Complications

IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun - A Fitting Tribute to the US Navy Fighter Weapons School

IWC has an outstanding reputation among aviators for producing some of the worlds finest pilot's watches.  The United States Navy also enjoys a stellar reputation - for producing the worlds finest fighter pilots - graduates of the USN Fighter Weapons School where only the best of the best achieve the ranking of TOP GUN. 

When the design team at IWC was tasked with the development of a watch to honor the men and women of the US Navy who hold the coveted TOP GUN status, it was a safe bet that the watch that would result would be something equally extraordinary in terms of both horological excellence and pure panache - and it is!  The IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun is a huge watch at just over 46mm in diameter (think as big as a Big Pilot).  The case of the Double Chrono Top Gun is black ceramic - it's impervious to scuffs and scratches and a striking backdrop for the titanium crown, pushers and caseback. 

The design elements of the Top Gun dial, stark white hands and markers against a matte black field, are reminiscent of an altimeter - one of the most important instruments in the cockpit.  A bright red small seconds hand and two centrally mounted stopwatch hands with bright red tails shaped like fighters contrast nicely with the otherwise monotone presentation.  Positioned one over the other, the stopwatch hands begin to circle the dial appearing as one hand until the split function is activated and one hand stops to indicate the split time while the second continues on.  There's also a day and date display inboard of the 3 o'clock marker.  The solid caseback of the Double Chrono Top Gun is emblazoned with the TOP GUN logo.

Inside the IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun is the IWC Calibre 79230 (base ETA 7750) automatic movement.  It has 29 jewels, a 44 hour power reserve and vibrates at 28,800/hr.  The movement is protected against magnetism by a soft iron inner case.

Equipped with a black nylon strap that's secured with a signed IWC buckle, the MSRP of the IWC Pilot's Watch Double Chronograph Top Gun is $10,300.  It's a stunning watch that will undoubtedly become part of the collection of many military watch aficionados.   

   

Vogard Super Traveler - The Ultimate Multi-Zoner

When Michael Vogt founded Vogard, he had a singular goal in mind - to produce the 'best travelers watch ever'.  With the help of Thomas Prescher, an independent master watchmaker from Switzerland, the Timezoner system was developed.  Currently awaiting patent, it integrates elements of the bezel, case and movement to produce an easy to activate and fool proof way of determining the time in multiple time zones around the world.

Vogard's Timezoner system is the first to display corrections for Daylight Savings Time automatically - an important consideration if you travel widely and throughout the year.

The Vogard Super Traveler is the flagship of the Vogard collection and an advanced version of their very popular Vogard Business Officer watch.  It is the only multi-zone watch to feature an indication of the local time in 36 seperate locations and to provide correction in all zones for Daylight Savings Time if it's appropriate. 

To activate the Timezoner system and determine a local time, you first unlock the bezel by way of the lever on the right side of the case.  Then the bezel is rotated (it's bi-directional) to align the city in question with the 12 o'clock marker - if the city is one that observes Daylight Savings Time there will be a line extending from its name out to an 's' - line up on the 's' instead to account for the time difference.  As you rotate the bezel, the hour hand along with the 24 hour hand rotate in unison to display local time in the city indicated and, in the case of the 24 hour hand, indicate the time of day.

Inside the Super Traveler, and visible through its sapphire crystal display back, is the Vogard Cailber Timezoner 01 automatic movement.  It's a base ETA 2892-A2 that's been modified to couple the crown wheel with the rotating bezel - an innovation that dramatically simplifies the calculation of the local time in multiple zones.

The crown is at 2 o'clock to account for the large and easy to deploy bezel release lever on the right side of the case.  There's a date indication between 4 and 5 o'clock and a center mounted seconds hand.  The dial arrangement is nice and clean with a very logical and easy to read presentation. 

The case of the Vogard Super Traveler is stainless steel and 43mm in diameter.  On the wrist it's both comfortable and high scoring in the presence category - choose the yellow strap option to really make it stand out or the black strap if you'd rather not draw attention to yourself.  In either case, there's a deployant buckle to secure the crocodile strap to your wrist.

