Pjphilippe's discovery of a vintage Helbros aviator watch on eBay years ago sparked a fascinating discussion among collectors. His detailed post, complete with high-quality images, highlights the watch's exceptional condition and unique characteristics, inviting the WatchProSite community to delve into the history and provenance of these rare pre-WWII timepieces. This article explores the collective insights shared, enriching our understanding of vintage pilot watches.
Here is a pilot watch which I bought on e-bay years ago. I never heard about Brooks (retailer, almost certainly of British origin), nor Helbros Watch Co (Swiss calibre manufacturer). I attach its description and pictures.
Vintage aviators / pilots military watch circa. WW2 _ large case, rotating bezel.
An exceptionally fine and rare vintage aviators wristwatch by Helbros, probably pre-dating World War 2 by a few years.
The watch features a large double-hinged case, probably nickel plated base metal, measuring just over 36mm wide excluding the crown and 44mm from tip to tip. This is a pure aviators watch, with rotating inner bezel to show elapsed time, solid strap bars and a black dial. The luminous material on the dial and hands would have been white, but it has of course aged over the last 70 years or so. The watch retains it's original solid glass, which is completely unmarked. The watch bears a striking resemblance to the Zenith Special that was also produced in the mid to late 1930's, and Helvetia also produced a near-identical watch for the German Luftwaffe.
This particular example was probably a private purchase rather than a military issue; the name of the retailer - 'Brooks' is printed on the dial and the winding crown, although quite large, is not the typical onion-shaped variety that you would expect to see on an aviators watch from this period - it may well be a later replacement. The dial is completely original and in excellent condition; it is probably enamel, and it is signed 'Swiss' below 6 o'clock. The case features a double hinge for the outer cover and the inner dust cover; there is no damage or repairs to the hinge, it works perfectly and both covers snap together tightly without any gaps. The coin edged bezel is completely undamaged and shows no signs of wear at all, and the rest of the case is in similar condition. I have seen many aviators watches with plated base metal cases from this period, and virtually all of them have shown some degree of plating loss or pitting; there is no such wear on this example, and it has clearly only seen minimal use. The hand-wound Helbros movement is clean, running beautifully and keeping good time. The watch comes on an excellent heavy duty vintage pig skin leather strap.
An exceptional vintage aviators wristwatch which will appeal to the serious collector; the watch is quite rare, especially in such fine original condition.
