traser P68 Pathfinder: now powered by the sun

When you’re considering a watch for outdoors duty, you can go a number of different routes. You might want to go with something that has a number of built-in sensors, or you might just want to keep it simpler with a compass bezel that you can orienteer with. Regardless of add-ons, you want it tough and durable, and easy to read. Adding in solar charging? Well, that’s just icing on the cake. And wouldn’t you know it, the latest traser P68 Pathfinder is fully frosted.

traser P68 Pathfinder: the movement

As you might guess, the traser P68 Pathfinder relies on a quartz movement. Details from traser on it are not there (ie, we don’t know who makes it), but in our experience, solar quartz movements have been reliable. What’s great about this is how quickly it will charge up. After just one minute in the light, a fully-depleted watch will start running. Give it another minute, and now you’ve got enough for a full day. In short, it’s not going to take much to keep the P68 up and running. Once fully-charged, it can sit in the dark for 8 months before it is drained.

The aesthetics

Looking at the traser P68 Pathfinder – whether it’s on the rubber strap or a nylon NATO – you know that this is a watch meant for outdoors duty. It’s that compass printed on the bezel under the sapphire crystal, of course. The crown at 8 is what allows you to set that. With that, of course, you can help set your direction.

The rest of the watch keeps a very legible white-on-black color scheme, with a red-tipped hour hand helping that stand out. Then both hour hands have their tritium tubes, which appear white in the light, matching those set on the hour markers. Reading the time at a glance won’t be an issue. And for when you’re back in civilization, the date display will remind you of what day it is.

The illumination

This is, of course, due to a combination of elements (just as we saw in this review). The main thing, of course, are going to be the trigalight (aka tritium) tubes. Those have price of place on the handset and indices, with 12 o’clock showing up in orange (rather than green) to orient the watch.

The rest of the traser P68 Pathfinder relies on Super-Luminova. That shows up on the compass bezel, and also in one other spot. This is something we’ve seen only on traser watches – a glowing ring around the crystal. This is a the seal, and they’ve made the interesting choice to have it glow. Does it add functionality? No, not at all. But is it really, really awesome to see in person? Definitely.

Wrapping things up

If you want to add the new solar-powered traser P68 Pathfinder to your collection, it’s another very affordable option from the brand. If you choose one of the two colors of NATO straps, you’re looking at $690, while the silicone strap bumps it up to $750. Check out all three at traser.com

Tech Specs

• Illumination Dial: trigalight & Super-LumiNova
• Illumination: trigalight
• Glass Seal: luminous glass seal
• Movement: Swiss Made Solar
• Size: Ø 46 mm
• Glass: anti-reflective sapphire
• Watch Case: PVD-coated stainless steel
• Dial: grey
• Crown: screw-down crown
• Strap: rubber
• Water Resistance: 10 atm / 10 bar
• Band Width: 24 mm