For a while I’ve had a hankering after a 24 hour watch and having done a heap of research, I eventually decided that the Glycine Airman 18 would fit the bill. Why Glycine? Having done a fair amount of digging, in the limited world of 24hr watches, there is a variety of new and pre-owned models out there, ranging from quartz single handers, cheap Russian makes to vintage offerings from Breitling. It may not be the most popular style of watch, but if you are prepared to do a bit of searching, there is a reasonable variety. Even Swatch made a 24 hour watch (Campana model from 1994). I wanted something that had a fully numbered 24 hour dial, three legible hands not GMT (aka “purist”), was not hockey puck sized and had a reasonably well tried and tested auto movement. The Glycine Airman 18 fits the bill. There were three models, and I would have settled for either the black or blue dialled one, but the one that really caught my eye was the version with gilt hands and bezel numbers. Interestingly, in an era where manufacturers jump on any military/aviation/industry connection no matter how tenuous or spurious, Glycine actually does have a well documented military aviation connection with the Airman. For those interested, a short overview can be found here http://www.nevadawatchrepair.com/glycine-airman-history.html The specs:- · Movement: Glycine GL293 21-jewel automatic · 28800 vph · 42-hour power reserve · Hand-winding compatible · Hacking seconds · Case material: Stainless steel · Crystal: Sapphire · Caseback: Sapphire · Date display · Bidirectional rotating bezel with screw-down lock at 4 o'clock · Lumed hands and markers · Case diameter: 39 mm · Case thickness: 10.25 mm · Lug width: 20 mm · Lug-to-lug: 46.5 mm · Water resistance: 200 m (660 ft) My understanding is that in essence the Glycine GL293 movement is a slightly modified ETA 2983 GMT movement that dispenses with the GMT hand and drives the main 24 hour hand from the GMT post. Glycine also does a range of GMT Airmen that are in effect closer to most other GMT watches and in which the hour hand reverts to the more usual 12 hour rotation. The buying experience:- I spent a fair while on the WWW tracking the price and availability of the Airman 18 purist and waiting for funds to become available. A happy coincidence meant that both the Glycine model I wanted and funds became available and so after a bit of communication, I pulled the trigger and ordered it from Jomashop for delivery to Scotland. Others may have had different experiences with this vendor, but I found it a completely hassle-free transaction. They even emailed me the transcript of the livechat I had with one of their staff. The watch duly arrived and even after paying UK import duties, I reckon I paid about £350 less than the best price available from a European seller On the wrist:- I’ve been wearing it for a few days and quite frankly I’m delighted. Any qualms I may have had about adapting to a 24 hour dial and the ease of telling time at a glance quickly disappeared in practice. Small details such as the second hand not having a tail all help in this regard and what at first may seem like a cluttered dial, quickly becomes easily readable. If I can manage it (late fifties with dodgy eyesight) then I’m sure keen eyed youngsters will have even fewer issues. I don’t even need to use the tail on the hour hand as a quick check to convert to 12 hour time. I also like the quirky bezel mechanism that locks the bezel in place when you use it as a dual timer. I don’t think it’s really needed as the bezel appears to have a fairly robust click mechanism, but it’s a nice distinguishing design touch and in keeping with its heritage. Another nice benefit is there is no longer the annoyance of “date roulette” if I let it wind down and don’t wear it for a few days. Set the date (it has quickset), set the time, and you know the date will change close to the 24 hour position ( mine clicks over at about 23.58 and a bit). I’m not particularly obsessive about accuracy, but I’ve had no need to adjust the time in the last few days. At a guess I’d say it’s running at about 2 -4 secs a day fast. For the sake of completeness I’ll mention the lume. It has some on the hands and small pips at every second number (corresponding to 5 minute intervals for the minute hand). Blazing it is not. Barely adequate would be a better description, but then again, I can’t think of a single instance where I’ve needed to know the time in a pitch black environment and if I needed to, I’d hope to be wearing my 2255.80 or better still my tritium-tubed Marathon Would I change anything? If pushed, the only definite change I’d make would be to drill the lugs. I’m a great believer that where possible, drilled lugs are always better than solid lugs and many a frustrated strap changer would agree. Another personal preference would be to replace the display caseback with a nicely engraved solid caseback shaving maybe .05mm or so off the thickness (not that it’s overly chubby to start with). I have very little interest in the spinny, whizzy, whirly bits inside the watch and though the rotor is quite pretty, I don’t find it a source of fascination. As is often said, a thread is useless without pictures....... Unboxed with protection Display back Crowns It's lume Jim, but not as we know it And some wrist shots *edit* Looks and feels even better on a black Nato And a final thought. If you are going down the rabbit hole of 24 hour watches I wish you an interesting journey. If you have been smitten by my exact watch, then you may be disappointed should you want to purchase it new. Glycine have recently been bought by Invicta. Here is the current Airman range http://glycine-watch.ch/collection/airman/ Notice what’s missing? Anyhow thanks for reading and happy hunting
Thanks for the narrative review. I've wondered about what it's like using a 24-hour dial. I've thought about acquiring a vintage Airman. Probably will happen when I "sneak up on one" at the "right" price.