Pilot Wrist watches...

[ve3id]

If you could design your own watch....

Texas Instruments has just released engineering samples of a watch that is based on their MSP430 family of MCUs, complete with a PC-based IDE so you can customise it any way you want.

EZ430-Chronos - Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki

I am a professor of EE at a community College near Toronto. Occasionally I get requests for suggestions for capstone projects.

If anybody is interested in helping to design the 'perfect' digital watch for their needs, perhaps you would like to pass on a wish list to me and I will see if my senior students can build it for you. Alternatively, if you can program in C, you can do it yourself. My email is nw.johnson (.at.) ieee (.dot.) org.

It has two main digital readouts and five buttons. An accelerometer is built in, as well as an altimeter, but alas they do not have a pressure setting feature in the software that comes with it. You can also use it to change slides in powerpoint presentations!

It has a wireless link to a PC using one of three ISM bands so you can connect it to various other devices.

Unfortunately I can't undertake any more projects myself since I volunteer too much!

[Genghis the Engineer]

Originally Posted by ve3id

Texas Instruments has just released engineering samples of a watch that is based on their MSP430 family of MCUs, complete with a PC-based IDE so you can customise it any way you want.

EZ430-Chronos - Texas Instruments Embedded Processors Wiki

I am a professor of EE at a community College near Toronto. Occasionally I get requests for suggestions for capstone projects.

If anybody is interested in helping to design the 'perfect' digital watch for their needs, perhaps you would like to pass on a wish list to me and I will see if my senior students can build it for you. Alternatively, if you can program in C, you can do it yourself. My email is nw.johnson (.at.) ieee (.dot.) org.

It has two main digital readouts and five buttons. An accelerometer is built in, as well as an altimeter, but alas they do not have a pressure setting feature in the software that comes with it. You can also use it to change slides in powerpoint presentations!

It has a wireless link to a PC using one of three ISM bands so you can connect it to various other devices.

Unfortunately I can't undertake any more projects myself since I volunteer too much!

Hi Ve3 - I'm a (very) part time associate professor in aeronautics at a middle-ranking university in the UK. I have a permanent interest in "carry on" airborne instrumentation and also overseee a few Capstone projects annually, as well as trying to incorporate a few of those into real and publishable research.

Fancy talking offline about a bit of collaboration?

G

[d88]

Another couple of mechanical alternatives are German manufacturers Damasko and Sinn who make a wide range of pilot inspired watches. They may not be the cheapest but they are designed to take alot more knocks, bumps, and be more scratch and dent resistant than your normal watch. Although not household names, both are highly regarded in terms of overall quality and VFM within the watch community.

Damasko - Uhrenmanufaktur - Regensburg/Barbing - Hersteller von mechanischen Armbanduhren.

Sinn-Spezialuhren

More affordable German inspired flieger designs come from Stowa ( historically one of the original companies who made the flieger or B-Uhr design watch ), it's nicely finished but demand exceeds supply on these so expect a 8 week delay from order.

Flieger - STOWA GmbH & Co.KG


or Archimede watches, typical flieger design and comes in a variety of sizes with even a left hand option.

ARCHIMEDE Pilot | Classic Pilots Watches | Automatic + Hand Wound | 4 Sizes 45/42/39/36 mm | Stainless Steel + Pure Titanium

[Richard H]

"All these "top end" watches have the same problem. About three years after I bought my wife a very nice Omega the battery needed changing. I was told by the main dealer that this did not simply mean being changed, but Omega would wish to replace the hands as well!! Why? I foolishly allowed the watch to be sent away and it came back 8 weeks later with a bill for £200+. The jeweller told me that it was lucky it was an Omega and not another brand (I can't remember which one) as the time for servicing was 52 weeks!

Interestingly, when I took my old (25+ years) Omega Seamaster to my local jeweller for a new battery it cost £5. Either the manufacturer's approach to these things has changed with newer models or the local jeweller is more straight than the main dealer."

A watch isn't really top end if it needs a battery. Either get a real watch (mechanical) or get something that isn't pretending to be a mechanical watch with the associated inflated price.

[tmmorris]

Or get a cheap/mid-range watch with solar recharging (Citizen Eco-Drive) and get the best of both worlds...

Tim

[Richard H]

Except you aren't getting the best of both worlds because it isn't a mechanical watch...

[peterh337]

Except you aren't getting the best of both worlds because it isn't a mechanical watch...

Objectively, what is good about a mechanical (auto winding) watch?

I used to have the Traser auto watch, which was excellent, but I cannot see the point in avoiding battery powered watches. Even the most expensive (e.g. £3000 IWC) ones are sufficiently inaccurate to require irritating resetting every week or few, and how many of us are stuck on an island for years at a time? The batteries seem to last a few years.

There is also a poor choice of automatic watches with a stopwatch function - well there seems to be below the "IWC" kind of price level anyway. Traser use the generic movements (e.g. Ronda) used by so many makers of Swiss "lifestyle" watches and their stopwatch (which I now have) is a quartz battery powered one. I am not suprised by this because a stopwatch, if used a lot, draws a lot of power out of the spring. I think the lifestyle watches get away with it because their owners rarely use the stopwatch

[Justiciar]

Except you aren't getting the best of both worlds because it isn't a mechanical watch...

Please explain the inherent superiority of mechanical watches! They are less accurate. Is that a virtue? Although they don't have batteries which need changing they need a servicing every 3 to 5 years, so the watch if anything is likely to be away for longer. Automatics are also more expensive in many cases than their quartz equivalents.

