This was a visionary move, because at the time, humankind had as yet only created an airship flanked by a Daimler engine, and the conquest of the skies by real “pilots” was still a long way off! The “Pilot” is nonetheless the Manufacture’s oldest collection. A heritage, but not a straitjacket: the new Pilot Big Date Flyback embraces past and present in the same creative momentum confirmed by the sturdy, lightweight, black ceramic case and the sporty 42.5mm diameter. The last-gen movement is an El Primero with a 60-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire crystal caseback. The heritage nonetheless remains fully alive, with the indispensable chronograph function so dear to pilots; maximum legibility provided by the large luminescent hands; a black dial and a twin-aperture instant-jump date, rarely associated with a Manufacture chronograph and which can be set in both directions.
The editorial team was impressed by the dial motif inspired by the Junker JU 52, the flyback chrono, the two straps (black and khaki) supplied with the model, the anything but ordinary design notably featuring the absence of a graduated rotating bezel.
Pilot Big Date Flyback
CASE: bead-blasted black ceramic, sapphire back, water-resistant to 100m
SIZE: 42.5mm
MOVEMENT: El Primero 3652, self-winding column-wheel flyback chronograph, 60h power reserve
FUNCTIONS: hours, minutes, seconds; flyback chronograph, large instantjump date, adjustable in both directions
DIAL: black with horizontal grooves
STRAP: Cordura-effect rubber, black PVDtreated steel triple folding clasp
PRICE: CHF 13,400
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