***The Pilot Watch Thread!***

[KBM]

Pilot watches have a rich history and have been manufactured - purposely built or, otherwise, just for the aesthetics - by a multitude of brands, from all ends of the spectrum.

This is a thread to celebrate all kinds of pilot watches you may be wearing today, lusting after or generally interested in, by any brand and at any price point.

I'll kick it off with my IWC Vintage Pilot that I've been wearing for the last couple of days.

[nick c]

Beautiful piece. I really like the vintage look.

[KBM]

Originally Posted by nick c

Beautiful piece. I really like the vintage look.

Thanks, Nick!

[Dan Pierce]

Not a pilot but spend lots of time in planes. Here’s my Sinn 757 UTC and Fortis Square. More examples of other brands when I have pics available.
dP

[KBM]

Originally Posted by Dan Pierce

Not a pilot but spend lots of time in planes. Here’s my Sinn 757 UTC and Fortis Square. More examples of other brands when I have pics available.

dP

Cool pieces, Dan. Sinn has some references that are hard to beat at their price point!

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by kauebm

Cool pieces, Dan. Sinn has some references that are hard to beat at their price point!

Thank you, sir! Yes, I had my eye on a couple Sinn references but the 757 UTC had the most features that are important to me.
dP

[KBM]

I'm sure there are other pilot watch lovers out there on the forum!

[Undefeatable]

Just got this in last week, loving it:

[Totoro]

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

Just got this in last week, loving it:

Nice choice! I tried various mk18 on last week. Really love the look and feel of the IWC pilots. Waiting to try the new spitfire in matte black before I make a decision. IMG_20190308_142131.jpegIMG_20190308_142019.jpeg

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[KBM]

Originally Posted by Totoro

Nice choice! I tried various mk18 on last week. Really love the look and feel of the IWC pilots. Waiting to try the new spitfire in matte black before I make a decision. Attachment 1026304Attachment 1026305

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They look good on you. I think the ceramic/matte black pilot will look beter than that ceramic/sunburst blue version.

Bonze should be killer too, can't wait to try this on:

[Totoro]

Originally Posted by kauebm

They look good on you. I think the ceramic/matte black pilot will look beter than that ceramic/sunburst blue version.



Bonze should be killer too, can't wait to try this on:

Thanks, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the top gun ceramic. The boutiques should have them pretty soon.

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[KBM]

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

Just got this in last week, loving it:

Cool piece and that strap just paired perfectly with it. Diggin' the ink too.

[Cryten]

The Hamilton Khaki King, an impulse buy while browsing a poor selection of watches at duty free one day.

[DasKptl]

I guess IWC is the king of pilot watches. In fact, IWC provided pilot watches to both RAF (Mark X) and Luftwaffe (B-Uhr) during the WW2.

Their new Spitfire collection looks awesome.

[FTX I]

Originally Posted by kauebm

Pilot watches have a rich history and have been manufactured - purposely built or, otherwise, just for the aesthetics - by a multitude of brands, from all ends of the spectrum.

This is a thread to celebrate all kinds of pilot watches you may be wearing today, lusting after or generally interested in, by any brand and at any price point.

I'll kick it off with my IWC Vintage Pilot that I've been wearing for the last couple of days.

Awesome pic buddy. You have an impressive collection my friend.

[KBM]

Originally Posted by Cryten

The Hamilton Khaki King, an impulse buy while browsing a poor selection of watches at duty free one day.

Those indices with 5 minute intervals are how I wish the new Rolex Air King dial was made!

Originally Posted by FTX I

Awesome pic buddy. You have an impressive collection my friend.

Thank you, my friend!

[Cryten]

Originally Posted by kauebm

Those indices with 5 minute intervals are how I wish the new Rolex Air King dial was made!

I agree. The B dials are truest to the origional. Rolex's 3-6-9 dials raided from the explorer parts bin was a mistake. Hoepfully they'll fix it in a couple of basels (the official time frame for the WIS).

[artschool]

I am a private pilot and have used my speedmaster on many occasions to time fuel changes.

I have always wanted one of these.

[KBM]

Originally Posted by artschool

I am a private pilot and have used my speedmaster on many occasions to time fuel changes.

I have always wanted one of these.

That "anonimo" dial is just a quintessential pilot's watch, what a great looking piece.

Since you are a pilot, I'd love to hear your thoughts about a remark I read in a very interesting interview a while back, with Jeff Kingston: he mentioned a true, practical, pilot's watch would have to be a chrono, to make timing intervals easier, which got me thinking, as that isn't how I've always viewed pilot's watches.

