The first mechanical watch I ever bought was a Jack Mason Pursuit Pilot, the original version from the days when the brand was showing signs of shifting away from its fashion-watch origins. This was before I ventured into the horological rabbit hole I’ve yet to reach the bottom of, when what drove me to buy a watch was how it looked and felt. That original Pursuit’s modern take on the classic pilot’s watch spoke to me, and continued to do so as I wore it daily over several years.
At the start of 2025, Jack Mason relaunched the Pursuit Pilot with subtle updates and upgrades that stayed true to the design that won me over all those years ago, but offered a more refined, higher-quality product. The changes did, though, take the Pursuit Pilot in a slightly dressier direction than the original’s militaristic aesthetic. Ever attentive to their market’s desires, the wise folks at the Texas-based brand filled that tactically-oriented gap with the Pursuit Pro, the subject of this review.
If you aren’t familiar with Jack Mason, and you love watches, I’m deeply curious what remote island you’ve been living on, what the weather’s like there, and if there is space for me. Since the launch of the Strat-o-timer, the brand has churned out an enviable series of hits as it has shifted from a fashion-forward brand to a stalwart of the microbrand market. Through this transition, Jack Mason has pursued an entry-premium market space, evinced by the Pursuit Pro’s $1,399 price tag. It is easy in this era of rapid inflation to attribute the higher price solely to higher costs, but the brand has also bet on the increased quality of its goods – while a nearly $1,400 watch is by no means inexpensive, the Pursuit Pro’s material, construction, and finishing offer value consistent with the list price.
That quality first struck me when I operated the bezel. At a glance, the rotating bezel seems pretty straightforward, with some uncommon design flourishes. In its detailed execution and operation, though, the system is more complex. While the case is 40mm wide, the bezel is 42mm in diameter, providing a 1mm perimetral overhang that makes it easier to grip and spin. While not common, such an overhang is not unheard of – what is unique, and a first in my experience, is the slightly raised outer edge where the bezel and its insert meet. The raised metal surface is nearly visually imperceptible, yet it provides sufficient protection to keep the outer edge of the ceramic bezel insert from chipping or shattering on contact. It is a great, detailed consideration, given that ceramic is highly scratch-resistant but susceptible to chipping and cracking on hard impact.
To avoid creating the impression that the protective rim is due to poor fitment, the stepped design reappears where the ceramic insert abuts the edge of the sapphire crystal, completing the recessed appearance. These are the type of design decisions that separate the great brands from the masses, and illustrate the bespoke approach Jack Mason takes when designing the structural components of their watches.
As for the operation of the 120-click unidirectional bezel, like a good piece of fried fish, the action is light and crisp. The lightness isn’t hollow or tinny, and operates like a considered decision to enable ease of operation, while the discernible heft of the 120 clicks makes it easy to accurately place the timing scale. The ceramic insert bears an engraved, fully-lumed countdown timing scale, with a flourish of an additional red-painted scale to mark the final five minutes before zero. While the red looks great, I wouldn’t mind swapping it for an orange that matches the hue used on the seconds hand and model text on the dial, but the red is an attractive, deep tone that picks up on the red of the seconds hand’s counterbalance. Note that the same 5-minute track is orange on the green-dialed Pro Hunter colorway.
There’s a thoughtfulness to the combination of mechanical and graphic design that shows Jack Mason’s designers didn’t only think about what would look nice, but also how owners would wear the Pursuit Pro. The same is true of the crown, which is sizable and easy to operate at 7.5mm in diameter and 3.5mm thick, and with deep coin edging. Despite the crown’s size, I didn’t experience any wrist-gouging while wearing the Pursuit Pro, but did pleasantly realize that I could operate the crown while wearing the watch.
The Pursuit Pro’s case evinces the same thoughtfulness, as well as high-quality construction and finish. The design is traditional, with a rounded center and tapered lugs when viewed from the top, and an elegant, gradual arc in profile that belies its 12.5mm height. The upper surfaces of the midcase are radially brushed, while the flanks are longitudinally brushed, both in a fine grain. Those brushed surfaces are segmented by polished bevels that run from lug to lug, and end where the upper surface of the lugs meets the upturned underside of the lug tips. The latter makes the Pursuit Pro’s case more comfortable than if the upper arc of the case continued down to the same plane as the underside, which would create a long lug-to-lug span and a sharper angle that would dig into the wrist. Instead, the Pursuit Pro’s 47mm lug-to-lug span keeps its footprint relatively compact, and the upturned tip design prevents them from digging into the wrist.
The areas where those surfaces meet aren’t an afterthought; they’re the strongest indication of the case’s high-quality construction. If you look at many watches with protruding lugs, you may notice that the case’s surfaces terminate messily at the lug tips, whereas four different surfaces meet in linear precision on the Pursuit Pro’s lug tips. The cleanliness of the meeting point may seem simple, but it is challenging to execute.
The dial design is the most straightforward, familiar aspect of the Pursuit Pro, as it carries forward the same Type A flieger format used on the first Pursuit all those years ago. Though the layout remains the same – a dual set of hour markers with Arabic numerals inset from a combination of square, rectangular, and circular indices – the execution has evolved. Where the first Pursuit’s hour markers were flat-painted, the Pursuit Pro deploys Lumicast markers that dramatically improve lume performance and add visual depth to the dial. Jack Mason has gone a step further and rendered the markers in two tones of lume: green for the shapes and blue for the numerals, matching the approach used on the bezel insert. Once again, Jack Mason’s attention to detail shines – literally, in this case. Also shining is the brand’s applied metal logo graphic, replacing the wordmark logo used on the original Pursuit.
The movement has also been upgraded from the days when the Pursuit ran the Miyota 8-series, and a non-hacking version at that. The Pursuit Pro runs the LJP G101, whose many virtues I’ve previously extolled. In short, the G101 takes all the good things about the Miyota 9-series and upgrades them for greater power and robustness. Jack Mason then takes that excellent engine, tunes it to run at +/- 5 seconds per day, and shields it in a soft iron cage that protects the movement from magnetic forces up to 4,800 A/m. According to my casual desk research, that level of magnetism is roughly what is found in a smartphone or a fridge magnet.
The supplied hook-and-loop strap is a good fit for the Pursuit pro, both physically and with respect to the watch’s field-spec nature. It is two pieces: a short length that retains the branded steel slide buckle, and a longer piece that feeds through the slide buckle and wraps back around to secure itself. The fabric that the hook-and-loop material is attached to is on the thick side, which makes the strap appreciably durable, if a little stiff, though not uncomfortably so. Unlike more pliable hook-and-loop straps, this thicker material won’t afford infinite adjustability – it has enough tensile memory that it will hold at the position most commonly folded, unless you shift the pivot point several millimeters. I didn’t find that problematic, but should you take umbrage with that reality, then the Pursuit Pro’s 20mm lug width affords you endless opportunities for strap customization.
It is hard for me to find fault with the Pursuit Pro. It is not pushing the boundaries of watch design, but it is an exemplar of the adage that making something look easy is, indeed, complicated. Many pilot-style watches are overwrought in their design and unrefined in their construction. The Pursuit Pro has its flourishes, but they are executed in a refined manner that exudes quality rather than a gaudy attention-grabber. It is a watch made to be out in the world, and to look good while doing so. The Pursuit Pro suggests that Jack Mason’s great run over the past few years won’t cease anytime soon.
The Pursuit Pro is available directly from Jack Mason.
