Monta Triumph Review

I do not review watches.  I just don’t. When I started Strapsense I sort of made it a point not to get into that end of the horological pool as others who are far more versed in what the market is doing (and have many more years of experience) can do a better job than I could hope to do. Yet, I find myself compelled to write this ‘review’ of sorts that will be one-part autobiography and one-part rationalization with a dash of factual comparisons thrown in for good measure. I pray this should be at a minimum interesting, and if I dare to speculate could be educational. This is assuming I should be deft enough at using the limited vocabulary I possess to keep the reader interested.

I will talk about the Monta Triumph in detail in a second, but first I think I need to talk about my watch journey and where I started from. My early purchases are the foundation which all my current watch biases of today are base. I believe it is worthwhile to look back at the path I walked or seas I have sailed, (I am getting dangerously close to wearing out the ‘traveling’ metaphor) and weigh in on my own purchase history in this hobby.

My history is very much like most other people who start to love watches.  We start our collection with a few simple Seikos and Citizens and then maybe add a Hamilton or an Oris when we learn more and read more.  Soon a Tudor appears and a then before you know it a Breitling finds its way into your watch box.  With each purchase you learn to appreciate what money buys (as well as what it does NOT) and what you like as a collector.  Perhaps through clever trades and some strategic flipping (as well as some disciplined saving) you acquire your first Omega or Grand Seiko.  The lesson is that we usually strive to move up the horological food pyramid until we reach that point where the added money to acquire the ‘next best thing’ fails to offer enough value to justify the additional money.   This pressure point is different for every single person as no two people have the same financial sensitivities.

At some point we have all reached or will reach this tipping point where we can no longer justify a bigger name brand as the cost to acquire that name brand is not proportional to the quality delivered.  This is not isolated to just watches.  This is true in ALL hobbies from Audiophile turntables to Cameras, to Clothing.  For any particular product you can acquire 80+% of the possible tech/quality available for 20% of the cost. Trying to acquire that last 20% of tech/quality will cost exponentially more.  Let me give you one example.  If you want a good set of speakers for your home audio system you can pick up a set of decent Polk Audio or Bang and Olufsen for 800-4000 dollars.  These will sound great and make 95% of all the people listening revel in beautiful music (you will swear Eric Clapton is in the room). However, to achieve that last 5% bit of audiophile nirvana and get the ultimate sound stage and imaging you may need to pick up a pair of 65000 dollar Martin Logan or Thiel speakers.  To some this is perfectly justified, to others it is outright insanity.  Again, financial sensitivities vary greatly.

I think the natural thing to do after you hit your financial summit where it does not make sense to go higher up the watch food chain, you turn your sights back to less expensive watches to see how much of that rarified air up top of the watch world you can attain for fractions of the price.  In other words, you start looking for the big V, Value. Enter the stellar Monta Triumph.

I absolutely love a luxury field watch.  While that category may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, I have learned that the watches I love the most are simple watches with tough capabilities that can be dressed up or down and take whatever I throw at it. Examples include the Omega Railmaster on the tooly end of the spectrum and the Omega Aqua Terra on the dressy end of the spectrum.  At a lower price point you can look at the Sinn 556ib for a great all around watch that is very tough and tested. At the entry level of the field watch category is the incredible Hamilton Khaki whose plucky nature allows it to be a lot of things to a lot of people.  Many other watches could have been fit into this category but the aforementioned watches just happen to be the ones I currently own and have worn extensively so I can compare them directly to the Monta Truimph. And that is exactly what I am going to do.

Let us talk price first as that is generally a good way to categorize all of these watches while setting up a certain level of expectations. The Hamilton Khaki field auto 38mm is listed at $575.00 at Hamilton’s own website. The Sinn is available at Watchbuys on the bracelet at $1480.00 and is the closest in price to the Monta which comes in at $1550.00 on the bracelet. The Omega Railmaster and Aqua Terra are $5000.00 and $5600.00 respectively from Omega.  The chance to see which is best is an exercise in relativity and personal preferences, so I will avoid trying to crown a champion.  However, what is interesting is how the Monta compares to the others in price brackets below, at and above its own price.

