The word 'Pilot' is very closely
associated with the Manufacture Zenith. Since 1930's, the company was
involved in the making of onboard instruments like altimeters and
“montres d’aéronef” ( also known as aircraft watches) intended for
in-flight use for the military as well as to civilian companies. As
their highly legible “montres d’aéronef” were reputed to be reliable,
sturdy, precise and able to meet the demanding requirements -
withstanding large sudden change in pressure and temperature, they met
the tough specifications known as 'Type 20', which was drafted since
1930s. Following, Zenith instruments were labelled " Zenith Type 20 "
and began to appear on the instrument panels of numerous aircraft, as
only a handful of companies could be Type 20' approved to supply this
high-specifications aviation industry.Continuing
with the courageous and daring spirit, Manufacture Zenith, issued two
special editions to pay tribute to one of the pioneering aviators, an
Australian, Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith aka 'Smithy'.
Charles Edward Kingsford Smith aka 'Smithy'
The
two special editions to honour the memory of Charles Edward Kingsford
Smith are : a 20-piece limited series of the Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type
20 GMT and a 5-piece limited series of the Pilot Montre d’AéronefType
20 Tourbillon, exclusively available in Australia.
The beautiful blue box ...
The two special Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20S - Charles Edward Kingsford Smith Editions
Beginning with the
Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 GMT ...
The Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 GMT Charles Edward Kingsford Smith Edition is limited to 20 pieces.
Case is 48mm diameter with a combination of titanium and 18K rose gold crown, GMT-pusher and lugs ...and the number-plate too.
Thickness of the case is 15.80mm .
Generous dial opening of 40mm, great legibility with imposing Arabic numerals entirely made of white Superluminova SLN C1 .
On the beautiful blue dial, also studded with the seven-pointed Commonwealth Stars as appear on the Australian flag.
From
the illustrative by Manufacture Zenith, the stars also coated with
luminescent and glowed with the Arabic hour-markers and hands.
Closer view of the seven-pointed Commonwealth Stars.
The
gilted satin-brushed and Superluminova-coated hands stood out with the
blue background. The GMT hand is with blue stem and red-tip.
Small-second at location 9H.
From the side, the bezel was gloss-polished and the titanium case-band and the golden lugs were brush-polished.
The
gold-plate mounted with two blue screws was sort of the aircraft's
registration markings. The letters VH – a reference to Australian civil
aviation and to the legendary Southern Cross flown
by Charles Kingsford Smith – followed by the individual serial number.
There's some information about this VH plate on Southern Cross, please
click here for more details.
Matched nicely with a brown alligator leather with beige stitching and a titanium pin buckle.
Polished solid 18K rose gold pusher for fast & easy second-timezone adjustment.
Note the raised SuperLuminova Arabic Hour marker ...
Raised sapphire crystal, anti-reflective coated to reduce glare. Specs mentioned both sides coated.
18K rose gold large screw-locked ribbed crown stands out from the matt brush surface of the caseband and lugs.
The
large size is also for easy time adjustment even with gloves on... this
was the case previously for pilots to wind their watch or to adjust the
time without removing their gloves.
Solid
caseback with a medallion engraved with the effigy of Charles Kingsford
Smith and the inscription “Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 – Zenith Flying
Instruments”.
The serial number of the watch was also engraved too.
The Type 20 is rated water-resistance to 100m.
Within consists of the automatic Zenith Elite 693 movement with a 50-hour power reserve, beating at 4Hz.
Second-hand hacks, when crown is pulled to adjust time.
Brush-finished titanium pin-buckle with a polished Zenith Star, well-made, solid and chunky to blend with the robust Type 20.
Couple of wrist-shots on my small hairy wrists.
Though at 48mm diameter, it seats comfortably on my wrist due to the lugs-design.
Under daylight, the blue dial is simply stunning!
Next, the
Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Tourbillon ...
The Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Tourbillon Charles Edward Kingsford Smith Edition is limited to just 5 pieces.
Case
diameter is 48mm by 15.80mm height, same as the GMT Version. It is of a
combination of the titanium and 18K rose gold for bezel, crown,
chronograph-pushers and the lugs.
Chronograph pusher at 2H for the start-stop of the chronograph while the
pusher at 4H is to reset all the counters and the chronograph second
hand.
Asymetrical dial design - tourbillon carriage with date window at 11H.
Dial is also decorated with the seven-pointed Commonwealth Stars as appear on the Australian flag.
Raised Arabic numerals entirely made of white Superluminova SLN C1 like the GMT version.
Subdial
at 3H is the chronograph 30-minute counter, and at 6H is the 12-hour
totalizer. Chronograph-second-hand is bent and white-tipped for quick
and accurate read-out.
The
dial design is pretty challenging, and the two large hour-minute-hands
tend to block parts of the subdials... perhaps only the tip of the hands
to be coated with SuperLuminova, the rest of the stems could be skeletonised to reduce blocking.
The tourbillon cage moves one round in 60 sec, also double-up as the small second.
The
patented date display system is innovative, indicating the date around
the periphery of the tourbillon carriage, and can be adjusted with the
crown.
Read out tends to be challenging for people with hyperopia.
The
side of the caseband is also mounted with gold-plate, marked with
letters VH – a reference to Australian civil aviation and to the
legendary Southern Cross flown by Charles Kingsford Smith – followed by the individual serial number.
The caseback is also solid like the GMT version with similar water resistance rating of 100m / 10ATM.
Within contains the El Primero 4035 D automatic chronograph beating at 5Hz with a power reserve of 50 hours.
Couple of wrist-shots ...
Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Tourbillon in the box
Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Tourbillon Charles Edward Kingsford Smith Editions
Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 Charles Edward Kingsford Smith Editions
Salute to Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith !
Understand
since it is a tribute to the Australia Hero and Pioneering Aviator,
these two editions will only be sold in Australia and should be starting
to ship by end of March.
Which do you prefer?
Kong
This message has been edited by Kong on 2014-03-23 09:51:09 
