Alpina has a long tradition of pilot’s watches, and supplied some continental air forces with timepieces in the first half of the 20th century. The Startimer Pilot Collection, launched in 2011, has become the brand’s best seller. In 2017 the new Startimer Pilot Automatic is a classic pilot’s watch, with an automatic movement, with a…
Alpina has introduced the Startimer Pilot Automatic Chronograph, in three versions, a black pilot’s watch type, and two other models in dark green and navy blue that symbolize army and navy aviation respectively, The case is 44 mm in diameter, with a 10 bar/100 metre water resistance, a solid caseback and a leather strap. The…
Nostalgic watches are ever successful, as proven by the unending demand for pilot’s watches recalling the pieces supplied to the Luftwaffe in the 1940s. In those days, Alpina was one of the suppliers for the German Kriegsmarine (hence the name KM-710), not surprisingly because the company’s German subsidiary had been transformed into an independent German…
Alpina has presented the Startimer Pilot Chronograph Big date 201st Squadron Limited edition, a tribute to the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force’s 201st Squadron which fought in the Second World War and became familiar worldwide as the “Aztec Eagles.” In 1945, volunteer pilots between 20 and 22 years old travelled to the Pacific war zone, and…
Apple’s ambitions to enter the luxury sector with its Apple watch, one of the versions of which has a gold case like a traditional high-end watch, seems to have got the classic watch brands thinking. The quartz crisis is still a painful memory, and its destruction of about two-thirds of Switzerland’s watchmaking companies was due…
This selection presents twenty pilot’s watches, still in production, with the classic black dial, white Arabic numerals, and triangle marker at 12 o’clock, recalling the watches supplied to the Luftwaffe in the years before, during and after the Second Worlld War by A. Lange & Sohne, IWC, Wempe, Laco, and Stowa. Three of those historic…
Pilot’s watches, with their inherent simplicity, are a perfect introduction into the world of mechanical timepieces, and a fair number of brands make pilot’s watches costing under a thousand euro. Here are my top 10 pilot’s watches for under €1,300, in descending order of price. 1. The Longines Heritage Military 1938 The Longines Heritage Military…
It’s a familiar type of watch. Black dial, white numbers, large size, lots of SuperLuminova, Pilot’s watches were originally designed to be easily legible in an aircraft cockpit, and so simplicity was essential. Today, pilots have all sorts of electronic equipment to help them, but even so, the pilot’s watch is great for everyday use…