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Quest for the perfect Pilot Watch. A headache project.

242K views 1K replies 227 participants last post by  paolorange 
#1 · (Edited)
Dear all I would like to share with you my quest for the "perfect pilot watch" that is giving me quite of a headache.

I have been flying for fun since I was 18 and I had the luck to have very nice watches at my wrist, but unfortunately none of them were close to my own idea of The Perfect Pilot Watch: the aircraft clock A-13A. Basically I was looking for a no frills, large, easy to read dial, central minute counter for my VFR navigation, no tiny sub-dials, no date….a tool working well in a cockpit, not a watch to show to your friends at the bar.
So after many years (and many drawings) I've finally decided to design my own watch, for my personal usage.







Updated now,

what I like so far:
· The double coated sapphire is excellent and glare is not an issue
· I've tried to put the largest, most visible dial into a 42 mm case and to my eyes it works fine
· I'm happy of the general layout and it's just Ok while flying.
· Kevlar Cordura strap works very well.

what I do not like:
· The movement Eta 251.264 is far away from the first movement I took into consideration years ago, the Lemania 5100. I will never understand why they dismissed that.
· Setting crown looks too tall and looks "wrong"
· The counterweight of the two central counters look huge. Unfortunately I guess there is very little to do here since the manufacturer specifies for them an extremely low allowable unbalance. Basically their center of mass shall be on their shaft, period. Central counters hands have been the most time consuming problem for far.
· The shade of black of the hands look more matt then the black of the dial and I'm not sure I like it
· The case back engraving doesn't please me that much. I'm thinking about a much deeper engraving.

Pilots and watch enthusiasts please share your opinions and suggestions with me.
Be careful up there!
 
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#908 ·
I have a friend who has flown for American AL (and for money too)
26 years. Flies the Boeing Triple 7 from DFW to Sao Paulo.
Wears a Casio GW 3000bbi. Solar, Multiband 6.
Same as I own. I've never flew anything but coal trains to the LCRA
coal fired electric plant in Smithfield Tx, LCRA stands for: Lower Colo
River Authority.

X Traindriver Art
 
#914 · (Edited)
Not sure what your point is?

I also fly for a major airline in the US. My observation is about one in 20 airline pilots wears a nice watch.
We are required to have a watch by the FAA, so everybody wears one. (Great because you can write one off every year on your taxes!)
Most of the guys, even some who make over $400K a year still wear some cheap piece of plastic that they seem very proud of whenever the watch discussion comes up.
This discussion has been had several times on WUS. Most of us military guys wear, or wore, a G-shock like watch in combat. Having to eject with a metal watch on can be rough. One guy I know lost his hand when his Rolex caught on something in the cockpit and the metal bracelet won over flesh in the tug of war as the seat fired.

That being said, a minority of pilots have the romantic appreciation of a cool pilot watch.

Paolo created a great watch. It's also a watch I look forward to wearing in the cockpit for many flights.

Please excuse spelling errors...I'm not very smart.
 
#919 ·
Read about Paolo’s A-13A Pilot Watch in a completely unrelated thread (thank you oldfatherthames/Bernd), and got to reading about the long process leading to the production and sale of the pilot watch I have been looking for, for many years. Order is placed, and am expectantly waiting. Love that this was not a design by committee, but but very much the dream and product of the labors of one man, Paolo. Wonderful story, and looks to be excellent product. Looking forward to my copy, here in Tucson, Arizona, and wondering where Paolo goes (watchwise) from here. Thanks to the Brave 75, others, and Paolo for making this possible.
 
#927 · (Edited)
A066 arrived today :-! Looks fantastic and even the strap is plenty long enough for my big wrists :-d
...
Looks great, Sir! |>

Read about Paolo's A-13A Pilot Watch in a completely unrelated thread (thank you oldfatherthames/Bernd), and got to reading about the long process leading to the production and sale of the pilot watch I have been looking for, for many years. Order is placed, and am expectantly waiting. Love that this was not a design by committee, but but very much the dream and product of the labors of one man, Paolo. Wonderful story, and looks to be excellent product. Looking forward to my copy, here in Tucson, Arizona, and wondering where Paolo goes (watchwise) from here. Thanks to the Brave 75, others, and Paolo for making this possible.
Ah, that's very nice! It's funny how things go! b-)

And what you say about 'not a design by a committee: +1 I have seen so many project watches that were mainstreamed and ruined by democracy. This one's so straight and cool!

Great news here today, I received my final invoice some hours ago and hopefully Paolo manages to send my A-13A out by tomorrow. Given that we're almost neighbors I'm praying for it's arrival before the weekend. My camera is waiting, battery is charged and lenses are cleaned. ;-)

...and wondering where Paolo goes (watchwise) from here.
Maybe he would bring Big Ben to our wrists, if it only was just a bit more legible. :)

Cheers!
Bernd
 
#925 ·
Unfortunately I have a significant number of customers not answering to my request of final payment. In this senario I'm feeling uncomfortable to make other customers wait any longer.
I have so decided that in case a requested payment is not settled within 3 days from my request, the relevant watch will be make available to the next customer in list. I will remind the previous customer about his overdue payment as soon as the new batch of watch will be ready, usually one week later.
Does it make any sense to you?

I've already informed customer that suffered for hurricanes in September that I'm available to cancel/hold/reimburse or whatever can be of any help in this circumstance. First things first!

Contact me at info@a-13a.com for any other question. All the best and fly high.
 
#926 ·
Pilots are great people and intelligent too
From my pal Chuck who owns a Cessna 182 Skylane
to my pal John who I mentioned before, who flies 777

John took part in the B58 attack on Momar Kadafi digs.

Has a son who graduated from USAF Academy. Kinds of
bros I like to hang with

But I asked John when was 1/3 of his propulsive force 5,065
feet behind him like the coal trains I operated? Distributed
Power nuther words 2 locomotives pullin and 1 pushing!!!

X Traindriver Art
 
#931 ·
No worries!

BTW, for anyone else that's interested, it's a RIOS1931 Aviator
 
#934 ·
Actually its from Omega and I borrowed it from my Speedmaster. This particular strap is originally 21mm wide but it can be squashed to 20mm for my Speedmaster. Omega have a few of these Cordura straps in slightly different sizes and designs .................. unfortunately they are pretty expensive. This was originally designed for the 21mm 'Dark side of the moon' Speedmaster but i think they do have an all black one in 20mm
 
#939 ·
#941 ·
Ok I can't believe no one has posted today. So just coz it's a TGIF I'd like share this A-13A at 13:13 on the 13th by #???. Guesses anyone?


Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk
Your AADHD...??
 
#943 · (Edited)
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