Steve6443 wrote:
has a built in altimeter (obviously no good for pressurised aircraft)
Quite the opposite, it could make a great slow onset depressurisation alerter!
Can you make it alert on a pressure drop below X mbars?
I cannot get my head around a non-immersible watch. If I had that, it would last about 24hrs 
But I can see the idea about notifications being a lot more obvious. OTOH I don’t bother answering voice calls on my mobile phone when I am at home or in the office, because it’s too far away, on my desk somewhere. At home there is no signal and sorting incoming VOIP is too much hassle. But I guess a smart watch doesn’t help because you still need to get the phone, no?
Officially the Apple Watch is not waterproof, however, it seems to be water-resistant. See this test:
You can mute the Apple Watch apart from the muting/airplane mode of the iPhone.
You can answer your phone that is in your pocket on your Apple Watch and you don’t need to take your phone out of the pocket. You can also make calls with the Apple Watch without taking the phone out of your pocket or flight-bag.
You can even talk to your watch (siri activate) and tell it to call your wife, etc.
It theoretically could alert on a pressure drop. There is no app yet for it, but we are considering developing a free app for that. What be cool for those that fly in a Jet/Jetprop with pressure cabin to warn them of any pressure drop.
That shower+pool test proves nothing. Well, the ladies might like it 
The watch worked afterwards but it would do if only a bit of water got in.
You need only a tiny amount of water to kill the electronics via corrosion, after a while.
Official Apple position: it is water-resistant. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205000
Some people swim with the watch. See this: http://www.dutchcowboys.nl/gadgets/is-de-apple-watch-waterproof
I wouldn’t do it and also don’t see a need for it. But I am not worrying about the Apple Watch getting wet from rain.
They say IP67 which normally means splash-proof but not immersible.
Martin wrote:
Breitling? OTOH a Breitling shouldn’t have an issue with a shower (although some are rated for just 5 bars).
I never tried. Most of the time it was in it’s case, I took it out when I went out in a dressy environment or recently when working office shifts. It does set off the metal detectors so I usually do not wear it airside. I bought it used from a good friend at a price I could afford, so I told myself to finally treat myself to one of those iconic time pieces. Got the shock last week when I took it to have it’s battery done and found out that a) it has to go back to the factory who will then do a “minor revision” (why if you only need a new battery??) which costs more $$$$ than all my every day watches cost combined. Sorry, but that is more than I can afford on a two-year base. Apart, the “Emergency” bit is outdated (it is a 121.5 transmitter.
My every day watch is a Casio Waveceptor which has never yet needed a new battery (it is solar rechargable) and which Casio Switzerland repaired for free when one of the buttons got stuck a few years back and, may I hasten to add, replaced the still working accumulator while they were at it. I’ve had it for more than 10 years and it works perfectly, sets the time automatic and even a technical idiot like me can understand the user interface. For flying so far I’ve used another Casio with inbuilt altimeter and compass. Both have the advantage that they will not set off the alerts at the airports.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
Got the shock last week when I took it to have it’s battery done and found out that a) it has to go back to the factory who will then do a “minor revision” (why if you only need a new battery??) which costs more $$$$ than all my every day watches cost combined. Sorry, but that is more than I can afford on a two-year base. Apart, the “Emergency” bit is outdated (it is a 121.5 transmitter.
It’s that expensive because you have the Emergency. Breitling has two levels of service. The basic maintenance you’re supposed to do every two years involves change of battery, seals, cleaning, testing. They won’t just change a battery – you can do that yourself, or have it done by any trustworthy shop (they will also be able to do a pressure test). Full service then includes refurbishment (a to varying level). Still, maintenance on an Emergency should be about 400 € (perhaps that “minor revision” accounts for the rest). In comparison, other “ana-digi” (like Aerospace Evo) are about a 100. About another 100 if you have a Co-Pilot module, which is essentially another watch (it was something like 110+90 a couple years ago). Still not cheap, but a big difference. The newer ones that support 406 MHz are even more expensive, about 600 I think. Aside from what they do with the others, they of course test the PLB function (after changing the separate locator’s battery). Not sure if they do something else as well.
I’ve kept myself from replying for a good while, but now that most serious comments have been posted (the info from Ultranomad was a bit of an eye-opener to me) I can’t resist any longer: pilots are SO smart by themselves, what use to add a smart watch?
Martin wrote:
They won’t just change a battery – you can do that yourself, or have it done by any trustworthy shop (they will also be able to do a pressure test).
That is what I tried to do, all the shops I went to told me they are not authorized to open a Breitling, ALL Breitlings go back to the factory – period. Really need to find out if there is not some shop around who knows how to deal with them properly without breaking the bank. I hesitate to take it to Bulgaria, where all my other watches get new batteries, usually for 1-2 Euros includuing labour. And it’s done in 20 minutes, not 6-8 weeks as I was told.
400€ is what I heard as well at first, then I was told 600 CHF, which is about € 550… Well, will see what to do once I get it back. Maybe it’s the time to put it back on the market.
I don’t like to just pay for a label. I will never own a new car and if so not one where a simple service costs more than my last 2nd hand car in total, nor an aircraft make with notoriously high part costs (such as Beech) for that reason.
