Grab and go! That is basically the story of my life right now and it has been for quite some time now. My morning routine is simple shower, dress and out the door. The less that I have to think about in the morning the better. The commute to work is about 30 or so minutes where I enjoy listening to my favorite playlist and enjoying my hot cup of black coffee. My solitude before the busy, manageable chaos of my day begins. There are a few things that I grab before I am out the door which involves no second thoughts, my cup of coffee, my car keys, my food, my European men’s carryall, and my watch. That is how the grab and go lifestyle is. No second thoughts. No stressing. A simplistic routine that gets shit done quickly without unnecessary complications. This is what I believe in mind when they designed the TA-100.

When it comes down to it I certainly don’t want to complicate my watch wearing joy. I don’t want to worry about the watch on my wrist when I bang it on a doorknob at work, hit it on a rock swimming, grind it on the pavement skateboarding or crash it on a tree hiking. This is the kind of watch that Trigalux has designed here. A no second thoughts, no worries, grab and go watch. The 44 mm x 49mm x 14 mm brushed stainless steel case is about as no nonsense as they come.  An unsigned screw down crown can be found located at the 4 o’clock position. The crown has nice, deep gear/cog style edges that have perfect spacing which allows for ideal functionality that works flawlessly in both indoors and outdoors settings. This style of edges on a crown are so easy to grip and operate. The TA-100 has no crown guards but is subset into the case. As I have found on other watches with this crown set up, it can make for difficult crown functioning. But Trigalux got it right in terms of crown size and edges.

I have the “stripped” down version of the TA-100 or the basic version. This is my complaint when it comea to the TA-100. Trigalux is marketing the TA-100 as a military tactical watch. Why would you put out a cheaper basic model? From my perspective it doesn’t make sense especially from a marketing standpoint. It is very misleading to customers expecting a military tactical watch that can handle tactical situations. So a word of advice my friends, if you are looking into purchasing this watch because of the military tactical hoopla, make sure you order the correct version or you will end up disappointed.

 

While I am on the disappointment train, my other disappointment is the cheap Nato style strap that is included with the basic version. It feels cheap and the colors are not very appealing in my opinion. One of the first things that I did was swap out the strap for a custom Peter Gunny leather strap. The TA-100 looks so much better on the leather strap. The dial on the TA-100 is definitely not a disappointment and is probably my favorite part of this watch. The military stencil numerals on this dial are just awesome and were what initially drew me to this watch. One of my most beloved watches of all time has military stenciled numerals. The TA-100 markers have a slightly green tint to them that match the triangle marker on the unidirectional rotating bezel. It would have looked more aesthetically pleasing if the markers on the bezel matched too.

 

I love the hands on this watch because they are the ideal size in terms of length and width and the white color allows for good legibility. The arrow head second hand is the perfect length and size in my opinion. Something with the way second hands move with quartz movement is just so not horologically romantic. Especially when it has that backwards sway after it initially ticks forward. Inline with the crown, at the 4 o’clock position the white bordered date window can be found, which features a white date wheel with black printed numerals. Trigalux used minimal text for the dial of the TA-100, text all printed in white, with Trigalux located under the 12 o’clock position and water resistance info located above the 6 o’clock position. The dial is very easily read from all angles and all lighting situations. Looking through the sapphire crystal at the dial is a joy.

The TA-100 is an extremely comfortable watch on the wrist and it also offers a stress free wrist experience as well. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s a watch that you grab and go with no matter what activities you are going to do. It’s a good daily beater. It’s the watch that I would grab and go to yard work wearing, or playing catch with the kids, or hiking. There’s no stress worthy abuse involved with this watch. What I mean is it’s inexpensive coming in at just over $160 USD, so when you scratch it up you don’t have to worry about it. The dial is definitely the highlight of this piece. If you are looking for a tactical watch, definitely go with the other version of the TA-100. If you go with the basic version, you are getting a decent watch that case can take some abuse, but I definitely wouldn’t advise going to the extremes with this version.

Food for thought: Have I expected too much from a $160 watch? Perhaps, but there are some notable watches priced not too higher.

As always thank you for reading and your questions and comments are welcome below.

Thank you to the Trigalux team.

Specifications

• Individually numbered
• 100m
• Swiss Made R715 Quartz movement
• 316L Steel
• 49 mm x 44 mm x 14 mm
• Unidirectional bezel with luminescent triangle and 90 clicks
• Sapphire crystal  (thickness 2,5mm) with AR
• Nato Strap
• Trigalux®  T3 lume