Essential Pilot Watches: A Guide to the Most Iconic Aviation Timepieces

Introduction

There is something mythically satisfying about wearing a watch associated with adventure and breaking barriers. Pilot watches were originally designed to be worn over heavy gloves in cold cockpits, which is why they share a set of classic elements: a big onion crown that is easy to grab, a robust leather strap often held in place by steel rivets, and an antimagnetic cage inside the case. A pilot watch worthy of the name should have some form of antimagnetic protection for its movement, and it should offer something useful for aviation, even if that feature has been made obsolete by modern technology.

A pilot watch can be a simple three-handed timekeeper with large readable numerals, a big crown, and a sturdy case. It can also include a chronograph, a GMT function to show two time zones, a tachymeter scale, or a circular slide rule scale for navigational calculations. The common thread across all these types is the legacy of aviation itself.

The Origins of the Pilot Watch

Aviation is the core reason why men started wearing wristwatches in the first place. This goes back to what is now known as the first men’s wristwatch, which came out of turn-of-the-century Paris. Louis Cartier, third-generation scion of the legendary Cartier family, created a watch for his friend Alberto Santos-Dumont, a Brazilian aviation pioneer who needed to keep both hands on the controls of his flying machines. In 1904, Cartier made the Santos-Dumont watch, essentially taking a pocket watch design with a square, soft-rounded case and radial numerals inspired by the Paris street map. It was the first men’s wristwatch and the first pilot’s watch.

The 1920s and 1930s brought real advancement in aviation. Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic in the Spirit of St. Louis, worked with Longines to create the hour angle watch in 1931. This was the first wristwatch with an actual pilot-specific function built in, combining a movable inner disc, a rotating outer scale divided into increments of 15, and a 180-degree scale on the dial to determine longitude. It was the precursor of all the tool watches for pilots that followed.

The Wartime Flieger and Field Watches

The military needs of nations at war had a huge impact on watch design. During World War I, soldiers in the trenches were supplied with timekeepers to coordinate missions, and the first wristwatches, many now called trench watches, were simply pocket watches repurposed for the wrist. When the war ended, soldiers returned wearing these wristwatches, and the wristwatch began to overtake the pocket watch as something men wore.

During World War II, Germany established criteria for what could be used by military pilots. These watches, now called Flieger watches from the German word for flyer, had to have an antimagnetic movement, a simple black dial with white numerals, a big onion crown, and a sturdy strap. The most famous of these was made by IWC, the International Watch Company, which introduced its special watch for pilots in 1936 and the Big Pilot’s Watch in 1940. The Big Pilot’s Watch was 55 mm in steel with an antimagnetic case and a stark black dial with Arabic numerals.

The British Ministry of Defense also contracted 12 Swiss watchmakers to make essentially the same watch, now known as the Dirty Dozen. These field watches had a plain black dial with legible numerals, a chronometer-certified movement, a shock and water-resistant case, and hacking seconds. The hacking seconds function allowed the wearer to pull out the crown to instantly stop the seconds hand, enabling precise synchronization for mission planning.

The Type 20 and the Flyback Chronograph

After World War II, the French Ministry of Defense instituted its own criteria for a pilot watch called the Type 20. These watches needed a chronograph with a flyback function, which allows the wearer to stop the seconds hand and instantly return it to zero to begin timing a new interval. The most famous of the Type 20 pilot chronographs was made by Breguet, which was contacted by the French government to make these watches. The Breguet Type 20 is determined by its flyback chronograph movement and its two-register design, and it was used by French aeronaval pilots for many years.

The Jet Age and the Navigation Timer

After the war, commercial aviation expanded rapidly, and pilot watches went from being cockpit necessities to lifestyle objects. Breitling, founded in 1884, released the Navitimer in 1952, developed in cooperation with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. The name is a portmanteau of navigation and timer. What makes it special is its chronograph and its bezel, which turns in both directions and is inscribed with an E6B slide rule, a mathematical instrument pilots can use for calculations like converting miles to kilometers and figuring out fuel consumption. This was the first wristwatch with that cockpit instrument look, and it holds 70 hours of power reserve.

