Watch Review | Momentum Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm

Momentum Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm.

When it comes to watches of extremely great value, the Momentum Watches out of Canada generally produces some fairly cool looking timepieces. Now past reviews on Momentum over the years have received some criticism due to a large quantity of the watch that are produced by the company contain quartz movements. Quartz watches can be extremely reliable and require very little maintenance. Momentum does however produce some automatic watches but the company still can come up with pretty cool quartz options from time to time and the new Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm quartz watch is pretty freaking cool, as well as, extremely affordable at $235 USD and $285 USD with a sapphire crystal.

This version of the Pathfinder III has a fully luminous dial but a black dial option is also available for those that tend to dislike lume dials. Besides the outstanding titanium case, other great options include a sapphire crystal and a decent vintage leather strap.

Momentum Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm Basic Specifications:

• Case diameter: 40mm
• Lug Width: 22.00mm
• Power: Silver Oxide Cell
• Case: Solid Titanium
• Crystal: Sapphire
• Water Resistance: 100M

The Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm case is 40mm wide and 42.35mm including the crown. The screw down crown is located in a rather atypical location on the case at the 9 o’clock position making the watch a “lefty”. Regardless, I wear the watch on my left wrist and nobody should be hesitant to do the same. The crown is pretty small at 5.45mm but is perfectly proportionate to the case size. While small, the crown is still rather easy to grasp and engage. Sitting to the South of the crown is a red anodized alarm function pusher, which simply activates and deactivates the alarm with a simple push. The case and crown are finely bead blasted which is typical of titanium cases. Since the case is relatively small by today’s standards as you might expect the lug-to-lug measurement is 48.28mm and the case is 10.68mm thin. The watch is also an extremely light 46 grams which combined with the other specifications should provide for an extremely lightweight comfortable feel on the wrist. Overall the case reminds me of field watches produced by the Hamilton Watch Company without the price of course.

The watch is fitted with an optional sapphire crystal. If sapphire crystals are not of great importance then save yourself $50 and go with the hardened mineral. The crystal is nearly 34mm in diameter which aids in the illusion of the watch appearing slightly larger than 40mm. Beneath the sapphire crystal is a fantastic looking luminous dial making the Pathfinder III extremely easy to read in any lighting situation. Other than the luminous properties, the black dial option has a similar appearance with the markers, numerals and handset in white rather than black. Personally, I prefer the luminous dial, as I believe it will provide better overall readability throughout the course of the day and night. If you are a lume fanatic then I’m fairly certain the luminous dial option is as far as you will need to look. The lume when charged reminds me slightly of that which is found on the push button Casio and Timex watches that have greenish backlight glow. Overall, the dial features, like the case, remind me of much more expensive field watches on the market.

Momentum touts that the Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm comes with vintage leather straps. If you do not like the look of the brown color shown in the review then never fear a black strap option is also available. Most that know me, as well as, readers that have been following me for years know that I am a huge fan of custom leather straps and have reviewed quite a few over the years. While I cannot report the vintage leather straps to be as superior as many of the custom leather straps I have reviewed over the years, I can state that quality is above average based on the overall price point of the watch. The vintage straps are a welcomed change to some of the stock straps that many companies pawn off on the consumers so many times. The vintage leather strap on this model measures 22mm at the lug and tapers to 16mm at the tail. Now, the strap isn’t without shortcomings. First, the strap taper is a slight disappointment. I truly wish all watch companies would just stop with the taper. Depending on the watch case, taper can cause the watch to have an unbalanced feel. While balance is not an issue in this particular instance, I would have preferred a 22mm strap from lug to tail. The other shortcoming has to be the overall strap length. I know most companies’ source their straps based on average wrist sizes. What about the folks with big wrists? There is a simple solution. I’m not sure if average straps are just a cost savings approach, however, all that truly needs to happen is sourcing longer straps and provide more sizing holes. Ta-da everyone is happy!

The case back is composed of the same great titanium as the rest of the watch. The case back is screwed directly into the upper part of the case, which in combination with the screw down crown, helps with the 100M water resistance. The typical specification information can be found etched around the center and perimeter of the case back. Beneath the case back is a dependable Swiss ISA quartz movement, which provides second, date and alarm complications. I am not as familiar with ISA quartz movements but can report that I really haven’t noticed any dependability issues and the movement seems equal to Ronda and ETA quartz movements to this point.

The Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm is a no nonsense simplistic field watch with great specifications at an affordable price. Momentum hasn’t tossed any gimmicks at the consumer with this model only simply providing an ordinary case design, quality crystal, no fancy case back, alarm and a Swiss quartz movement for truly very little coin. I think the Pathfinder III Titanium Alarm is a fantastic affordable new release from Momentum. I can envision this model becoming one of the company staples since the design and appearance are so simple. Outside of some simple changes to strap sourcing I would very much enjoy seeing this exact model in a slightly larger case size somewhere between 42-44mm. Overall, great new offering from the company. You can check out this model personally on Momentum’s newly designed website at: http://www.momentumwatch.com/product/pathfinder-iii-40-leather/. I would like to thank Momentum for arranging this review with WatchReport.com and each of you for reading. Please take a moment to check out the brief video presentation on this model.