The MSRP of the Vogard Super Traveler is $6,700 US - an excellent value for an extremely well constructed Swiss travelers watch with a very high degree of unique technical capabilities.

If you can own only one multi-timezone travelers watch - I'd say that this is the one to buy!

Be sure to check out the Vogard website where you'll find a great animation of the Super Traveler.      

 

Zenith Defy Classic Chrono Aero XT - Next Gen El Primero for Adventurers

Zenith has made quite a splash among watch aficionados with the introduction of its new Defy line of watches.  With an advertising campaign centered around integrating these haute horologicals into real life extreme environments, Zenith seems to be saying that a tool watch doesn't have to be boring. 

The Zenith Defy Classic Chrono Aero XT is a 46.5mm dazzler that uses the latest generation Zenith El Primero 4000SC automatic movement to power its triple counter chronograph - and what a movement it is!  Beating at 36,000 VPH and meticulously constructed to endure all kinds of extreme activities; it's hard to find a more precise, respected and recognized movement in the watch world.  The guilloche on the asphalt black dial gives it a lot of depth and makes the markers and arabic numerals seem to float beneath the sapphire crystal.  A red seconds hand and the colorful outer track around the subdial at 3 o'clock make the Defy Classic Chrono Aero's dial a stand out.  The crown and screw down pushers are particularly nice and easy to deploy and the stainless steel bracelets' centerlink is done in guilloche to match the dial. 

I can't say that the Defy Classic Chrono Aero is my favorite pilots watch.  I prefer something a little less complicated and a bit more traditional for actual flying.  That said though, the big Zenith is a stunning all around adventure watch that's got all the gravitas of the El Primero legacy combined with a rugged and inspired design that's sure to turn some heads.  Nice too is the fact that if you do find yourself behind the yoke with the the Defy Classic Chrono Aero on your wrist, it's more than capable of delivering all of the functionality you'd expect from a world class aviation watch.

The Zenith Defy Classic Chrono Aero gets a two thumbs up - it's a great watch!    

IWC Pilot's Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery - Limited Edition Stunner from Schaffhausen

IWC has a long history of providing pilots with reliable and functional timepieces that stand up to the rigors of world travel.  It's hard to mistake the clean lines and uncluttered dial of an IWC and often I spot one on the wrist of an airline captain or first officer when they emerge from the cockpit. 

I think that IWC has done a great job of striking the right balance between function and form with its Pilot's Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery in that neither quality is sacrificed in exchange for the other.  While some tool watch purists may argue that form is insignificant in watches that are designed around a specific application, I believe that it's never a bad thing when a watch looks great while it functions flawlessly.  After all, even the watches of professional pilots will spend much more wrist time on the ground than they will in the air. 

The UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery is, to my eye, one of the sharpest Pilots watches that IWC has ever produced.  The brown dial of the watch makes for the ideal contrast between the hands, arabic numbers and field - it's easy to discern the time with a quick glance from any angle.  UTC (GMT) is displayed just north of the 6 o'clock marker in a reverse arc window that's both easy to read and unobtrusively positioned.  There's a date window at 3 o'clock that's synchronized with the local time display.  Everything is controlled with a single crown on the right side of the case - somewhat smaller than the 'onion' type crown of the IWC Big Pilot, it's still very easy to grasp, much easier on the wrist and less likely to get snagged on something. 

Inside the IWC UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery is IWCs Calibre 30710 movement - it's automatic, magnetically shielded, has 23 jewels and a 42 hour power reserve.  The caseback is solid and engraved with a Latecoere 25, the airplane that Saint Exupery, the aviation pioneer and pilot extraordinaire whose flying exploits were the subject of 'Wind, Sand and Stars", used to fly on the postal route between Argentina and Chile.

The case of the IWC Pilot's Watch UTC Edition Antoine de Saint Exupery is 44mm in diameter and 12.9mm thick - supplied with a tough yet supple buffalo leather strap, it's very comfortable to wear.                

Azimuth 55mm B-UHR - Instrument Watch Extraordinaire

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. 

