aviator world time pilot watch rose gold

Aviator world time pilot watch rose gold professional#

Launched in 1952, the Navitimer featured a circular slide rule allowing pilots to perform all navigation-related calculations required to pilot a plane.

Aviator world time pilot watch rose gold professional#

Nicknamed the 'Pepsi', the new ceramic bezel is an exceptional technical achievement that honours the original GMT-Master's iconic two colour bezel.īreitling equals aviation - at least when talking about its illustrious Navitimer wrist chronograph, which has become a cult watch among professional pilots and aviation enthusiasts. This year at Baselworld, Rolex unveiled a world first: the new Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II with a red and blue Cerachrom ceramic insert on the bezel. The Rolex GMT-Master watch, designed in collaboration with Pan Am Airways for its pilots, displayed multiple time zones simultaneously and had a rotating 24-hour graduated bezel. When Rolex introduced its GMT-Master in 1954, the Swiss manufacturer wrote an important chapter in horological history. With its rectangular case and bold Roman numerals, the Cartier Santos-Dumont watch has flown through intact to the 21st century and is still one of Cartier's best-selling watches. Little did Santos-Dumont know that the resulting timepiece would become the first serial-produced wristwatch in 1904, and the world's first pilot's watch. But incredibly, the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont used hot air balloons as his primary form of transport while living in Paris in the early 20th century.Īs it soon became apparent to Santos-Dumont, extracting a pocket watch from a waistcoat while piloting a flying machine was a somewhat fiddly process, so he asked his friend Louis Cartier to make him a watch that could be worn on the wrist.

Many of these early aviator watches are still on the market today with slightly updated design features and, of course, modern mechanical movements.Įven today, the sight of a gentleman dressed in an immaculate three-piece suit flying through the sky in a homemade hot air balloon would cause a stir. Rolex was seduced by the cockpit and made watches dedicated to commercial pilots who crossed multiple time zones, and Breitling also made headlines in the 1950s with the Navitimer, a complete navigation instrument for both professional and amateur pilots. IWC was also among the early manufacturers to design watches for pilots - for the Royal Air Force since 1936 and also for the Luftwaffe, the German Air Force during WWII. Enlisting the aid of American aviation hero Charles Lindbergh, who made the first solo transatlantic flight in 1927, Swiss watchmaker Longines designed the Hour Angle watch. When the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont flew over Paris in his hot air balloon he not only earned himself a reputation as a daredevil, he also made history when he asked his good friend, the jeweller Louis Cartier, to make him a watch to wear on his wrist to accompany him on his aeronautical adventures.įollowing the birth of the world's first pilot's watch in 1904, many brands have taken to the skies and designed models specifically for the world of aviation.

By Kristian Haagen in Copenhagen, Denmark