"Big ticky-tocky, small cocky!"
Wasn't that the saying some years ago?
Regarding the Casio, in GW1 we bought those in the local souk as they had a very useful timer feature, which would sound an alarm at the appropriate interval for changing IFF codes. The VC10K didn't have anything as sophisticated as an automatic code changer, but if you attached the Casio to the outside of your headset, with the backplate pressing against the earphone, it was just the right loudness to be heard peeping away at the appropriate time!
I had a few Casios which had the very useful triple time zone function, very useful for Zulu, UK and wherever-you-were local time. But when the cheap case lugs on the last one finally wore out, I decided on a Breitling Aerospace instead. I also have a Locman Stealth from Lufthansa (courtesy of Miles and More points, so didn't cost me anything!) for everyday use when in the UK.
A £2500 watch with only one time zone, even though it does contain bits of a Hurricane, is not something to which I aspire.
On the topic of fakes, I recall the story some years ago about someone who bought a watch during an airline flight, much to the surprise of the cabin crew. A few weeks later, it stopped working so he took it to the local watch dealer who asked "Wherever did Sir buy this POS - it's a fake!". After complaining to the airline, a scam was uncovered which involved cabin crew replacing real watches with fake items, then selling the real ones for a tidy sum. They knew that virtually no-one ever bought a watch in-flight, so the scam went well for them until someone did! The airline reimbursed the unlucky passenger, asking him to keep shtum...
From a Sunday Times article of 1999:
Sources inside ** revealed last week that crooked cabin staff have been buying fake watches and other luxury goods in Hong Kong and Singapore for just a few pounds apiece. They take the products, which include counterfeit Raymond Weil watches, Gucci sunglasses and Chanel perfumes, on board the aircraft and switch them for the genuine items. The fakes are then sold from in-flight duty-free trolleys. The genuine items are pocketed by cabin crew and sold on the black market in Britain, netting them a profit of as much as £200 per item. Sources close to ** claim that some of the switched goods, such as designer watches, are sold to jewellers in Kensington and Bond Street in London. Some retailers are known to give good prices to airline crew, who offer them as "unwanted gifts". An insider said the bogus sales first came to light when a ** passenger returned a watch to the manufacturer because it did not keep time.
Although all the paperwork was correct, the manufacturer said the watch was not a genuine product and referred the customer to **," the source said. The airline compensated the passenger and asked him to sign an agreement not to publicise the incident. ** confirmed the problem but declined to release full details. "There have been a handful of cases involving a handful of staff. We take the matter very seriously," a spokesman said.