Spellbound
1343
I fail to understand your point.
Nobody was under the impression that pilot watches are essential gear for today's pilots. But the history of pilots watches show us that indeed, during the early years of aviation, pilot watches were absolutely essential. The fact that the British Air Ministry commissioned Swiss houses to make Mark IV A and Mark V Cockpit watches for the pilots of the Royal Flying Corps (which later became the RAF) indicates as much. These were essentially very legible pocket watches (white on black) that were mounted on a bracket in the center of the instrument panel. It was a similar story with pilots of the Luftwaffe. So there is a ton of history with pilot watches that I find absolutely fascinating .
The pilot watches of today are tributes to the early pilot watches, and nobody on this forum is under any impression otherwise. I have pilot watches, but I do not fly planes. I like the style and the history. I also have dive watches, but I always use a Suunto for diving. I have driving watches, but I use the clock on the dashboard to read time. Louis Vuitton and Panarai and others introduced a Regatta watch to count down the start of a race. No crew would actually wear one on race day since it gets pretty rough on aboard, but I have see many a crew wear one on their off days. So what?
It is an indulgence in style and history plain and simple. Would you criticise someone who wears a Vacheron Constantin Historique American angled for drivers to be able to read when driving? It is one of the most beautiful watches ever made, but clearly not essential for driving since every car has a dashboard mounted clock.
Respectfully,
Dean
Pilot's Watches
Hi all, So I thought I would post on a topic that has been niggling in the back of my head for quite some time..."Pilot's Watches". The reason I thought I would post on this topic is because I have read a number of articles and threads recently debating t...
Interesting post.
You are right: Pilot watches nowadays, cannot be seen as Tools, anymore. Like Diving watches. I guess you are buying a slice of adventure, dream, nostalgy. Thanks for your article! Best, Nicolas
Divers watches can still be tool watches
Small nit.... I, for one, dive, and I do use a diver's watch (usually my IWC Galapagos) on every dive. It's a back up in case my computer should die. So I do use the bezel to mark the total elapsed time and then, when I reach the end of my dive, I use it ...
Yes, Seth, some do that, and if I was a diver, I would do so, too.
But that represents an extrem minority. Best, Seth. Nicolas
I fail to understand your point.
Nobody was under the impression that pilot watches are essential gear for today's pilots. But the history of pilots watches show us that indeed, during the early years of aviation, pilot watches were absolutely essential. The fact that the British Air Min...
Agreed, and...
for those who are interested in some history of pilot's watches that were indeed worn and used, do a Google search for the following: " World’s First Pilot’s Watch: Cartier Santos 1904" The author has written a five-part series that underscores Dean's poi...
An excellent point
Thanks Tony C. An excellent point mentioned in that article that I forgot to mention was the historical significance of pilots in starting the trend for mens wristwatches. I have pilots from the early days of aviation and modern day tributes, and I love t...
The rest of the story...
I just noticed that the first part of the article doesn't appear to include links to the four subsequent posts. Do a search for " The History of the Pilot Watch Part Five: B-Uhr" and you will find the other links. TC
Pilot watches
In 1961 I joined the RAF as a cadet pilot and was issued a so-called pilot's watch. Black dial Omega, heavy luminous hands and five-minute markers with a double marker at 12, central sweep seconds hand, large crown, rough finish steel case, fixed bars, he...