Pilot wrist watch, is it a good thing or BS

[FenderManDan]

Noob Q again!

My trusty old wrist watch is giving up a ghost and it does not have a special value worth repairing.
It is time to buy a new one and I heard a bunch of times about the "pilot" wrist watch. Is there something
special to look for or it it all in the marketing?

Cheers,

Dan

[ahramin]

The first thing I would look at is how much time it looses in a year. Seiko used to be the most reliable time pieces in the world for the price but their pilot watch doesn't perform any better than a run of the mill timex or citizen. A couple watches out there set themselves off the GPS time signals which is a solution I like but won't pay for, I can set my watch myself.

Look for functions that you will use. Here are some of the functions that my pilot watch has that I use all the time:

1. Circular slide rule. Wouldn't buy a pilot watch without a good working slide rule. Use it every day.

2. UTC on the face. Wouldn't buy one that didn't have UTC at a glance.

3. Multiple time zones. I use about 10 of my watches 30 time zones. If you live in Newfoundland you'll probably have to wear 2 watches anyway so keep this in mind.

4. Titanium. Pilot watches are usually so big that they are very heavy. A titanium one not only keeps it at a reasonable weight, but passes through the walk through metal detectors easier.

[cptn2016]

If you're looking to spend a bit of money I would recommend the Citizen Eco-Drive. Multiple time zones, UTC on the face, slide rule, solar-charged battery (works even off artificial light), set via atomic clock radio signal...everything you'd ever need, basically.

Check The Bay, I only recently bought it and I managed to get 45% off the original $850 price by signing up for their HBC Mastercard.

[TG]

If you like "BIG" Ray Ban sun glasses then go for a "BIG" pilot wrist watch.

In meanwhile, here is mine:


-The digital section can be changed for the actual time or whatever you want there.
-It have UTC time and I forgot how many different time zone.
-It is light
-It is cheap, less than 50$ (what's your current salary !?)
-Mine doesn't lag one way or the other
-I won't drown at the bottom of a pool if I go swimming with it.
-Etc...


In resume:
-It's doing the job!

[TopperHarley]

If you're a noob, then dont waste your $$$ on an over-sized watch. You'd be better off saving your money. Wait until you get a better paying job and are out of debt to go after luxury purchases like fancy pilot watches.

When I fly and want to know what time it is, I just look at the UTC clock on the instrument panel. If I want to know what time it is when I'm on a layover in Europe, I just look for the cutest girl I can find and ask her

[BE20 Driver]

Pilot watches are nothing more than an excuse to let others know you're a pilot. If you plan on flying for a living, take note that every company I have ever worked for uses computers and excel spread sheets to calculate performance. I haven't used one of those slide rules since my commercial license.
I have a Casio G-Shock watch that I have been wearing for almost 10 years. Prior to flying, I did a lot of physical work and have beaten the hell out of it over the years. Still works great. It does receive the GPS signal to reset every day and auto sets DST, I have multiple time zones, multiple alarms etc. It's solar powered so it charges the battery every day. Best of all, it can be purchased for 1/10th the cost of those big flashy pilot slide rule watches.
Save your money. Don't buy into the hype of a pilot watch.

[Sulako]

...I would recommend the Citizen Eco-Drive. Multiple time zones, UTC on the face, slide rule, solar-charged battery (works even off artificial light), set via atomic clock radio signal...everything you'd ever need, basically...

I got one from my employer as a gift last year, after 5 years of service. I use my iPhone more often than not to tell time anyway, but it's a pretty good watch

[JMACK]

Get the Rolex sooner than later................

You know you want one......................

[kevind]

Pilot watches are like guys with big trucks

The size of your watch (truck) is inversely proportional to the size of your *&^$^

[System Message]

The size of your watch is inversely proportional to the size of your *&^$^

Does *&^$^ = ass?
As in a small watch equals a fat ass?

[Prairie Chicken]

Oh crip! Are we all going to start wearing our Ray Bans in their brown cases on our belts again???

Needs UTC & being able to read at night is nice; maybe multiple time zones if you're there routinely.