Before I get to the contenders I have to preface all of what is about to follow that I am comparing the watches at face value, nobody is getting points for heritage or history as that is an intangible that does not make the movement tick better, or metal shine brighter, or bracelet more comfortable. History and Heritage more times than not only add price and bragging rights, which is sliding scale depending on who you talk to. Okay Disclaimer noted, let us move on.

First at bat is the Hamilton Khaki Field Auto 38mm. Easily one of my all-time favorite watches, the Hammy is blessed with a wonderful set of specs.  80 hour power reserve, beautiful slim case, and great proportions. In no way would I ever cast a disparaging word toward such an amazingly capable and affordable piece. Rather than be contrary and find faults in the Hamilton, I would rather just highlight the differences. The price at MSRP is $575.00 which is 1/3 of the Monta. Is it 1/3^rd the watch?  Let us think about it. 

The Hamilton comes on a leather strap (not the one shown), which is not the worst in the world, but cannot be compared to the bracelet on the Monta. So taking that as a given, let us just talk about the splendid Khaki 38mm.  It has 100m water resistance albeit with a push / pull crown versus the screw down of the Monta. This is absolutely NOT a deal breaker for me, but it does mean I would never swim in the Hammy, and I should leave all my fiord swimming to the Monta.

The Hamilton case is mostly brushed with decent but plain edges save for the polished bezel. The lugs do turn down nicely and the whole affair is quite thin at 10.8mm. Comfort is stunning with the Hammy on leather as you would imagine a 38mm case with 46mm lug to lug spacing would be. However, the Monta completely outclasses the Hammy in comfort and case details. Where the case is well done on the khaki ,the Monta case is a showcase as it adds polished bevels everywhere and a radial brushed bezel that is captivating in any light. The Monta is thinner and wears even more comfortably than the mighty Hamilton. The polishing is done to a degree where it was not an afterthought but rather a feature and it is carried around the entire case, even on the bottom surfaces and bracelet.  Reviews mention this, but it is not possible to see how much elegance this adds to a recipe until you witness it in person. It takes what could have been essentially a pure tool watch and adds some luxury and poise to it.

The dial on the Monta vs the Hamilton is an interesting contrast. The Hamilton is what you would expect of a tooly field watch at that price. It is all printed numbers but much to my delight, Hamilton decided to give the dial contrasting textures which is a HUGE thing in my eyes. While the Monta does without any differing surfaces, it does have beautiful applied indices and date window which gives the dial the much needed dimension lacking in the Hamilton.

Both watches have a date window in white, and are equally legible.  The sunburst dial and applied indices add a feeling of richness to the Monta dial that the humble but stalwart khaki lacks. I really think these two watches share a bunch of common traits, but at the end of the day the Hamilton is purpose built to be a no nonsense tool watch with a wonderful 80 hour power reserve and simple but effective styling.  The Monta is more of a dual purpose watch that while every bit a tool or field watch, it has enough tricks learned at finishing school to more than merit the extra price. Is the Monta 3x the watch the Hamilton is. Yes. I think it is.

If you do any search about the Monta Triumph and you will see more comparisons to some version of the iconic Sinn 556 than probably any other watch.   Not only are the prices essentially the same they are basically the same diameter, both have great water resistance and both could be used as field watches.

This next contender and perhaps the most interesting is the Sinn 556 ib. This is the blue dial version of the 556 with the applied indices that comes in at just about the same price as the Monta if purchased on a bracelet. I think this is the best 556 to compare to the Triumph as it is the dressiest version of the 556 which to me levels the playing field a bit.  The dressier bits of this watch are the hands, dial and indices which we will address next.

The indices of the Sinn are simple applied rectangles at every hour and are highly polished and filled with good lume. They look amazing in most lighting conditions and are a perfect example of German Minimalism. The hands are flat swords and share the same level of polish and lume as the indices.  The Triumph, however, ups the game in both of these categories.  The indices on the Triumph are a faceted affair and with multiple angles and very interesting design which play with light in a more dynamic way. The hands are Rhodium plated beveled long swords that are polished to a very high degree. The seconds hand on the Monta is lumed at the tip versus the plain baton on the Sinn.

