Some of my buddies happen to be pilots; I have observed them brandishing Rolexes, Breitlings, Seamasters, and other iconic watch brands.

A few go for the ordinary Quartz, and others do avoid such watches. This particular tendency piqued my interest to dig deeper into the history of pilots and their watches.

Are there really watches designed for pilots? Not all pilots wear watches, but most of them do. 

Watches that pilots wear are specially designed to assist pilots in calculating time-lapsed, distance covered and the amount of fuel consumed. Some pilot watches could be set to hold time for two different time zones (current location and destination).

These watches came to be known as “pilot watches” or “Flieger’s.”

While most modern aviators do not pay much emphasis on these watches, careful analysis of most pilots shows a tendency of aviators to cherish pilot watches.

In this edition, we will dig deep into the world of pilot watches and their relevance today.

We will also go some extra mile to showcase some of the market’s finest pilot watches of all time.

What Defines a Pilot Watch?

The five main features which distinguish the pilot watches from the ordinary watches are:

1. A sizable and highly legible dial with elongated and visibly prominent hands that often indicate bar indexes.
2. Bezel markings that resemble an ordinary flight computer to assist with calculations of fuel burn, wind correction angle, among others.
3. Features to indicate dual-time reading and important functionalities that record the local time, the destination time, and the UTC.
4. Use of chronometers to increase their precision when indicating the time.
5. A feature to shield magnetic rays, or a Faraday cage and any other relevant technology to shield sudden pressure drops.

What makes Pilot Watches so Special?

While some of the watchmakers do present other specific features an aviator watch to ease aviation for specialized planes flying techniques.

The main specialized features include:

The Beobachtungsuhr (B-Uhr) Aviator Watch

Beobachtungsuhr is a German word that means “Observer’s Watch” (Beobachtungs -> observer; Uhr ->watch).

These watches were invented during WWII and were identified by two distinct scale calibrations. One scale indicated the hour and the other indicated the minutes simultaneously.

Most modern aviation watches borrow from-Uhr design.

The Longines Lindbergh Hour Angle Watches

Before the invention of the GPS, celestial bodies like the sun and the moon were used by seafarers and pilots to estimate their positions when traveling.

These watches had functional hour-angle designs to aid in capturing and estimating geographical positions.

The Chronograph (also known as the ‘stopwatch’)

This feature is used to track the time used for various events during a flight.

The Slide Rule

It is a feature that was used on watches to ease the calculation of mathematical problems. We’ll learn more about the Slide Rule in the following chapter.

How does a Slide Rule work?

If you are a watch fanatic, I am sure you have seen some pilot watches with two scales: one on the dial and the other on the bezel of a watch, haven’t you? Gulp. Well, that’s what we are calling a Slide Rule on a pilot watch.

Now, the Slide Rule is a tool that was invented prior to the invention of cheap calculators to ease mathematical calculations for multiplication, division, squire, root, squire root, trigonometry among other problems.

In older planes that were less-sophisticated, pilots depended on the slide rule to help them estimate distances, estimate fuel, and various other calculations.

An improved circular-shaped version of the old Slide Rule (known as the Rotary Slide Rule) is commonly used in modern pilot watches to aid similar calculations.

Then again, because the slide rule is not as accurate as a calculator and difficult to learn; its use in the cockpit is limited to estimating unit conversions (i.e., lb. – KG, Mile – KM, etc.)

If you are keen to find out how to use the watch bezel slide rule, our friend at ABTW has provided a detailed and useful guide here.

What Makes A Good Pilot Watch?

A good pilot watch has some of the characteristics:

1. Large and legible dial
2. Thick and luminous hands
3. Arabic numerals and indexes
4. Dual time function to track local and destination time
5. Flight bezel markings on the watch to help compute fuel burn, wind correction, etc…

However, good pilot watches are hard to find in the modern market for two main reasons: First, watchmakers are producing watches with characteristics of a pilot watch purely for aesthetic purposes, and secondly, because overproduction has thrust a couple of fake watch brands that make it hard to distinguish the authentic from the counterfeit.

As such, it is essential to pay attention just as much as you would love to pay money.