Bigger translates to insecurities in my books. I like slim watches myself.

[iflyforpie]

This is what I use....



Bought it just after my son was born for my first flying job. He's going into grade 2 this year and I have yet to change the battery and I rarely set the time.

I took the picture with my second watch, my iPhone, which does much more than any slide rule bezel does like getting graphical weather enroute and having an alarm that goes through my headset to ensure I don't forget to switch tanks....

[North Shore]

Until you get to your 'Air Canada', save your money and buy a cheap Timex. If you lose it, or it breaks, no big deal, and if you chose wisely, it'll have many of the features that you will pay 10 times more for in another watch. Nightlight, 2nd timezone (set to Z) and stopwatch were the three functions that I used the most.

[SuperchargedRS]

I wrote a long topic on this a while back.

Here is what I look for in a watch.

Movement, I like Automatic watches and am a big fan of the 25 jewel Valjoux 7750 movement

Chrono, I need a chrono that will span over the maximum endurance of the aircraft I am flying (the Valjoux 7750 will measure up to 12 hours)

Day/Date, because you feel really stupid when you write the wrong date in your logbook.

Name brands, a Breit or Omega, etc are cool but not that important, infact most use the same movements made by third party Swiss companies (such as Valjoux).

I am not a big fan of the slide rule, it's small on a watch and I rarely use my big E6B anyways, I prefer I diving bezel and I can set it to the amount of fuel I have on board, also not a huge fan of digital watches IMHO they are like having Velcro shoes, it's cool if you're a kid on mentally ill, but looks a little funny on a grown man.

The watch I went with is a Ollech & Wajs Mirage III (with the 7750 movement) and a NATO strap, I've had it for almost 3 years and am VERY happy with it, moreover the quality is such that I could pass it on to my children someday.



"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten"

[TG]

Sure, One could buy this

Instead of this


But what is exactly the point ?

[Siddley Hawker]

If you're flying floats don't buy a watch heavy enough that you'll sink like a rock if you fall off the float.

[Cat Driver]

When I retired in 2005 I took my Breitling off and put it in my safe deposit box and have not worn a watch since.

When I wore the Breitling they gave it to me and paid me to wear it.

In the past couple of months I have flown the Husky to Halifax and back as well as here on the west coast looking for property.......still have not ever worn a watch since 2005.

[KK7]

I stopped wearing a watch a long time ago, I'm surrounded by time pieces between the airplane's clock and timer, GPS clocks, my cell phone, just to name a few of the obvious ones. For good measure though I keep an old watch in my flight bag should ever something catastrophic happen. It's a cheap timex watch that keeps good enough time should I ever need it in the bush after putting the airplane down in the middle of nowhere.

[Cougar]

Boy, you guys sure are polite!

This question came up in another aviation forum, and one of the fire guys shared his FAVORITE choice of watches with us.... so, here ya go...

[Doc]

The first thing I would look at is how much time it looses in a year. Seiko used to be the most reliable time pieces in the world for the price but their pilot watch doesn't perform any better than a run of the mill timex or citizen. A couple watches out there set themselves off the GPS time signals which is a solution I like but won't pay for, I can set my watch myself.

Look for functions that you will use. Here are some of the functions that my pilot watch has that I use all the time:

1. Circular slide rule. Wouldn't buy a pilot watch without a good working slide rule. Use it every day.

2. UTC on the face. Wouldn't buy one that didn't have UTC at a glance.

3. Multiple time zones. I use about 10 of my watches 30 time zones. If you live in Newfoundland you'll probably have to wear 2 watches anyway so keep this in mind.

4. Titanium. Pilot watches are usually so big that they are very heavy. A titanium one not only keeps it at a reasonable weight, but passes through the walk through metal detectors easier.

One of your funnier posts, ever! Still cleaning the spilt beer off the keyboard! What an absolute sack of crap!
Nobody needs a "pilot" watch. It's marketing bullshit. You "need" to have a good time piece on board. Period.
Mine is a Rolex GMT Master II. No "poser" pilot watch for me!