Pilot watches are designed with special features to help a pilot fly an
aircraft. These features will typically include at least a compass and
stopwatch.
The history of pilot watches traces back almost as far as the history of
airplanes. A Brazilian named Alberto Santos-Dumont used the first pilot watches
to test out the airplanes he designed. The watch was necessary for him to track
the time of flight. His famous friend Louis Cartier built him a special
wristwatch to meet his airplane testing needs. Dumont, also an entrepreneur used
his own popularity in France to start selling these watches there.
Pilot Watches and the World Wars
These pilot watches became more than a useful convenience during World War I.
Pocket watches were very inconvenient for the pilots to deal with during battle.
Further, the traditional pocket watch was an expensive device crafted of
precious metals. The soldiers, mostly poor men, could afford only wrist watches
so that accelerated their adoption of pilot watches.
It wasn't long before those in other parts of military service began to see the
benefit of these watches and adopt them for use in the coordination of attack
strategies. It wasn't long before these pilot watches were being used by nearly
all officers of all military branches.
When World War II came around nearly all American had the newer A-11. It
featured a new simple black face with white numbers to make it easy to read in
daylight or lesser light conditions. The A-11 pilot watches met the most basic
of pilot need in war, telling time.
Pilot Watches After the World Wars
Most officers brought their pilot watches back with them as memory pieces of
their services and the men they served with during the wars. They continued to
wear them after they came back because they were so useful keeping time during
daily life. Soon demand among civilians began to increase.
Pilot watches continued to be developed with additional features to help pilots.
Slide rules and chronometers were soon added to help pilots with their
navigational calculations. The more features that were added for pilots, the
more the general public also adopted these watches. It wasn't long before
companies began to compete for business by adding more and more features such as
stainless steel, leather, mineral crystal, or precious metal craftsmanship.
Pragmatic features were also added to aid pilots such as rotating crowns and a
variety of widgets until the present pilot watches that include about every
imaginable digital piloting feature. |
