The Archimede Pilot 250 is a 50-piece limited edition built to celebrate 250 years of watchmaking in Pforzheim: in 1787, the Markgraf Karl Friedrich of Baden gave watchmaker Jean François Autran permission to set up a watch factory in an orphanage in the town.
The Pilot 250 has a 42 mm case in brushed stainless steel, 9.6 mm thick, 5 atm/50 metres water resistance, with a dark brown leather strap with rivets, and the classic pilot’s crown. Its slim profile is in part due to the hand-wound movement by Junghans, calibre 687, a traditional movement in production since 1963, with a balance that runs at 18,000 vibrations per hour, 2.5 Hertz. The watch is reference UA7959.250-JH1.3, and it costs €980 inclusive of VAT, or €823.53 withouut VAT, delivery time 1-2 weeks, Order from their website http://www.archimede-watches.com
The lettering FL 23883 appearing on the caseband was a feature of the B-Uhr watches produced by several German brands from 1935, on commission by the RLM (Reichs-Luftfahrtministerium) which was developing the Luftwaffe. FL stood for Flieger, and 23 indicated that it was a navigation watch, Beobachtungs-uhr or B-Uhr. B-Uhr watches had a snap-off caseback with engraved information about the watch inside. Archimede has designed an analogous engraving and placed it on the outside of the caseback.