The reality of long-haul flights created the need for a watch that could track time in two time zones. Rolex created the GMT Master in 1955, with a minute hand, a second hand, and two hour hands. The extra hour hand, usually delineated in a different shape or color, tells the time in another time zone on a 24-hour bezel. Rolex divided the bezel into two colored sections, red and blue for day and night, and the original became known as the Pepsi. The GMT Master appeared in a James Bond movie on the wrist of the actress who played Pussy Galore in Goldfinger.

The Space Race and the Moonwatch

The space race defined the 1960s. The Russians put the first man in space wearing a Russian-made Sturmanskie watch, but the watch companies most involved in the US space program were Bulova and, more enduringly, Omega. NASA put out an open invitation for a watch that would be standard equipment for space missions, and Omega sent the Speedmaster, which debuted in 1957 as the first wristwatch chronograph with a tachymeter scale around its bezel. After extensive testing, the Speedmaster emerged victorious.

In 1969, Buzz Aldrin wore his Omega Speedmaster on the moon, and the watch became forever known as the Moonwatch. NASA honored Omega with the Silver Snoopy Award, and some of the most valuable Speedmasters today feature Silver Snoopy imagery. The Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch, which started as a racing watch, had flown higher than any other watch.

The Quartz Era and the Mechanical Renaissance

The 1970s brought the quartz crisis, which threatened traditional Swiss watchmaking. One of the only significant pilot watches to come out of the quartz-dominated era was the Breitling Emergency, introduced in 1995, which had a built-in radio transmitter antenna that could send out a distress signal for rescue.

The mechanical watch renaissance of the 1990s and 2000s brought new energy to the category. Bell & Ross, formed in 1994, changed the game in 2005 with the BR01, a watch that looked like a dashboard instrument. Bremont, founded in 2002 by two brothers from England who are pilots themselves, focused on durability in the cockpit. Their most famous collaboration was with Martin-Baker, the ejection seat company, resulting in the MB1, which goes through tests that include being strapped to the wrist of a crash test dummy that ejects on an ejector seat.

The return of the mechanical watch also led to a renaissance of the old classic rugged military style. The IWC Big Pilot’s Watch and the IWC Mark 1 could return and be embraced as fashion objects. Breitling brought back the Navitimer and introduced models like the Avenger and Super Avenger series, which have a down-and-dirty military style chronograph look.

Modern Essentials: The Classic Flieger

For those who want to go real basic, the B-Uhr Flieger models are the place to start. The most famous of these is the IWC Big Pilot watch, which is very much the same watch as it was when it was reintroduced in 2002, with a huge 46 mm case and a retro wartime look, with the notable exception of a sub-dial that shows the power reserve. IWC also introduced a slightly less big version in 43 mm that looks a lot more like its historical predecessor, with a plain, austere wartime-type black dial.

In the 2000s, IWC partnered with the US Navy’s Flight School to create the IWC Top Gun series, which serves as a proving ground for high-tech ceramic cases. Many of these watches are big, all black, and built for stealth, with chronographs and three-hand models, all carrying the official Top Gun logo on the case back.

In a similar style, the Zenith Pilot Automatic is the simplest pilot watch made by Zenith, which was the first watch brand to trademark the word pilot as a model. It has a lot of the historical elements like large numerals and a large crown, but it also has a more avant-garde look with a shutter-like texture on the dial and a numeral 12 instead of the orientation triangle. It uses a version of Zenith’s El Primero movement, making it look very modern.

Continuing in the B-Uhr category, Laco and Stowa are two German companies making the classical German Flieger watch style. What makes them so desirable for new collectors is that their price is very reasonable compared to an IWC Big Pilot.

Modern Essentials: Type 20 and Military Style

If you are a fan of the Type 20 military-style chronograph, you can go really luxurious with the Breguet Type 20. Breguet makes their own movement for the watch, which is noteworthy for having a 60-hour power reserve in addition to the flyback chronograph function.

There is still a version of the IWC Mark model out there. The Mark 20 is a descendant of the trend-setting Mark 11, which was worn by British pilots of the Royal Air Force. This modern version carries on that DNA faithfully, equipped with a high-end in-house caliber.

Hamilton is a company with a lot of American roots that made some of the earliest field watches and also made watches for American pilots during the war. The Khaki Aviation is a rather affordable descendant of those pieces, available as a chronograph and with different types of straps and metals, with that cool military look.

