Emphasising key traits of Tutima’s historic pilot chronograph of 1941, the 43mm Grand Flieger Classic Chronograph is a solidly built, top quality companion for life’s everyday missions. The first flyback chronograph to be produced in Glashütte, Germany for the Luftwaffe, the distinctive credentials of the original Tutima Flieger Chronograph – like the coin-edged rotating bezel, the […]
Named after the great British watchmaker, Graham was founded by Eric Loth in 1995. The Chronofighter, the cornerstone of the brand’s collections, is inspired by vintage military aviation pieces – in particular, 1930s and 1940s bomb timers. When it was launched in 2001, the model immediately drew attention, breaking out of the norm with its […]
When you think Bell & Ross, you should apparently have “military-inspiration”, “pilot’s watch” and “round-within-a-square-case” in mind. So, with its squared case and round bezel, its chronograph, its military-coloured lightweight and robust material inspired by stealth fighter planes and an overall functional design, it seems that the new Bell & Ross BR-X1 Military ticks all the boxes, right? (spoiler alert: it does, and it even adds the cool technical look of the Experimental collection).
For the second time this year, Oris will support “Movember“, a Foundation that tackles some of the biggest health issues facing men, including prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. After the cool-looking Movember 2017 Divers Sixty-Five, it is time for another great vintage-inspired to be launched. Meet the Oris Movember 2018 Edition, a watch based on the Oris Big Crown Pointer Date launched at Baselworld 2018.
The retro-hype is alive and to be honest, if it is done right, it can result in some very nice watches. Often considered as the golden age of watch design, the 1970s is used as inspiration by many brands to relaunch former collections or to introduce new ones harking back to historical models. Under the Startimer collection, Alpina’s pilot-style range of watches, the brand launched the Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage, in 4 different colourways. And indeed, the 1970s-inspiration is fully there.
Aviation inspired watches are said to have made their debuts on the wrist of aviator Alberto Santos Dumont. At the beginning of the 20th-century, Louis Cartier had made a watch for his Brazilian friend, who wore it to time its flights. It was the first purposed-designed wristwatch. Since then, many watches have been inspired by aviation, all born out of practicality – in particular, pilot watches. Today, the category is one of the most popular.
As a watch manufacturer, Oris has been associated with the world of aviation pretty much since the inception of the brand. The company made its first pilot’s pocket watch in the early 1910s, followed by its first pilot’s wristwatch in 1917 and hasn’t looked back since. It seems fitting then, that Oris has been named as the Official Timepiece Sponsor of the 55th edition of the world-famous Reno Air Races. A new partnership, of course, calls for a new watch, and so the brand is introducing the Oris Big Crown ProPilot 55th Reno Air Races Limited Edition. Read on for all the details.
It’s not hard to find vintage-inspired military watches as the market is now flooded with them. If you want something affordable and authentic, Hamilton has you covered. Want to go high-end, IWC and Panerai have a lot to offer, among many others. Longines even has a wide variety in their Heritage collection. Most are excellent examples of a given time period and fine watches on their own, but few have truly unique personalities. The Longines Avigation BigEye bucks the trend with an atypical chronograph that hits a lot of the right notes, but its provenance is a bit of a mystery. It’s also not the first modern big eye chronograph with pieces like the Breguet Type XX having a similar dial. It’s arguably the best vintage-inspired Longines since the Legend Diver, however, and won the Best Revival award at last year’s Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG). That’s an eye-opening achievement, so let’s take a closer look.
If you’ve been searching for a bold, aviation-inspired chronograph that will make an unmistakable impression on the wrist, we might just have the watch for you. The Graham Chronofighter Target is larger than life and has a number of nice touches that really catch the eye. Masculine, modern and still featuring the signature elements of the brand, but without the vintage feel of other collections. We recently spent some time getting hands-on with the Chronofighter Steel Target. Here are our thoughts.
Few watches can claim to be real icons. The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch is definitely one of them. This WWII-inspired pilot’s watch needs no introduction anymore. Of course, the one that everybody knows is the classic black dial version with white indices (Ref. IW500912). But there are more editions offered by the brand – including my favourite, the “Le Petit Prince” ref. IW500916 – with or without complications. Recently, the brand added a new, vintage-like subcollection in the Big Pilot line dubbed “Heritage”, which includes the watch we’re about to review, the IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Heritage Bronze IW501005. Patina is about to hit the sky!