For sale, somewhat reluctantly, is this lovely example of a proper military watch, the Longines Czech Pilot. This watch was the subject of a reissue by Longines a few years back (which was awesome aside from the questionable date window that it came with). This example dates from 1938, has the correct military markings on the caseback, and comes with an extract of the archives from Longines. There is much to read about these pieces online, but here, I will just highlight an article written by my good friend Eric Wind (@georgetownhoya on these pages) during his time at Hodinkee, in the ‘What’s selling Where’ column ( before it was re-named ‘Bring a Loupe’ after the Connie Police from this very forum roasted him ). This watch is the actual one mentioned in the article. https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/whats-selling-where-three-great-vintage-chronographs-under-10000 Note - that’s an odd title on that hyperlink... the article is all about military watches Some notes on the watch itself . Case is a very wearable 52x40mm . Spring bars are correct fixed ones . Those are not cracks on the underside of the lugs - they are rolled and folded steel. . As befits a watch of this age and heritage, the case shows signs of use / wear / a few scratches here and there, but this does not detract from the beauty of this piece. . Bezel with time marker rotates correctly (another difference from the reissue) . Not serviced in my possession, but keeps great time. . Comes on the dark olive green leather strap in the photos. . A number of people will stop you and complement you on your ‘old looking Panerai’ The price of $3,750 is net to me, and includes insured overnight priority shipping CONUS, which is preferred ( other options only by arrangement at extra cost). Private sale, no returns, the pics form part of the description, but ask any questions prior to purchase. Many thanks for looking.
Last weekend bump - this time with an original advertisement for the civilian version, taken from the watchadvisor.com
Weekend bump, with a price reduction to $3,750! And a pic of the insignia of one of the two WWII RAF Czech squadrons, courtesy of Wikipedia... View attachment 613972