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A pilot watch (mechanical, of course)

Stanley I used to have that model 30 years ago

I gave it to one of my kids, not sure where it ended up

I bought the main swiss brand in 2009 when airport shops were selling stock very cheap, well engineered steel automatic watch, but doesn’t keep time as that Pulsar did :(

Oxford (EGTK), United Kingdom

My father has had a Pulsar for ~30 years and he swears by the accuracy and reliability. He recently got a manual Soviet submariner watch at a yard sale with the original serial-numbered fake leather strap (looks cheap but apparently worth more than the watch): @wleferrand the Sturmanskie looks much better with your strap

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

@wleferrand just spotted your post above about the self winding watch with tritium hands… it is almost in the IWC price bracket

Predictably it is also ETA7750 based – like most Swiss watches – although I see IWC have restarted making the iw378901 after about 10 years but with different internals; no longer ETA7750, and the three little dials have been changed around

BTW, watch forums – of there are lots of them – are even worse than aviation forums, in the beatings-up that people get

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

@peter yes, and the dial is busy. The newest Flieger by Fortis is much more exciting

I bought this a little over 14 years ago:

Automatic movement. Took it in twice to adjust the tension in the spring, now it deviates maybe one minute per month. I’m on the 3rd strap.
Not an aviator watch per se, only the essentials. I chose the dark background before it was trendy specifically because I see the hands better even in bright daylight.

Last Edited by Arne at 07 Oct 17:35
ESMK, Sweden

“As mentioned previously Breitling seems to have dropped out of its “relationship” with aviation (does anyone know why?”

New corporate branding & imagery associated with sustainability & eco-friendly themes.

T28
Switzerland

The net effect will be to increase the % of pilots whose watches are not away for a repair

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

While Rolex don’t exactly make “pilot watches”, this has just popped up.

Somehow it doesn’t surprise me that this whole business is boiling right over the edge of the kettle

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

whole business is boiling right over

A Times article maybe 15 years ago said the big brands had been devalued by ‘journalists and rappers’ and that the discerning watch owner should buy a vintage Rolex or IWC instead.

After 5 years I’ve given up with my grandfather’s watch: it’s too frustrating having it serviced, and returning it under warranty.

I’d already done the Beobachtungsuhren research in post 137 for the large clean black dial with luminescent hands, but opted for the reliability of quartz. I paid a bit extra for an anti-reflective coating, and got a spare strap in advance. Just arrived from Laco in Pforzheim:

EGHO-LFQF-KCLW, United Kingdom

Somehow I don’t feel sorry for someone who can’t find the $5800 watch he feels “befits” his wife. I mentioned to my wife the article Peter linked to . She said that if I gave her such a birthday present she would divorce me. (And that would not be because we couldn’t afford it.)

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden
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