Here are the features you should look out for when looking for a good pilot watch:

1. A “no-nonsense” dial – This feature is crucial for a great piloting experience. Honestly, when you are thousands of feet high in the sky crossing the Pacific, you do not want to strain your eyes trying to figure out numbers and scale readings. A minute wasted on the wrong scale could be fatal at the flashing airspeeds. Thus, high contrast and eligibility are not open to debate.
2. Anti-shock and durable case – A good pilot watch should have a strong case that shields the inner parts from shock and should be able to withstand minor accidents that might happen within the cockpit. Also, such a watch needs to be shielded from strong magnetic rays.
3. Multiple time-zone tracking – It should be able to track multiple time zones. Because pilots commute between different time zones, this ability to track time zones and time differences is critical.
4. A countdown or “mission time” feature – A good pilot watch should allow you to set the time for a flight (or a mission time for the military) and keep track of your progress while on air.
5. Stylish physical design – While looks are not always everything, they certainly do influence our purchase decisions. It is important to assess various designs and choose the correct preferences before buying any watch.

A few things to note when buying a watch from an online store, it is essential to verify the online ratings of a seller before buying.

Consider checking through other customer experiences, assurances of a warranty or return policy among other such considerations before buying.

Such minor considerations can help you to make more informed decisions when buying watches from online sellers.

Top 5 Pilot Watches Of All Times

	Name	Key Features
1	Citizen Promaster Skyhawk	Stylish and rugged design. Anti-reflective sapphire dial. 47 mm case diameter. Lightweight (weighs about 4.4 oz.) 200 m water resistant.
2	Breitling Cockpit B50	Classic analog dial design. Slide rule with bi-directional rotating bezel. Rechargeable battery. Accurate GMT and second-time-zone features.
3	Garmin D2 Delta	Bright screen and flight-computer-like dial. GPS enabled with color mappings. Long battery life – Can last up to 20 days. Different watch modes available to track activities like avionics and sports.
4	Oris Men’s 675 Big Crown	Has an automatic self-wind-movement. Broad case diameter (46 mm) Accurate chronograph.
5	Bulova Lunar Pilot	Has an anti-reflective sapphire dial. Rugged design (shock-resistant) with genuine leather straps It is cheaper to acquire when compared to most pilot watches.

Rank 5: The Bulova Lunar Pilot – The Best Cheap Pilot Watch

Something about the design of The Lunar Pilot from Bulova brings memories of the good old Omega Speedmaster watch from the Apollo 15 mission. Do you remember the first watch to land on the moon? Remember that exclusive and expensive Moonwatch? Well, here is its elder brother at an incredible bargain.

The Lunar Pilot is strong enough to take a beating at the cockpit.  It adds incredible features of durability such as magnetic field shielding and a solid cage with a diameter of 45mm. It is also water-resistant to a depth of about 100m.

At a glance, you will notice that The Bulova Lunar Pilot also took away the glass screen from the dial of its predecessors and replaced it with a sapphire dial. Because clarity is necessary, this watch took to a dark-colored analog dial with a six-hand calendar chronograph to boost both its clarity and accuracy.

What I love about this watch:

1. Rugged yet stylish looking.
2. Cheaper than most pilot watches. Currently, the watch is priced under $500.
3. Longer battery life. Because it runs traditional functionalities (without a GPS), hence it is economical on battery usage.

What would make this watch perfect:

1. GPS and location-tracking functions.

Why Should You Check It Out?

The Bulova Lunar is utilitarian, durable and fancy.  It throws a minimalist approach to pilot watch designs. The Bulova presents you with the features you need to be complimented and lets the plane handle what it is designed to do.

If you can wink at its lack of a GPS, you probably won’t regret purchasing it.

Rank 4: The Oris 675 Men’s Big Crown Watch – Best Analog Watch

If you are looking for the ultimate Swiss Mechanical pilot watch, then check out the Oris 675 Big Crown.

Most of its performance features resemble the Bulova Lunar but are a little bit enhanced. For instance, the Oris 675 has a 46mm case diameter that is a millimeter larger than the Lunar. They both use leather straps and have a striking resemblance to their dials.

The Oris packed a separate calculator for unit conversions and an automatic self-wind movement.

A simple and elegant chronograph designed pilot watch. Its sleek black leather simply runs so well across the watch, giving it a stylish yet casual outlook to it. As a typical chronograph would have, the classic three sub-dials that display the hour, minute and second. 

It also shows the day of the week alongside the current time. The watch also has a rechargeable battery.

What I love about this watch:

1. Iconic design with visually prominent looking indexes and hands.
2. Easy to use. Main feature is the chronograph, read more here.
3. Wide dial for easy reading of time.

Why this watch isn’t the perfect one for me:

1. The watch is quite heavy. It weighs about 15 OZ.

Why Should You Check It Out?

The Oris 675 Big Crown is elegant by its design; it gives you the identity as a man of the cockpit and also helps you to track your mission time. It also aids you to carry out simple calculations and conversions while in the air.

On the flip side, this watch lacks a GPS location tracker.

Now, if the good old analog looks are worth considering, then you should take a closer look at the Oris’ 675 Big Crown.

