Horological Meandering

Freeman
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Pilot's Watches

Hi all,

So I thought I would post on a topic that has been niggling in the back of my head for quite some time..."Pilot's Watches". The reason I thought I would post on this topic is because I have read a number of articles and threads recently debating the best pilot's watch. This has been a marketing tool of watch companies for literally decades and I can see why. There is a terribly romantic notion of piloting the skies, just you and your watch, high above the clouds.

It is therefore with some degree of remorse that I bring you the news that Pilot's Watches are basically an old wives tale and nothing more than an exceptionally clever marketing ploy.

First and foremost I would point out that I am a pilot, not big commercial planes but rather small single engine planes on PPL so I am not just talking out of my rear end. The idea that I would buy a watch in order to use in the cockpit is massively outdated, and has always largely been incorrect. Allow me to explain. Pilot's watches predominantly came about in the Second World War, but they were never really used for any type of flying apart from recording the time of wheels-up/wheels-down (and sortie time). Watches were mainly used in WW2 for long distance navigating if you should have the need for them, or a third timing device. Most navigational time keeping was done using stopwatches mainly because you really need dual chronographs for navigating and they need to be easily visible.

Nowadays watches are simply not used (I use mine only for wheels-up/wheels-down for log). Chronographs are simply too small. In a cockpit environment you don't want to be counting the small hands on your minute counter. Of course, my flying conditions are very different to that of WW2. Nowadays I use GPS but I still keep a stopwatch in my bag and I afraid to say its a good old fashioned digital.

So while I would never stop anyone buying a pilot's watch (I particularly like the Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon), all I would ask is that people don't get fooled into something because they think they are buying an aviation essential. The truth is that most pilot's (who think themselves pretty cool) buy whatever watch they think looks best and there is without a shadow of a doubt a popular choice among pilots...care to guess...Rolex of course. Not because they use it in the cockpit, but because its a Rolex and carries with it the recognition like no other brand.

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