Since 2019, Bangalore Watch Company has been expanding its MACH 1 portfolio to honour local aviation like the Indian Air Force MiG 21, Indian Navy Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant R11 and Indian women in commercial aviation. The latest MACH 1 Avalanche celebrates high-altitude mountain rescue helicopters at the peaks of the Himalayas. The thin air […]
Sitting alongside the very big Big Pilot (the real deal for many) and the less big Big Pilot 43 in the range of IWC’s Pilot watches, the Mark XX is the latest generation of a watch that is the true essence of a tool for aviators, in a reasonable size. A watch with great pedigree, […]
Presented last year by Longines as the flagship model in its recent pilot-oriented collection, the Spirit Flyback paid tribute to an important function for the brand, the retour-en-vol chronograph. While the authorship of the flyback complication is a topic that is still discussed, the winged hourglass brand produced its first model equipped with a flyback […]
Longines’ Spirit collection has been quite the hit from the get-go. The style, fit and finish were on point and ticked a lot of boxes for a lot of people. Since its inception in 2020, we’ve seen quite an impressive and widespread run of pilot-inspired watches in varying degrees of complexity, colours and even multiple […]
German brand Hanhart began manufacturing stopwatches in Switzerland before relocating to Germany in 1902, where it gained renown as a producer of Flieger (pilot’s) chronographs for pilots and naval officers during World War II. With a solid repertoire of vintage-inspired models, the new Fly Navy Aerosphere is a more contemporary watch and flies the insignia of Germany’s […]
German brand Stowa was founded in 1927 and became one of the five official suppliers of B-Uhren to the German Luftwaffe. Capitalising on the brand’s rich aviation history, Stowa, now in the hands of Tempus Arte Group, released its first batch of contemporary pilot’s watches in 1997. While the reissues capture the classic looks of […]
Founded in 1934, Airain was one of the original suppliers of the iconic Type 20 chronograph issued to French military pilots in the 1950s and 60s. The brand was dormant until its resurrection in 2020 by Dutch entrepreneur Tom van Wijlick, who also spearheaded the 2014 relaunch of Lebois & Co, which brought back the […]
Known for its countless (and often appealing) vintage re-editions, inspired by some glorious watches of the past, Longines last year relaunched an important historic pilot watch, the Czech Pilot watch known as “Majetek Vojenske Spravy” or more simply, the Pilot Majetek. A follow-up to a model of 2014, this re-introduction was done with style and […]
Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Pforzheim, Germany, Stowa is mainly known for producing accessible and robust military- and pilot-inspired watches. Its Flieger line, based on a classic B-Uhr concept, is both its cornerstone collection and its most relevant range, as Stowa was one of only five watch manufacturers commissioned to build these military watches […]
2024 marks a significant milestone for the Tornado multirole combat aircraft: 50 years ago, on August 14, 1974, the first Tornado prototype took off from Manching, Germany. This event launched what would become Europe’s most extensive military aircraft collaboration program, resulting in nearly 1,000 Tornados delivered to the air forces of Germany, Italy, the United […]