Time Flies 68 DEPARTURES Sky’s the limit for these next-gen pilot watches inspired by aviation’s rich history. by Laurie Kahle Photographs by Xavier Young
COURTESY OF THE WATCHMAKERS ACCORDING TO Cartier lore, in 1904, the Brazilian aviator and bon vivant Alberto Santos-Dumont asked his friend Louis Cartier to make him a wristwatch so he wouldn’t have to fumble with his pocket watch in the cockpit. Cartier responded with the Santos, the first watch made for a pilot, kicking off a new watch genre at the dawn of the aviation age. As pilot’s watches evolved as essential tool watches for flying, particularly in military circles, the archetypal design was defined by a high-contrast black dial with luminous hands and numerals for optimal legibility, reliable precision and robust resistance to shocks and vibrations. Today’s incarnations, which are more likely to be found on city streets than in a cockpit, exhibit more stylish variations on the aviator theme. Like the Santos, many of today’s pilot’s watches are steeped in history. In 1909, Zenith outfitted Louis Blériot for his first successful flight across the English Channel. Zenith’s founder Georges-Favre Jacot had the foresight to register the trademark for “PILOTe” back in 1888 (and later “PILOT”), which makes Zenith the only Swiss brand allowed to use the word on its dials. That label is prominent on Zenith’s new 42.5mm Pilot Big Date Flyback and 40mm Automatic Pilot, both available in stainless steel and black ceramic. For the Big Date Flyback, Zenith capitalises on its legendary automatic El Primero column-wheel chronograph equipped with a flyback function that can instantly start a new timing sequence with a single push. A patented instantaneousjumping big date is positioned at 6 o’clock. In France, the name Breguet is renowned in the aviation realm as well as watchmaking. Aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet, the great-great-grandson of the famed watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, founded From left: Richard Mille RM 39-01 Automatic Winding Flyback Chronograph Aviation with a 50mm titanium case; skeleton dial; self-winding movement with flyback chronograph, UTC function and variable-geometry rotor, richardmille.com Patek Philippe 5924G Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Chronograph with a 42mm white-gold case; lacquered dial; gold-applied numerals with luminescent coating; self-winding movement; calfskin strap, patek.com Breguet Aviation in Paris in 1911. The firm built gyroplanes (forerunners of the helicopter) and numerous military aircraft during World War I, equipping its planes and pilots with Breguet timing instruments and watches. Breguet celebrates its storied aviation heritage with the recent unveiling of a pair of 42mm chronographs: the Type 20 Chronographe 2057 and the Type XX Chronographe 2067, each powered by a new flyback chronograph movement that was four years in the making. The duo traces its lineage to the 1950s, when Breguet Type 20s outfitted the French Air Force. Soon after, the brand followed with a civilian version, the Type XX. Marking the 70th anniversary of the Patrouille de France, an elite unit of the French Air and Space Force that was founded in 1953, Bell & Ross unveiled the BR 03- 92 Patrouille de France 70th Anniversary model. Limited to 999 pieces in micro-blasted black ceramic, the 42mm watch takes its distinctive blue colour from the Patrouille de France Alpha Jet and bears the patrol’s emblem as well as its 70th-anniversary logo. In the 1930s, Breitling established its Huit Aviation department, which produced precision cockpit clocks. Two decades later, it introduced the Ref 765 AVI, dubbed the Co- Pilot, a pioneering pilot’s watch that inspired the current Super AVI line. The new Super AVI B04 Chronograph GMT 46 Mosquito pays homage to the 1940s-era Havilland Mosquito, an aircraft made of wood, which was more Opposite, from top: Breguet Type 20 Chronographe 2057 with a 42mm steel case; dial with luminescent Arabic numerals and hands; selfwinding movement with flyback chronograph; set on two interchangeable straps – one in calfskin and one in NATO fabric, breguet.com Blancpain Air Command with a 36mm red-gold case; two-way rotating bezel with ceramic insert; Super-LumiNova hour markers; self-winding movement with flyback chronograph; calfskin strap, blancpain.com IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 with a 41mm 18ct 5N-gold case; sapphire-glass case back; sunray-brushed dial with luminescence; self-winding movement; rubber strap, iwc.com 69 DEPARTURES