Citizen is a Japanese company that makes watches in many different styles. The Nighthawk is one of those pilot watches that grabs you with its super complicated look. It is powered by the Eco-Drive movement, which is powered by light and never needs a battery. Being a quartz watch, it is not only a nice-looking design but also very affordable.

The Breitling Avenger and Super Avenger watches are very militaristically designed chronographs in a variety of styles and colors, some even sporting the names and regalia of classic warplanes. Most carry Breitling’s B01 caliber with 70-hour power reserves, and many come on sturdy canvas straps.

Modern Essentials: Astronaut Watches

If your favorite pilot watch is actually an astronaut watch, your choices are fewer, but there are some really good ones. Omega makes the most classic and iconic astronaut watch, the Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. The great thing about this watch is that it has barely changed at all from the version that was on the moon in 1969. It still has the tri-compax chronograph dial, the asymmetrical case design, and a version of the same manual-winding movement.

Bulova made the other watch that actually went to the moon during the Apollo missions. The modern descendant of that watch is the Bulova Lunar Pilot, which looks very much like the one Colonel Scott wore on the surface of the moon. It has a quartz movement, in fact a high-frequency quartz movement exclusive to Bulova that makes it extraordinarily accurate. It is affordable and very stylish.

The Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute is different from the main Navitimer line because of its 24-hour dial. This was an innovation that Scott Carpenter, the astronaut who wore the original version into space, insisted on when he worked with Breitling. The 24-hour dial and slower-moving hand ensure the watch tells time in 24-hour increments rather than 12, allowing an astronaut in space to have a better idea of whether it is day or night back on Earth. The Cosmonaute is usually produced in limited editions and is often hard to find.

Modern Essentials: The Jet Age Icon

Sometimes what you are looking for is a watch that an airline pilot of the jet age would have worn. The ne plus ultra of that category is the Breitling Navitimer. It still has the chronograph movement, now a more modern movement, Breitling’s own caliber B01. It still has the three sub-dials and the circular slide rule bezel that allows calculations to be made. The movement is very high-end with a 70-hour power reserve, and it is just iconic.

Modern Essentials: GMT and Dual-Time Watches

GMT and dual-time watches are an incredibly popular genre, and the icon of those is the Rolex GMT Master, now the GMT Master II. It has had a lot of upgrades since 1955, though it still maintains its status as the pinnacle of dual-time luxury watches. It still has the bi-color bezel, now in Cerachrom rather than the Bakelite material of earlier models, a Rolex in-house movement with patented features, and the extra GMT hand. It is an undeniable icon and the granddaddy of this category.

The star of Longines’ pilot-inspired Spirit collection is the Spirit Zulu Time. This watch came out in 2022 and was an instant hit. It has the same basic dual-time functionality as something like the Rolex GMT Master, but at a much more approachable price point. It has an exclusive movement with an hour hand that jumps in hour increments, colorful ceramic bezels with 24-hour indications, and a case back with a travel-oriented globe motif. It comes on an old-school stitched leather strap, and you can also get it on a bracelet and other kinds of straps.

The Longines Spirit Flyback Chronograph is a relatively recent addition to the line, but it is based on the pilot watches the company did for the early days of aviation in the 1920s and 30s. It has the flyback chronograph movement, design elements like readable Arabic numerals and old-school pump-style chronograph pushers, and a bezel that moves in both directions that can be used with the chronograph hand to help time events. It is a very good bargain for this type of complication at this price point.

Buying Advice

When choosing a pilot watch, consider what draws you to the category. If you want a stark, simple, historically accurate Flieger, the IWC Big Pilot or Mark 20 are excellent choices, as are the more affordable Laco and Stowa models. If you prefer a complex chronograph with a slide rule, the Breitling Navitimer is the icon. For space history, the Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch and the Bulova Lunar Pilot are the watches that actually went to the moon. For dual-time functionality, the Rolex GMT Master II is the pinnacle, while the Longines Spirit Zulu Time offers similar capability at a more approachable price.

Conclusion

Pilot watches are part of history. Their design has deep roots in war, peace, and space travel. Whether you like your pilot watches complex and complicated like a Navitimer or stark and simple like an IWC Big Pilot or Mark 20, there really is a style for everybody. The bottom line is all about buying what you love and collecting what you love, and learning more about these marvelous little machines you wear.