best material available. Sapphire crystals are the standard of excellence with extremely clear glass that is super hard and strong. The Ambush crystal also has an Anti Reflective coating to reduce reflective glare.

Strap

The standard strap that comes on the Ambush out of the box is a TPU rubber strap with a black PVD buckle. The strap is secured to the case with screw bars making the strap very secure. The rubber material is extremely comfortable and grips your arm very well. If the rubber strap is not your preference a black NATO strap is also included in the box.

Water Resistance

Its also worth mentioning that the Ambush is Water Resistant up to a depth of 100 meters (aka 328 feet), making the watch perfect for any possible conditions including the possible need to cross a body of water.

Smith and Bradley Know How to Do It!

The Ambush is just another great product from Smith and Bradley that offers ridiculous features, quality, and craftsmanship all wrapped up into an American made watch for an affordable price! An MSRP of $650.

With the watch also comes a water proof case that resembles a small pelican case. The case serves as a great place to store your watch, when not in use, without the fear of any possible damage. Smith and Bradley also stand by their products with a limited 2 year warranty on all movements.

I cannot stress enough my admiration for Smith and Bradley products due to the fact that they are designed and built by two men with actual experience in the field, and most importantly are American Made!