Bremont ALT1Z - For Pilots By Pilots

Most watch brands have a back story and some are more compelling than others.  Bremont is a British brand (made in Switzerland of course) with an origin that's definitely among the most memorable.  Nicholas and Giles English, Bremonts co-founders, are the sons of Evan English, a well known RAF aerobatic champion and, by all indications, a father extraordinaire.  Evan also shared a passion for WWII era aircraft with his sons and spent a great deal of time doing display flying of vintage aircraft.  In 1995, Evan and his son Nicholas crashed a North American Harvard - Evan succumbed to the injuries he suffered in the accident while Nicholas, with more than 20 broken bones, miraculously survived.  Obviously not one to refuse to 'get back on the horse', just one year later, Nicholas and Giles were on their way to meet some friends in France.  Their ride - a 60 year old plane.  The genesis of Bremont - A forced landing (due to weather) in a pea field in the Champagne region where they met a startled farmer who, as luck would have it, was a pilot during WWII.  His name, as you might suspect by now, was Bremont and the trio spent the better part of two days talking about watches and the stories that they tell. 

It's great to find a small independent brand like Bremont where the founders of the company are still very much a part of the day to day operations and there's a real passion for the work being done and the watches being produced. 

On now to the ALT1Z - my favorite watch in the current Bremont lineup.  The Bremont ALT1Z is a great example of a truly functional aviators chronograph.  UTC (or time in whatever other zone you prefer) is shown over an internally rotating 24 hour bezel that's controlled by a crown in the 8 o'clock position on the left side of the case.  Normal chronograph functions are controlled by pushers on either side of the crown in the customary arrangement.  There's a date display at 3 o'clock.  All of the indications are easy to read and instinctively positioned on the dial. 

The ALT1Z is powered by a Valjoux 7754 automatic movement that's been modified by Bremont - the skeletonized rotor, visible through the transparent sapphire caseback, is especially nice.

At 43mm, the Bremont ALT1Z is the perfect size for a pilots watch that's sure to see at least as much wrist time outside of the cockpit as inside of it.  For both venues, rest assured that the ALT1Z will perform flawlessly and look great while doing so.  Standard is a leather strap with deployant buckle.

If you like your watches to be part of a story that's much more interesting and compelling than just the result of great ad campaign or an impulse buy while enjoying a change of scenery, you'll love having a Bremont on your wrist.  Most watchmakers today rely on a story that they truthfully didn't have any part in - the English brothers are out there living it and their watches reflect that experience.       

Sinn 756 Diapal - Oil Free for the Long Haul

The Sinn 756 Diapal might just be the hottest pilots watch to hit the market in '08.  Using Sinn's oil free escapement technology (called Diapal since early research involved replacing the ruby pallets with diamonds) , this new Sinn is designed to perform flawlessly for extended periods of time since there's no oil to degrade and gum up the works. 

The design elements of the new 756 Diapal will appeal to both desk flyers and real pilots alike, the anthracite coal galvanized dial is super sharp and contrasts nicely with the over-sized markers and arabic quadrant numbers (12, 3, 6 and 9).

There's a rotating bezel to track elapsed minutes and chronograph functionality as well.  The current time in a second zone is displayed via the skeletonized second hour hand that's set via the crown.  The date is shown at the four o'clock position and is discreet enough to preserve the clean and uncluttered nature of the dial.

Inside the Sinn 756 Diapal is a modified ETA Valijoux Caliber 7750 automatic chrono movement that's been protected against magnetic fields to 80,000 A/m, fitted with the aforementioned oil-free Diapal escapement (now a function of nanotechnology and not the old diamonds for rubies switcheroo), and shockproof. 

The case of the 756 Diapal is Sinn's famous tegimented stainless steel (1,200 Vickers) - it's exceedingly tough and it looks great.

I can't wait to get a 756 Diapal on my wrist!  I imagine that it will quickly become one of my favorites.   

