Back when I was 18, before fleeing emotional storms and the angst of my first relationship breakup I took solace in furniture restoration. I was good at it and made a decent side living doing it. I’ve always had a deep passion for antiques, things that are deeply personal and have extensive history behind them. But one thing that I’ve inescapably been drawn to has been: time. I have a mid size collection of antique pocket watches that I showed at the Smithsonian at 16 and have some amazing pieces.
I also have another passion: aviation. If I had better vision, and more ambition when I was younger (instead of just running off to become a rescue swimmer before 9/11 happened) I would have spent all of my energy and determination to become a pilot. Those days are far behind me and the closest I came was jumping out of helicopters for training while active in the military (and the occasional rescue). This Christmas, I didn’t really know what I wanted. But for years, I’ve always wanted a fantastic, vintage designed aviation watch. I own a Harman 1939 military watch but can seldom wear it due to the fact that the elements (drinking, rain, weather in general) could potentially destroy it.
So I did some research and found a few drool worthy watches with the same deal breaker catch: ALL of them were way beyond $1500, sometimes into the THOUSANDS. And frankly, having been a watch collector most of my life - NO watch is worth over about $1500. The rose gold, titanium, diamond crusted flair is just not needed and not only that, but flashy and tacky.
The first watch that caught my eye was the Hanhart 1939 Pilot Re-Edition. Hanhart has an exceptionally impressive history throughout WW2 in supplying amazing time pieces to pilots. Unfortunately, this watch is $4500. In this economy, no watch should be that expensive. So, after seeing the design I knew what I roughly wanted: coin edge bezel, chronograph, pre-war hands and a black dial. Something as close to the Hanhart as I could find.
Then I found the IWC Shaffhausen Vintage 1936 Pilot Hand Wound. And I have to admit, even though it’s not a chronograph, it has a disgustingly beautiful face. In the 30s, this is exactly how watches were made - and I wish there was a bigger market for this style and design instead of the roughly 4 watches out there available. All except one being in the several thousand dollar range, making it hardly affordable at all. The IWC watch above? Retails normally for about $10k; the price of a used car.
The next is the Tutima 1941 Pilot re-issue. Once again, similar to the Hanhart and probably the cheapest of the three weighing in around $1500-2000 new. Same style, and drool-worthy.
After a few weeks of searching, I found the watch I wear with pride today: The Junkers 6524-3 Chronograph. German made, strikingly identical (nearly) to the Hanhart 1939 and far cheaper in price. One thing that makes it stand out from the rest - the onion crown that is rarely fitted on modern watches these days and was widely used on older, true vintage pieces.
They no longer make this watch anymore so it was difficult to track down as it’s only sold at one or two retailers (new old stock) in the US. But I have to say, in comparison to the above mentioned models (I’ve tried on the IWC and it’s not worth the money by any stretch of the imagination and feels somewhat cheap) it really kicks ass.
Aviation watches have become harder to track down (the vintage pieces) and are becoming increasingly more rare and expensive when found in decent condition. Another interesting factoid: the hands and numbers were usually painted with Radium, which is technically radioactive.
