Time Flies

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Time Flies - Pilot watches
1 minute read
For more than 100 years, watches have kept pace with the world of aviation. Today, professional pilots and lovers of aviation can have a host of options when it comes to pilot watches.

It was more than 100 years ago that the concept of flight became reality. Since then, man has conquered flying, space exploration and the implementation of space stations. Timepieces have played a vital role along the way in helping man navigate the skies and track their time. 

 
Today,   a host of important brands make pilot instruments for the wrist that incorporate useful functions. Essentially a pilot’s watch should be a rugged, antimagnetic tool. It helps, too, to have added functions such as GMT or multiple time zones, altimeters, telemeters, and other calculation features.  
 
In terms of design, a pilot’s watch should be large enough to read at a glance, and should be highly legible and easily readable. Among the enticing new pilot watches on the market today is the new trio of timepieces from Bell & Ross that recall the cockpit instrument panel. Each watch in the line houses an ETA mechanical movement and is built to exacting standards.   The highly sophisticated BR01Heading indicator watch (with ultra lightweight hour, minute and seconds disks), the BR01 Airspeed and the BR01 Climb are each only being built in a limited edition of 999 pieces. The first 99 of which are offered in a collector’s box containing six instruments: The tree new pieces and the BR01 Horizon, Altimeter and Turn Coordinator. 

New from Zenith, which has long been a producer of aviation pieces, is the Pilot Montre d’Aeronef Type 20 GMT, created in a tribute to its aviation history. The 48 mm steel or titanium cased watch with DLC coating, houses the Elite 693 automatic movement with 186 parts. It features Arabic numerals entirely made of SuperLuminova. The bold yet incredibly legible watch offers 24-hour second time zone indication on the outer ring. 

IWC Schaffhausen, the brand that introduced the world’s first antimagnetic watch in the mid-1930’s, and that has formed a strong alliance with Top Gun pilots, rounds out its famed pilot’s collection this year, as well. The new Big Pilot’s Top Gun Boutique Edition watches have been released in three bold versions. In the series is a Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar, a Big Pilot’s Watch and a Pilot’s Watch Chronograph—each crafted in black ceramic cases with details in bright red, green or blue.

Stealth looks, dynamic color accents and top Swiss calibers bring the newest pilot watches to higher heights.


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