This brand specializing in pilot's watches backs up its words with actions: longtime ambassador and world-class aerobatic pilot Sean D. Tucker loyally carries the message.
WORLDTEMPUS - 28 April 2011
Elizabeth Doerr
“I love the way the kids' eyes sparkle when they've seen my team and I in action at an air show,” the charismatic Sean D. Tucker explains in answer to the question why he defies death every day pursuing a career that is anything but ordinary.
Tucker, famous in aviation circles and a recent inductee into the Aviation Hall of Fame, couldn't be a more down-to-earth guy despite his predilection for working in the air. He and his four-man-strong team based at the King City and Salinas, California airports do double duty: not only do they travel the country performing at air shows with Team Oracle, but they also run the Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety.
The Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety, celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, is a real pilot's academy whose primary service allows Tucker and his team comprising experienced and talented pilots Benjamin Freelove, Ken Erickson, and Chelsea Engberg “to provide a meaningful service offering the highest level of precision flight training available,” according to Tucker. This aviation school's main goal is to teach aviation safety to pilots and those looking to learn. Secondarily, it functions extremely well as a marketing tool for Tucker, Team Oracle, and – naturally – Tutima, the German brand famed for its reliable and trend-setting pilot's watches.
Glashütte to Ganderkesee
Tutima celebrated its 80th year of existence in 2007. It was founded in 1927 in Saxony's legendary watch town Glashütte as the top brand of watch factories Urofa (Uhren-Rohwerke-Fabrik Glashütte AG) and Ufag (Uhrenfabrik Glashütte AG) and was managed by Dr. Ernst Kurtz. Around 1939 the companies began work on what would become one of Glashütte's most famous watches: the Reich air force watch, now often known simply as “1941.” Kurtz Anticipating the coming division of Germany, Kurtz fled to the West just days before the war-ravaged country was split into the four occupied zones, finally putting roots down in Ganderkesee, near Bremen, in 1951.
Tutima's moving history mirroring the rise and fall of both mechanical watches and European society has seen the brand come out an industry winner in the modern era. Early in recognizing the so-called mechanical renaissance in the mid-1980s, Tutima's owner Dieter Delecate – who took over in the 1960s – issued mechanical pilot's watches that have remained evergreen for more than twenty years, solidifying Tutima as one of the premier addresses for mechanical aviation-styled timepieces. This includes continuing evolutions of the legendary pilot's watch, now grouped into the Grand Classic model family, which still retains its telltale signature element: the red reference marker on the fluted bezel.
Pilot styling
Tutima takes its association with aviation seriously. Walter Kurtz, Dr. Ernst Kurtz's brother, was a test pilot for the Reich's air force in the 1940s, which allowed the original pilot's watch to literally be continually tested under genuine conditions. Delecate continues to invest in aviation associations, and the company has made watches for various armed forces, NATO and aviation teams. Throughout, the company has remained loyal to aviation's “rock star” for more than fifteen years. Tucker's Tutima Academy of Aviation Safety enthusiastically brings the exhilarating world of aviation to Tutima wearers and those who may well become them. “Thanks to Tutima, we can continue to teach people how to dance in the sky,” the larger-than-life Tucker says, “When it comes down to it, it's just you and the moment.”
