When Alvin Lye and Christopher Long started Azimuth in 2004, the Singapore based watch enthusiasts sought to revitalize some of the most successful instrument watch designs of the past and, at the same time, create some 'concept' watches that are entirely unique and new. This blend of past and present is an unusual approach for a burgeoning watch company but it's working well for Azimuth.
There are a lot of great looking watches in the Azimuth lineup, but it's hard for me not to gravitate to the Azimuth 55mm B-UHR. I love the rugged look and clean lines of a tool watch and finding one in extra large proportions is, for me, the cats meow.
On the wrist, the Azimuth 55mm B-UHR is big. It's actually HUGE... but at the same time comfortable to wear. When you look inside and see the thick bezel that surrounds the modified Unitas 6497-1 movement, the size thing really sinks in. This is a watch that could comfortably CONTAIN many of the notable 'big' watches in current production.
Probably because I like a watch with some serious wrist presence, I'm always drawn to big watches that can transcend formal and casual occasions - go from the office to the weekend and not raise too many eyebrows in either environments. The Azimuth 55mm B-UHR is NOT one of them... and that's OK! It's a good idea to have a watch that only does formal and the 55mm B-UHR is the perfect offsetting casual only watch. It's also an incredibly good choice if you take to the skies now and again.
Completely devoid of anything that's not important, the dial of the 55mm B-UHR couldn't be any more legible. Aviation in the 50s was by design much more of a 'seat of the pants' activity than it is today - there wasn't really much need for calculating crosswind components with your watch... Today, the on-board avionics are a hell of a lot easier to use than a circular sliderule on a watch bezel. Both then and now, there's really not much of a case to be made for expecting anything more than an easy to read and accurate current time from a pilots watch - for that, there's few more ideal than the big Azimuth.
Azimuth is a brand to watch and the Azimuth 55mm B-UHR is a great watch to own.
