Spirit Of The Sky: 4 New High-Flying Watches Take Off

You don’t need to be a Top Gun pilot to appreciate pilot watch styling and appeal, like this … [+] Breitling Super Avenger Chronograph 48 Night Mission timepiece.

Courtesy of Breitling

The history of the pilot watch is one of the key stories in horology: The need for quick, legible time-keeping for aviators put spurs to moving watches out of the vest pocket and onto the wrist in a general sense, and also formed the first “tool” watches that turned a device of convenience, style and status into a necessity for getting the job done.

Most historians credit Cartier’s timepiece creation for Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont in 1904 as the first purpose-built pilot’s watch, but the ensuing growth of military, commercial, recreational and experimental flight all contributed to this watch style’s development over the years, with multiple additions and riffs to a feature mix that typically includes a large, legible dial; some kind of luminosity; an oversized crown for gloved use; additional bezel markings for in-flight computation; and, often a chronograph and a dual-time zone function (like GMT features and military 24-hour UTC bezel rings)…

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From Forbes - April 8, 2021