Military AircrewA forum for the professionals who fly the non-civilian hardware, and the backroom boys and girls without whom nothing would leave the ground. Army, Navy and Airforces of the World, all equally welcome here.
Aircrew are issued with a watch PortVale, there are several places that sell them on, evil bay for one and another site I have somewhere that has the RAF pulsars for about £220 brand new, I could dig up a link for you if wanted. The ones posted here are privately purchased items, as most aircrew like lots of flashing lights and a bit of bling
Generally your average Airman or Soldier were not issued with watches as we were more savvy and a quick squint at the sun ( if it ever appeared) could calculate the time down to the nearest minute.
If the battery is low 15 minutes in the sun will restore the charge such that it will run for 6 months. I can't see why that needs getting out - it can be put on a window-sill!
I have to laugh when I see stupid money being asked on ebay, etc, for the old wind-up 1960's style RAF "pilots'" Omega watches (in the world of aviation wannabees, navigators don't exist, of course).
I had one of these Omegas and it was rubbish. It was quickly consigned to my sock-drawer and I reverted to my Hong Kong bought £10 Seiko automatic which gave me sterling service till I came out. Had to hand the Omega back in - pity, some mug would probably pay me several hundred quid for it now
I wear a service issue Pulsar now which is good as the Seiko. £50 new on ebay - was that cheap?
when buying by post or on-line PLEASE be aware of counterfeit watches that will come with all the pretty documentation, instructions and sometimes even realistic looking guarantee certification.
during my travels I saw a large factory in Hong Kong which traded under the name of 'Swiss'. This charming location churned out watches all in very nice presentation boxes, and all appeared to be made by well known manufacturers but all of them were......'Swiss Made' This was many, many Moons ago and no doubt things may have changed.
Very true. I read something the other week that counterfeit high end watches were the biggest problem and like you said, down to all the documentation as well.
In fact, they said that even down to the serial numbers.
The owners only ever found out if it went for service so the real watch makers were saying only to buy from Authorized outlets.
True, but the link I posted are the surplus dealers, they I would imagine get all their stuff from service sales, unless someone is counterfeiting Phimats as well
Like a lot of blokes in 1960's RAFG I bought an Omega.. before it went to the Moon...and it's timekeeping wasn't crash hot to be honest. Years later, when riding my motorcycle in Adelaide,Oz, it fell off my wrist,got run over by a truck but was still ticking when I rescued it.However the cost of a new wrist band meant that it was consigned to a drawer where it resides to this day ..... but ticking no longer.