Tutima FX Chronograph UTC - 3 Time Zones - 1 Perfect Pilots Watch

I've always been a fan of Tutima watches.  World renowned for producing fantastic watches for aviators, the Glashutte based manufacturer creates watches that can convey a huge amount of information yet remain remarkably easy to read - two equally important qualities for a pilot's watch.

The Tutima FX Chronograph UTC has all of the traditional chronograph functionality along with the ability to indicate the current time in three time zones.  A second central hour hand (longer than the primary) make the trip around the dial every 24 hours to mark the time on both the internal 24 hour bezel track and the external 24 hour bezel that can be rotated (bi-directionally) to account for the third time zone.  There's also a date wheel that's displayed at the 3 o'clock position.  Available in both white and black dial configurations, the white dial (Ref. 740.81 as pictured with leather strap) is especially nice with it's contrasting blue hands and arabic numerals.  Inside the FX Chrono UTC is an ETA / Valjoux Caliber 7754 automatic movement that's been modified by Tutima.  It's a great movement that's both robust and serviceable.

The case of the Tutima FX Chronograph UTC is almost 39mm in diameter and a cuff-friendly 8mm thick.  While not a huge watch, it's large enough to feel good and look right on even large wrists. 

The FX Chronograph UTC can be had with either a leather strap or with Tutima's excellent stainless steel bracelet (Ref. 740-84).

The Tutima FX Chronograph UTC retails for just over $4,000 US.

U-BOAT Flightdeck Titanium - 50mm Strong!

Italo Fontana has delivered on a family dream that began during WWII when the Fontana firm, then under the direction of Italo's cousin, began working on a watch for officers of the Italian Navy's submarine service.  The U-BOAT watches being produced in Tuscany are incredibly solid and honest examples of the fusion of tool watch functionality and Italian design character. 

The U-BOAT Flightdeck Titanium is a stunning 50mm example of the work that's coming from Fontana's shop.  With it's characteristic over-sized left sided crown replete with a unique protective device and it's huge and uncluttered dial; the Flightdeck Titanium is everything a tool watch should be - rugged, dependable and easy to operate and read.  Inside is an ETA 7750 - A07.211 Automatic Chronograph movement that's as reliable as it is easy to service and repair.  The design, quality of construction, and finishing on the Flightdeck, and all of U-BOAT's watches for that matter, are excellent. 

Looking for something a little bit off the beaten path that seems to say that you're not one for doing anything in a small way?  Put the U-BOAT Flightdeck Titanium on your wrist!    

Sinn 856 UTC - A Perfect Two-Time Flyer

The Sinn 856 UTC is the ultimate aviator's watch for someone who spends a lot of time in the cockpit. 

Many watch manufacturers pack all sorts of frivolous functionality into their 'pilots watches'.  There are complicated chronographs, altimeters, and even circular slide rules to calculate crosswind components.  In the real world though, the on-board computer versions of these instruments do a much better job than anything that you could strap to your wrist. 

Few pilots would squint over the minuscule numerals on the outer track of their chronograph to work out a wind calculation when that information is available in a much larger format displayed along the periphery of their 'scan'. 

Of course, some pilots do wear watches that pile on the functions; but most will opt for a watch that simply displays the time in a very legible and exact format - in that regard, the 856 UTC answers the call perfectly.

Constructed of Sinn's proprietary tegimented stainless steel, the 40mm case of the Sinn 856 UTC is striking in its form and simplicity.  The crown is ideally sized, deeply grooved, and shielded by lugs integral to the case.  The black matte dial and large stark white luminous hands, markers and arabic numerals in the 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions make it very easy to determine the time with nothing more than a quick glance. 

To help long-haul pilots keep track of the time in their destination or departure cities as they cross time zones; there's a second time zone (GMT) hand that's tipped with a yellow arrow and indicates time in the 24-hour format on an inner dial. 

Designed for the rigors of flight, the 856 has integrated dehumidification, magnetic field protection (to 80,000 A/m), and an anti-reflective sapphire crystal. 

I'm a huge fan of Sinn watches and the 856 is one of my favorites.  Like all Sinn offerings, the price to quality ratio of the 856 UTC is phenomenal.  $1480 US gets you an exceptional pilots watch.