The rest of the interview, which I really recommend, can be found here:

https://www.watchtime.com/wristwatch...ain-watchtime/.

[JayHantz]

Subscribed. I absolutely love the heritage of pilots watches and have always wanted to add something to the collection. Maybe an IWC...that new Spitfire collection from SIHH is quite impressive.

Originally Posted by kauebm

Since you are a pilot, I'd love to hear your thoughts about a remark I read in a very interesting interview a while back, with Jeff Kingston: he mentioned a true, practical, pilot's watch would have to be a chrono, to make timing intervals easier, which got me thinking, as that isn't how I've always viewed pilot's watches.

From my experience (I flew for the USAF), it depends on who you ask: but I find the chronograph very useful. There was one mission that comes to mind where I absolutely needed a chronograph. I was glad I had one so I didn’t have to do the math based on the time displayed on the instruments. Most aircraft now have the ability to start and stop a timer but I like having one on the wrist. Hope that helps, but others views may vary a bit.

[artschool]

Originally Posted by kauebm

That "anonimo" dial is just a quintessential pilot's watch, what a great looking piece.

Since you are a pilot, I'd love to hear your thoughts about a remark I read in a very interesting interview a while back, with Jeff Kingston: he mentioned a true, practical, pilot's watch would have to be a chrono, to make timing intervals easier, which got me thinking, as that isn't how I've always viewed pilot's watches.

The rest of the interview, which I really recommend, can be found here:

https://www.watchtime.com/wristwatch...ain-watchtime/.

I only got my licence last year but I think he is correct. elapsed time is important as when using a paper chart you would calculate heading and an estimate of time for that leg. so a chrono makes that much easier.

as usual technology trumps the old methods so I use a program called Skydemon for navigation. but tend to use the stopwatch function on my speedy to record fuel tank change elapsed time as a backup.

[KBM]

Originally Posted by Uppersouth

Your vintage pilot looks amazing! Killer pic as well!

Thanks much, Lee!

Originally Posted by Undefeatable

I've never seen this watch before coming into this thread. Without a doubt, one of the most aesthetically pleasing watches I've ever seen. Every feature is, in my opinion, perfectly executed. Literally every part of the watch has a detail in it, from the:
-hybrid coin edge/fluted bezel
-railroad track style outter ring with diamonds painted on the 3 and 9 position
-the 2 sets of fonts for the 2 sets of numbers
-the heart tipped hour hand
-the tiny yet useful railroad track printing on the inner sub-seconds dial
-simple lugs to frame the stellar case and dial
-well sized crown that doesn't stick out too much.

I'll take it

Hey, Kevin,

It's funny that you pointed out all those details about the watch, as many of them were aspects I observed myself when I was choosing this piece. Mind you, the actual purchase happened when a mint pre-owned came about from a dealer I trust, but before that I'd spent a long time admiring pilot watches and determining what I would want in a piece for myself.

Some challenges I faced in the hunt were either the watches were a little too big and thick for my taste (IWC's big pilot comes to mind, beautiful as it is), had a date which ruined the design (I'm looking at you, Longines Heritage 1935 - Czech Air Force reedition) or were a little too plain for my linking in the long term (like the IWC Mark XII LE of a couple years back). The Vintage Pilot, I found, presented a solution to all those points, with an added flair of history to the model.

As a final fun fact, it is powered by a manual wind caliber based on the Jones pocket watch movement, which is pretty cool:

Originally Posted by artschool

I only got my licence last year but I think he is correct. elapsed time is important as when using a paper chart you would calculate heading and an estimate of time for that leg. so a chrono makes that much easier.

as usual technology trumps the old methods so I use a program called Skydemon for navigation. but tend to use the stopwatch function on my speedy to record fuel tank change elapsed time as a backup.

Thanks for chipping in!

[drhr]

=

[Euge]

I’ll join with my Fortis....






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[Undefeatable]

Originally Posted by Totoro

Nice choice! I tried various mk18 on last week. Really love the look and feel of the IWC pilots. Waiting to try the new spitfire in matte black before I make a decision.
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Thank you! I actually checked out the MK18 LPP in real life a little over a year ago which is what tipped me over the edge to pursue a IWC. I had seem them online a lot, but the pictures online left me a little cold.

Originally Posted by kauebm

Cool piece and that strap just paired perfectly with it. Diggin' the ink too.

Much appreciated

[martinr]

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[KBM]

Originally Posted by martinr

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Top notch, Martin.

[ericisback]

Originally Posted by martinr

+1

[SemperFi]

Picked up this Stowa Flieger last month and added a Colareb leather strap.

[123Blueface]

........and the very first pilot watch ever, now in an improved larger size.