Dials on both the Sinn and Monta are one dimensional and beautiful sunray patterns that add style and visual interest by offering multiple shades of their base color that keeps you coming back for a second (or third) look.  After that the similarities between the two become harder to find.  The Sinn enjoyed its brief time on the luxury highway, but now takes a dedicated off ramp into Toolwatch land and never looks back.  To take that example to a painful extreme, the Monta is on the frontage road getting some tool like characteristics along the way, but staying firmly on the luxury field watch freeway (I love a good metaphor). 

To wrap these two up, at the end of the day the Sinn is more tool watch than luxury field watch.  It is unapologetic with it’s completely brushed no frills case, drilled lugs and beefy crown guards. It is that dedication to toughness, though, that gives the Sinn real authenticity as a do anything watch.  The Monta by comparison adds some polishing to almost every surface available including the bracelet. The brushing is done to a very high degree on the case and bezels radial brushing is rarely seen on any watch much less one at this price. The Sinn bests the Monta with 50M more water resistance, and the Monta bests the Sinn on accuracy with a regulated SW300 movement. At the end of the day, the Monta provides a more rounded wearing experience as it can play in the dressy end of the pool, whereas the Sinn would be the gentlemen wearing a tuxedo with blue jeans quietly content with himself.

Now the real fun begins as we move further up the watch pyramid into a pair of Omegas. The Railmaster and the Aqua Terra are both under the umbrella of the Omega Seamaster, which means you will get a cutting edge movement with at least 70 hours of Power reserve, more antimagnetic resistance than you will ever need, and very good water resistance.  They are very similar in most ways, with the Aqua Terra having all the tricks of the Railmaster, but with an added dash of glitz and glamour in the mix.  Both are knockouts but accomplish this in a different way. Think of the Railmaster as a Rocky Balboa, and the Aqua Terra as an Apollo Creed if that helps make it clearer.  On paper comparing the Monta to watches that cost 4x as much is hardly fair as obviously movement wise the competition is over before it starts.  But let me try a different angle.

First off, I am not going to be telling anybody to sell their Railmaster or Aqua Terra and buy a Monta to replace it.  However, I will say the Monta offers a LOT of what the Omega heavyweights give you at substantially less cost.  The Monta offers a mix of polished and brushed surfaces just as the Aqua Terra does. The contrast in finishes gives a decidedly high end look to both pieces with the nod being given to the Aqua Terra due to the sheer amount of polishing done to whole surfaces rather than just edging on the Monta. Still the Monta captures a little of that case magic more expensive watches often exhibit.

The Railmaster is as close to a luxury tool watch as you can get.  It is a no frills take no prisoners do anything 100% brushed watch that can be used for darn near anything.  With that said, it is far more one dimensional than the Monta.  The Monta’s applied indices, slim profile, and polished Rhodium plated hands give the Monta a decidedly high end appearance (along with a touch of elegance) when compared to the flat dial and bead blasted hands of the Railmaster, all while having the same amount of water resistance as the Omega. 

The Monta will not dethrone either of the Omegas overall, but it can honestly deliver a great many of their more charming characteristics in spades. This is quite a feat for the little microbrand upstart and I believe it bodes very well for things to come.

So there you go, the Monta Triumph as compared to 4 field/tool watches of varying focus and price (and heritage, but again, I ignored that) .  I think the Monta certainly outperformed the Hamilton and probably bested the entry level, but extremely talented Sinn 556ib by a bit.  While leaving the Sinn behind is a profound accomplishment, the Monta Triumph is NOT quite a direct Omega Railmaster or an Omega Aqua Terra competitor yet and I did not expect it to be.  However, if I could look into the future and see what the Triumph will be 5, or 10 years from now, with the inclusion of an in-house movement, I could see the humble Triumph turning into a direct Aqua Terra competitor.  So many of the needed pieces are already in place. Great finishing, slim case design, clean dial, remarkable bracelet (which in some ways is better than the Omega’s bracelet) and great customer service, Monta is poised for an upward trajectory.  The Monta Triumph as it sits right now with its 1550 dollar price tag to me is an Aqua Terra ‘light’ and I can give a microbrand no higher praise than that.

So that was my take on the Monta Triumph. I hope you enjoyed it and found a tid bit or two that was useful.