Recently, Zenith has made much of the fact that the company owns the rights to 'Pilot' as a name for a watch. In fact, they've built a whole model line around it, some attractive, some not, and some just bizarre. While the marketing machine churns on, it is interesting to see where the name was first used.

This little guy just in from a Swiss connection:



The Pilot line was introduced in the mid-1950s as a steel, shock-protected, antimagnetic everyman's watch with luminescence for night legibility, eventually also acquiring hacking. It exists in numerous versions, including a very few in 18K late in the production run. It is not clear when the model line extinguished, but certainly by the late 1960s it seems to have vanished.



prominently advertised features on the back


call 12-4-P-50-6 inside


the whole flight crew


Probably because it runs a little small (32.5-34mm), it has been ignored by the market, and decent examples can be got for $150 or so.

 

No, not at all. I was thinking of that 50mm Type 20 MOntre d'Aeronef- it's a homage to a dashboard instrument with a table clock movement inside, but Zenith has managed to persuade people it is a wristwatch. And people are paying very big money for it...shows what I know.

Here are some modeled on the wrist, including Mr. Stanley of Kiss, which brings out the full florid absurdity of the thing.

 

And then Zenith does this odd thing on the new watches - it puts 'Pilot' in quotes, as if it is an ironic Pilot watch.


Which in fact it is, since no pilot has ever used the model or ever will, but desk pilots will.

 

Without exception. As far as I know, there are no automatics in the (vintage) Pilot line.

 

Apologies, D, for the strongly worded post above. As you see, I haven't reconciled myself to the thing yet.

 

Oh we're going that way?