Rank 3: Garmin D2 Delta – The Most Utilitarian Aviation Watch

The new Garmin D2 Delta happens to be my personal favorite. Garmin is more useful than it looks. Honestly, not many pilot watches are capable of offering the utilities featured in Garmin D2. 

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Think of a round colored screen with colored GPS mappings, an estimator of altitude and air pressure (while on air), a pulse oximeter, a music player and smartwatch synchronization features with a phone.

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Which other watch does that? It also has multiple modes to track your avionic activities, your health and fitness activities, and your phone notifications.

With all these features packed into 1 small wristwatch, the price tag of it would be enormously high but Garmin has managed to make it affordable.

What I love about this watch:

1. Utilitarian than most pilot watches. It can serve an aviator, a health trainer and a hobbyist.
2. Impressive LCD for notifications. When synchronized, it can predict the destination weather and a few other additions like nearby hotels.
3. GPS enabled.
4. Garmin Pay for easy monetary transactions.
5. Cheaper than most aviator watches

Things that are slightly lacking:

1. It has unstable software. Because of the many features of the Delta D2, some of its applications are still unstable.
2. It drains its battery faster than ordinary watches.

Why Should You Check It Out?

Garmin D2 Delta is from a series of aviator watch brands that boasts of more functional features than fancy designs. It is great for pilots who would love to have a watch that can alter its look to look utilitarian within the cockpit and at the gym.

However, its GPS might drain the battery fast. To counter this drawback, consider buying spare batteries. And notably, Garmin’s software is still unstable. So, if you can find a way to go around the software hitches, you too will love the D2 Delta.

Rank 2: Breitling Cockpit B50 – The Best Designer Pilot Watch

The Breitling spits affluence and elegance. It is ultimately the king of pilot watches.

And now there is something breathtaking from a concoction of a digital display engraved to the center of an analog electronic dial as the Breitling Cockpit B50 pilot watch does it.

The Cockpit B50 also adds a specially designed electronic chronometer to the dial with remarkable accuracy. It also offers a digital calendar, an electronic tachometer among other features.

Breitling is a company that is willing to always stand before their watches. With the finest craftsmanship detailed into their watches, this is the only watch I know about with a 59-page user manual.

Why you should get the Breitling Cockpit B50:

1. Iconic and rugged design
2. Clear and accurate dial
3. Highly customizable
4. It is lightweight and airborne
5. A guarantee of authenticity

The watch could have been a perfect partner except:

1. It drains its battery faster than an ordinary pilot watch
2. It has quite a high buying price that keeps most buyers off its shelves.

Why Should You Check It Out?

Breitling Cockpit is the icon of aviation watches. It is classy by design and sophisticated in its uses. This watch takes the accuracy and clarity of the dial to a level of its own.

Honestly, the only hindrance to the popularity of the Breitling is its high buying price. If you are willing to invest in a good aviation watch, then you seriously need to consider this watch.

Rank 1: Citizen Promaster Skyhawk –The Best Pilot Watch Of All Times

We reserved the best for the last. The Citizen Promaster Skyhawk’s dial is airborne. It borrows a lot from the Breitling, but it comes at a remarkable bargain. Thanks to the Eco-DriveTechnological Citizen brand platform, the Promaster supplements its power directly from sunlight.

It features a state-of-the-art dial that combines analog functionalities with digital sub-dials as in the Breitling. It is relatively huge with a 47mm cage and may feel a little bit bulky to the wrist if you have a small wrist.

It can synchronize to the radio and features a multidirectional rotating bezel. I am not sure if anyone uses the slide rule on this watch, but in case you would love to use it, you will still find it fixed.

This watch was produced as a limited-edition and if you own one, then you can be sure you are just one among 4998 other Promaster users worldwide.

Here’s why I love this watch:

1. Elegant and rugged design
2. Radio-controlled
3. Accuracy is perhaps the best in its class
4. Relatively long battery life
5. Cheaper than watches of its capability and calibre

Just slightly complicated to use…

1. The watch’s manual is quite limited. Considering the functionalities of the Skyhawk, I believe that there is a learning curve to it. This watch might make it hard to handle when you use it for the first time.

 Why Should You Check It Out?

The Citizen Promaster Skyhawk is both enhanced and cheaper to acquire. It adds an incredible flight experience to any experienced pilot.

This watch is also priced below $1000, making it ideal to buy when you are seeking to strike a balance between being utilitarian and being cheaper.

Besides the fact that the watch is complicated to learn for a first time user, this watch’s performance is way off the charts. The Citizen Promaster Skyhawk is worth every cent.