Who remembers playing manhunt when they were younger? It was one of my favorite games. My favorite part was the hiding. I remember getting all my camouflage gear on. Using my compass, pretending like I knew how to use it to my advantage. Digging my self into some mud, bushes like Arnold did in Predator or Stallone in Rambo. Two guys that I definitely looked up to as a kid. Laying in the brush, trying to slow my breathing to a quiet, almost non existent sound and motion. Hearing nothing my my heart beat, crickets chirping and the sound of distant footsteps coming through the woods. The thrill of the chase, the thrill of childhood.

When the Covert watch arrived I was magically transported back to those childhood games. All of the fun memories that went along with it, old friends, the endless laughter, the adrenaline rush. Oh man, what a rush to the senses. The dial was definitely the first thing that I noticed, how could I not right? The camouflage dial is definitely cool and was the key to triggering all those memories. Watches can definitely trigger memories in this sense and also in the sense of I can look at a watch in my collection and instantly remember memories of places/experiences that I went through with that specific watch on my wrist. JG definitely help grab ahold and pull out some great memories.

The black case with the camo dial and green strap all goes together perfectly. Everything is very well tied together with a great military feeling. The 48mm case may sound large but it has a 12mm thinner profile and shorter lugs so it wears more like 44mm. What I like about the Covert case is the fixed bezel with the hexagon head screw detail that holds the bezel in place. The bezel gives the Covert a rugged look and feel. While I was hiking I hit the mud and some mud stuck inside one of the screw heads which you can see in some of the pics. Normally I don’t like my watches to get dirty, but the Covert wears it well just like Arnold did in Predator. I just wished that the crown on the Covert was a screw down crown. The push/pull action functions just fine, but on a watch like this I prefer that added insurance that a screw down offers.

The camo dial is a definite highlight of the Covert watch and definitely adds to the covert theme. The orange chronograph hand is hard to ignore as orange being a bold color and the nice JG initial accent on the end. The orange hand also matches the military time hour markers that are printed in orange around the Covert’s dial. The high polished semi-skeletonized hour and minute hands also look good which in fact match the the high polished finishes found on the Covert’s dial as well, the date window border, the subdials borders/hands and the applied markers. All look nice, but I must say are an odd choice for a covert watch. Brushed, matte would have been a more consistent choice for the theme of this watch in my opinion.

The dial and subdials are quite legible. The sub dials with their black background and white printed numerals remind me of a helicopters instrument panel. The sub dial located newr the 3 o’clock position is a small seconds dial and the sub dial at the 9 o’clock position is a 30 minute counter for the chronograph function. I have to nit pick the chronograph orange hand because it doesn’t line up perfectly with the 12 o’clock position which drives my OCD tendencies crazy. The hands and the applied markers received some lume treatment. It’s definitely not the brightest lume that I have experienced but it gets the job done.

If you judge by the price tag of $395 USD, you probably can guess that the movement is going to be a quartz movement, a Ronda movement to be exact. Which is sealed behind the screw down stainless steal case back. If this was an automatic chronograph movement the price would be much more. The canvas strap on the Covert is my favorite part of this watch. It is very well made with some really nice padding and sticth work. The back of the strap has some super soft genuine leather that adds to the wearing comfort this watch possesses. The strap connects to the lugs via traditional spring bars and straps to your wrist via a traditional buckle system.

The Covert is a nice companion piece for those little adventures that you really don’t mind if you get your watch dirty or scratched up. In fact as I spent time with the Covert I kept thinking how awesome this watcg would look with a distressed case. It handled everything that I threw at it during my review from ice, snow, mud, water, etc… Like I mentioned earlier I would have loved to see a screw down crown on this piece which would ease the water exposure fear a little bit more even though it has a 100m WR rating.

The Covert does come with a few areas of improvement such as the lume quality. I also would have preferred matte finish on the dial to make it more true to the theme of this watch. The case design is solid and the canvas strap is fantastic. I also really love the camo dial with the little accents of orange.  It wears great on the wrist with a low profile and the shorter lugs doesn’t make it feel like a 48mm watch. I also like how the button pushers for the chronograph are designed to look like crown guards as opposed to traditional pusher that you typically see on chronograph style watches.

The Covert is a nice offering from JG. I would recommend it to someone looking for a weekend beater watch that can handle a camping or hiking adventure. It’s definitely not a wear with a suit kind of watch. It’s a watch that just is asking to get dirty, to have some outdoors fun.

I want to personally thank you for reading my review and as always your comments and questions are welcome below.

I would also like to personally thank Jorg Gray.