WatchTime - August 2012

TEST
Zenith Pilot Big Date Special
t the beginning of the 20th century, pilots’
watches were essential tools for aviators.
In 1909, the first aviator to cross the English
Channel, Louis Blériot, used a Zenith
wristwatch with a rotating minutes
marker during his 37-minute flight.
Shortly thereafter the first cockpit instruments
came into use. Zenith equipped
airplanes with altimeters and other aviation
instruments that eventually made pilots’
watches unnecessary. Zenith was also
a major supplier of temperature-resistant
and anti-magnetic aircraft clocks in
the 1930s and ’40s.
Today, pilots’ watches serve as emergency
backup instruments for recreational
aviators. But, of course, most pilots’watch
fans aren’t pilots at all, but earthbound
types who like the watches’ distinctive
styling.
The Zenith Pilot Big Date Special
combines the historical, functional design
84 WatchTime August 2012
of a pilots’ watch with several new elements.
The watch has typical pilots’watch
features: a black dial to limit light
reflection, luminous displays, satin finishes
on the case, and a calfskin strap with
contrasting white stitching.
However, Zenith has made
some interesting changes to
the dial. Unlike a classic pilots’-
watch dial, the dial of
the Zenith Pilot Big Date
Special features several
finely calibrated tracks and
incremental markers between
the minutes indices.
The numeral 12 appears in
place of the usual triangle
with two dots.
The watch has more features than a
traditional pilots’ watch. In addition to
the time display, the watch has a chronograph,
a patented big-date display and a
telemeter scale, which calculates distances
by using the speed of sound. You
can start the chronograph when you see a
bolt of lightning and stop it when you
hear the thunderclap – the chronograph
seconds hand will show how far away the
storm is in kilometers.
As on many Zenith watches, the date
display, rather than the hour counter, is at
the 6 o’clock position. To make the two
large date disks as compact as possible,
Zenith has placed them very close together
and uses the right disk for the tens digit
rather than the left one (see photo detail
on the next spread). The tens disk has rectangular
openings through which the single
digits can be seen. The design is clever
but it doesn't solve the age-old problem
of having the disks on different levels,
which allows shadows to fall on the lower
disk, making it hard to read. (Several
other watches in Zenith's collection use
big-date displays in which both numerals
are on the same level.)
The date numerals on the Pilot Big
Date fill the openings so fully that they almost
touch the edges. They tend to blend
in with the black dial, which also makes
the date difficult to read. In addition, the
right digit on our test piece was always
slightly misaligned. And purists might
find fault with the different styles of type
used for the date and the other numerals
on the dial.
The most important added function
this watch offers is a chronograph, which
is based on the renowned El Primero caliber.
The minutes counter, which is easy
THE PUSHERS ARE EASY
TO USE, BUT THERE IS A
NOTICEABLE JUMP WHEN
THE CHRONOGAPH’S
SECONDS HAND IS STARTED.
to read, is at 3 o’clock. However, it’s
harder to read the chronograph seconds
hand because the seconds markers and
partial-seconds markers are a little difficult
to tell apart. This is especially true at