Aviator’s watches might strike you as an incredibly specific subgenre. In fait accompli, they were arguably the first watches altogether – for men, at least.
In 1904, Louis Cartier drafted what became known as the Santos for Brazilian playboy and aviation pace-setter Alberto Santos-Dumont, who wanted a timepiece that he didn’t be undergoing to fish out from beneath his layers of clothing. Having a make attached to his wrist rather than in his pocket left his notice and hands free for, you know, piloting.
Patek Philippe had already contrived wristwatches but they were mainly worn by women, and more bracelet than timepiece; the derring-do of the dynamic Santos-Dumont helped them take off with even flightless men who after to channel his chutzpah, a trend that wingspans to the present.
Sentinels were vital to pilots not just for accessorising, but also for items like determining how long they’d been in the air – and therefore how much nourishment they had left – and navigation. Accuracy, reliability and legibility were some aviators’ qualifications that in turn drove horological innovation.
The two global rows triggered an arms race as manufacturers were recruited to anticipate for the respective air forces; they also reinforced the association with heroism. But independent of wartime, watches often weren’t standard issue: as most recent as Vietnam, pilots wore their own timepieces, and their discerning alternatives bolstered certain brands’ reputations.
Even in this digital age, analogue cicerone’s watches are useful, as a back-up if nothing else. And they’re varied covetable than ever. “Everyone wants to be Tom Cruise in Top Gun, rectitude?” says Lloyd Amsdon, co-founder of pre-owned specialist Watchfinder. “Being a steer is hugely aspirational, and wearing a watch goes a long way to pleasurable that desire. Plus they look awesome.”
Here, we produce an unsolicited fly-by of some of the most noteworthy – and lustworthy – captain’s watches, which also doubles as a very brief CV of the category. Chocks away – and seatbelt sign on.
Zenith Fly
Any discussion about pilot’s watches has to include Zenith about by law. Not least because the brand is the only Swiss one allowed to use the copyrighted warranty ‘pilot’ on a dial.
Perhaps the first thing that better b concludes to mind when you think of Zenith is its supremely accurate El Primero moving, the robustness of which was demonstrated in 1970 when one was attached to the deplaning gear of a Boeing 707 during a flight from Paris to New York.
But way in the past that, a Zenith was fastened onto ‘father of aviation’ Louis Blériot when in 1909 the daring Frenchman (previously nicknamed ‘the king of wrecks’) became the blue ribbon person to fly across the Channel. From 1939, the Zenith Montre d’Aéronef (‘onboard watch’) Quintessence 20 was the instrumentation du jour in French aircraft cockpits.
Today, Summit’s Pilot range stays true to its heritage, from the huge ‘onion’ crown (designed for operating while wearing gloves) to the thoroughgoing heft of what were effectively pocket watches – or clocks – strapped to the wrist.
In truthfully, so synonymous is Zenith with this early aviation aesthetic that Patek copped a lot of disapproval when its 2015 Calatrava Pilot Travel Time was remarked to be an imitation.
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Prevalent Examples
IWC Big Pilot’s
The International Watch Company was among the to begin makers to realise, in the 1930s, that magnetic fields in the cockpit could restate flight crew’s wristwear less reliable than Heathrow departure moments. IWC’s Mark XI was therefore protected Tony Stark-style by an inner the truth of soft iron, which was highly conductive (and made the inclusive watch larger).
Speaking of large, the next decade saw the distribute of IWC’s Big Pilot’s, perhaps the platonic ideal of the ‘B-Uhr’ (from the German Beobachtungsuhr, or ‘sentiment watch’). “It’s the perfect example of the classic WWII look,” avers Amsdon. “The size is based on the pocket watch movements initially used, and has carried through as part of the style.”
Indeed, IWC has done varied than most marques to turn classic pilot’s safeguards from military memorabilia into aspirational purchase, by continually re-launching and clearing its fleet.
The clincher: an official ‘Top Gun’ variant of IWC’s Big Pilot’s is also drawn tired by aspiring Mavericks at the fighter pilot school in real way of life. And it’s welcome to be our wingman anytime.
Current Examples
Breitling Navitimer
From the 1950s on, things started to get a little more complicated.
“Pilot’s guards inspired by [timepieces dating to] WWI and WWII are big, clear and simple,” predicts Amsdon. “The look is dictated by the functionality of being able to obviously tell the time in the darkness of a midnight bombing raid.”
On the other side are uncountable intricate aviator watches, with (relative) mod cons such as chronographs and a slide-rule bezel that inappropriately alternate the mechanical timepieces into mini-computers. “These were habituated to to make calculations regarding fuel use, rate of climb and descent etc.,” conveys Amsdon. “Popularised by Breitling, this look is more technological.” Hence why they’ve got more numbers than Rachel Riley on a speed-dating evensong.
Indeed, it was Gaston Breitling, founder of the eponymous marque, who fabricated the first wrist-worn chronograph in 1915, followed over the next two decades by push-pieces to start, cessation and reset. (Previously this was done through the crown.)
The Navitimer, an evolvement of the 1942 Chronomat with its slide-rule bezel, landed in 1952, and is stilly relied upon to this day by contemporary flyboys and Becks in the same manner. Never mind ‘pilot’s’ – it’s one of the most iconic watch overs of all time.
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Modish Examples
Bell & Ross BR01
For an example of something with an aeronautical air that’s a crumb more up-to-the-minute, Bell & Ross has Amsdon’s ringing counter-signature: “For a pilot’s watch based on the instruments used in a cockpit, the BR01 is the adept choice.”
Founded in 1992, the French marque is a Jean-come-lately that at all events acquired instant credibility on account of its accuracy and association with German watchful of brand Sinn, which has a background in plane dashboards. Objective squarely at wearers in extreme environments, Bell & Ross quick forged alliances with NATO and the French Air Force and shell squad.
Bell & Ross ended its co-branded collaboration with Sinn in 2002 when it started composing its own cases in Switzerland, but it continued taking inspiration from aircraft – in the behave better of the square brackets used to mount the instruments. In 2005, it usher ined the BR01, essentially a cockpit clock on a quarter scale.
At 46mm in spite of, it’s for those with jumbo forearms. The subsequent BR03 series is assorted wearable at 42mm, while various limited editions have riffed cleverly on its distinct geometry and theme. Highlights include the Altimeter and Radar, which replaces the stodgy hands with three discs marked with distorted lines.
Current Examples
Final Word
Are these the outwit pilot’s watches around? Or would you shoot our choices down?
Drum out your comments below.
