Guide Take to the Skies with these Top Pilots’ Watches
For those who love the thrill of adventure, a pilots’ watch will take you up into the clouds.
Watchmaking and aviation have been intricately linked since the early 1900s when Louis Cartier made a watch for his friend and pilot Alberto Santos-Dumont, who wore it every time he flew.
The other pilots – without the luck of Parisian connections – would typically strap their pocket watches to their legs so they could calculate fuel consumption, airspeed, lift capacity, as well as navigate and keep a track of time.
During WW1 and then WW2, the pilot’s watch became an essential piece of equipment for the world’s air forces and it was at this time that the wristwatch gained popularity over the pocket watch version for practical reasons while flying.
There is something about the pilot’s watch that rhymes with adventure, exploration, and thrills, making them extremely popular among watch lovers. Watchdreamer presents five of its favorite pilot’s watches now available on the website.
Fortis Sky Flieger F-43 Bicompax
Fortis’s Flieger collection dates back to 1987 and has a number of different options for pilots. We have chosen the Sky Flieger F-43 Bicompax that comes in a 43mm stainless steel case with a matching bracelet for our selection. We really love the eye-catching black dial with orange and luminescent green touches on the hands and indications. It is powered by an automatic movement that drives the chronograph (chronograph seconds via the orange hand and minutes in the subdial on the right). It also has small seconds in the subdial on the left and a date at six o’clock.
Oris Big Crown Propilot
For those of you who are looking for a “real-deal” pilots’ watches, the Oris Big Crown Propilot does not disappoint. It is one of the few to feature an altimeter so you can see how high you are flying, in both meters (in white) and feet (in yellow). The Big Crown ProPilot is equipped with an automatic movement that indicates the hours, minutes, seconds, instantaneous date, date corrector, fine timing device, and stop-second, as well as the altimeter. All this information on the dial also makes it looks super cool, even when you are on the ground!
Breitling Navitimer Automatic 38
Breitling’s Navitimer is one of the brand’s most well-known collections and is designed especially for pilots (and watch lovers who appreciate the aviation aesthetic, of course). Most of the models come with a chronograph and dark-colored dials, but we find this model quite elegant with its white dial, pearled bezel, and rose gold touches that would work equally well on a male or female wrist. The Navitimer Automatic 38 is powered by Breitling’s COSC-certified Caliber 17 that indicates the hours, minutes and seconds, and features a slide rule bezel for calculating mph and kmph and other additional mathematical feats to amaze your friends!
IWC Pilot’s Watch “Le Petit Prince” Edition 43
IWC is one of the first brands that comes to mind when we talk about pilot’s watches with the company presenting a vast range of aviation models. We have chosen the IWC Pilot’s Watch “Le Petit Prince” Edition 43 here as we love its big blue dial with large and legible white luminescent markings. This timepiece comes in a stainless-steel case and is powered by an automatic chronograph movement that indicates the hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, and elapsed time. It comes on a vintage-inspired brown calfskin strap with white stitching.
Alpina Startimer Pilot Heritage 42
This retro-looking pilot’s watch from Alpina comes in a 42mm stainless steel case with an automatic movement and a 38-hour power reserve. It has hours, minutes, and seconds (that’s the orange hand) in the center, a date in the window at three o’clock, and a useful GMT function that is indicated by a white triangle at the center of the dial that points to a 24h scale around the outside of the dial. The timepiece comes on a blue leather strap to match the color of the dial.