THE WATCHES THAT WERE MADE FOR PILOTS

It is not known with certainty who was the first to fly in a powered aircraft. For some, the feat was accomplished by the Wright brothers in 1903, although they resorted to a trick in the form of a launch device; for others, it was the Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont, in 1906, who threw himself without help. What has been shown is that the first aviator's wristwatch was the Santos, by Cartier.

Santos-Dumont, a friend of Louis Cartier, grandson of the founder of the luxury house, Louis-François, had conveyed to the former a concern: when he was flying, it was annoying to look in his clothing for his pocket watch to tell the time. Louis Cartier put an end to the problem by handing him a wristwatch, with a square dial with visible screws and a leather strap. Santos was born, an icon of watchmaking. Later, other brands followed in the air with models designed for professional aviators. Many of them have left their mark.

• CARTIER SANTOS-DUMONT

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The square of the Santos revolutionized the designs typical of the early twentieth century, in which round pocket watches prevailed. The truth is that it is nothing like the current pilot watches on the market, hence its merit. Of all the versions of the Santos that Cartier has delivered this year, the one that has the most in common with the first one from 1904 is this one. It wears a pearl crown with a blue cabochon and an alligator strap and inaugurates a quartz movement with an autonomy of approximately six years.

• BREITLING NAVITIMER REF. 806 1959 RE-EDITION

The Breitling firm has illuminated some of the most successful aviator models, such as the Navitimer reference 806, which has celebrated its 61st anniversary in 2020. To celebrate the anniversary, the house was launched a very reliable replica of that chronograph. It comes equipped with a bezel that rotates in two directions that includes a slide rule (to control altitude, fuel…). Its steel case measures 40.9 mm in diameter and is accompanied by a leather strap with a retro feel. The edition is limited to 1,959 units.

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• IWC LARGE PILOT'S WATCH PERPETUAL CALENDAR SPITFIRE

IWC's new Spitfire line of pilot watches is named for a British single-seater fighter used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other Allied countries during World War II. The specimens that have become part of the family introduce, for the first time, calibers manufactured in-house. One of them is this one with a perpetual calendar, which allows the movement to go autonomously from February 28 to March 1 and record February 29 in leap years. It is limited to 250 pieces.

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• BELL & ROSS BR 03-92 MA-1

The new BR 03-92 MA-1 Bell & Ross back in the mid-1950s, when it introduced the MA-1 flight a hunter harbored pilots and ground staff of Air Force United States and the Navy. As a tribute to this garment, the watch, limited to 999 pieces, has a light-dark khaki-colored ceramic jacket. The sandwich-type dial (made up of two overlapping metal plates) reveals the luminescent orange color of the layer below in the cut-out gap of the numbers and indices on the upper plate.

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• ORIS BIG CROWN PRO PILOT TIMER GMT

Aviation has also been very present in the history of the independent Swiss brand Oris, which in 2019 presented a new generation of the Big Crown ProPilot Timer GMT watch. Its case is thinner this time, and it maintains the GMT function, which provides a second-time zone through a central hand with a red pointer. It is adjusted to the wrist by a strap made of a natural cotton material made in Switzerland that was originally developed for the British Air Force during World War II.

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