[fwjc]

I have a watch from Astro Avia. Unbenanntes Dokument Their watches aren't horrifically expensive, are easy to read with clear numbers and markings, and are comfortable to wear. I can't recommend them enough.

[tmmorris]

I'm totally with peterh337 and Justiciar - what's so superior about a mechanical watch, needing expensive servicing every few years and the time re-setting every week or two? My Citizen resets itself to the atomic clock every night, but its predecessor (also Citizen) didn't and was still accurate to within a couple of seconds per year - there's no mechanical watch in the world that can match that.

Sure, you get nice whizzy internals and a smooth sweeping second hand, plus a smug feeling as you contemplate your overdraft. But that's about it.

My 1860s gold pocket watch is a beautiful thing, and I love it very dearly - not least because it's been in the family since then. But I would never defend it as a timepiece...

Tim

[Richard H]

A mechanical watch is steeped in tradition, skill, craftsmanship, ingenuity and character.
The making of a mechanical watch is an art form all of its own.
Quartz watches have their place (I have one). But the only proper watches are the ones handmade in Switzerland (and to an extent, Germany).

[Justiciar]

A mechanical watch is steeped in tradition, skill, craftsmanship, ingenuity and character.
The making of a mechanical watch is an art form all of its own.

.... and is a triumph of marketing over substance in most cases. It is interesting when you look into it to find that the movements on many hugely expensive watches are the same as on much cheaper versions!

[what next]

Hello!

.... and is a triumph of marketing over substance in most cases. It is interesting when you look into it to find that the movements on many hugely expensive watches are the same as on much cheaper versions!

How true! Ninety percent (or so) of all mechanical watches on the market - cheap and expensive - have movements of either ETA, Lemania or Valjoux. And guess who owns all those three brands? I think the name "Swatch" has already been mentioned...
Anyway, the only real difference between a "mechanical" and a "quartz" (digital displays aside) watch is the power source, either spring or electro-magnet. From there on, the same gears and pinions drive the same hands. A quartz watch with some complications (stopwatch, calendar, ...) is made of ninety five percent mechanical parts!

And regarding "pilot watches" in general: After 20+ years of commercial flying and instructing (and an occasional private flight in between) I swear that I have not looked at my wristwatch in flight more than ten times. On many days, I don't even bother to wear one. I really only need to look at the time to meet the passengers. And even then, there is the private cellphone in my left pocket and the company cellphone in my right pocket, both of which give me more accurate time than the best watch... (constantly updated through their network and/or GPS!) I flight, there are enough devices built into the aeroplane that display and record some sort of time. Plus my two cellphones and the two cellphones of the co pilot (or student) of course. And the iPads. And all of them glow in the dark, contrary to most watches after a day under the shirtsleeve...

But I must confess that I am not immune to this watch thing either... I even collect Swatches, although I have never worn one, some of which are really pretty and almost indestructible and very well suited for flying. Batteries last for several years and cost almost nothing to replace, so a Swatch with the battery replaced once per year will never let you down. And being mostly of plastic, you can leave them on when passing through security, a big plus in these days. (Maybe I should really start wearing them...)

All I really care for in a pilot watch is an uncluttered display for instantaneous readability. For this purpose, I wear a simple Fortis sometimes (which has the big disadvantage of every "mechanical" watch that you have to reset time and date every time if you wear it only occasionally) or a Traser (Quartz) with tritium hands that glow nicely in the dark. And should I ever need one as a status symbol, the all black Sinn 756 UTC would be among my top picks (Sinn Uhren: Modell 756 S UTC). With or without stopwatch dosen't matter at all.

Happy landings,
max

[500 above]

[QUOTE]And being mostly of plastic, you can leave them on when passing through security, a big plus in these days. (Maybe I should really start wearing them...)[QUOTE]

Maybe Swatch should get in to the belt and shoe making industries then!

Here's another vote for the Breitling Aerospace. 14 years old, three batteries and one full service - a great timepiece.

500 Above

[AdamFrisch]

Please explain the inherent superiority of mechanical watches! They are less accurate.

It depends on what you want a watch for. If you want accuracy, then the built in clock in your phone is all you need. The reason you're buying a mechanical or automatic watch is that you enjoy the craftsmanship and the engineering that goes into such a design. Accuracy, even though they like to sell them on that, is at least for me not very important. One could argue that a souped up Ford Focus is as fast as a Porsche, but that doesn't really make them the same thing.

I'm a total watch snob and will freely and widely admit that I judge people on what they have on their wrists. I find most watch brands to be abhorrently ugly. Overworked and lacking in good design. What's worse - 99% of them don't make their own movements - they buy them from big companies like ETA (Swatch) etc and that's why they're all virtually the same. To this snob, only 5 watches pass my minimalistic design criteria. Unfortunately, they're almost all in the $10K+ range, so it'll have to wait until I've found a way to get my Aero Commander to run on water.


Sarpaneva:
Sarpaneva Korona K2 Kaamos Automatic | World Watch Review

Panerai (one of the few who make their own movements):
http://www.panerai.com

Alain Silberstein. Whacky 80's design, but I love the simple chunky shapes:
Alain Silberstein - KRONO BAUHAUS II - KRONO BAUHAUS II KT 401 B - ?BLACK? | Worldtempus

Corum's Admirals Cup series in their simplest form are pretty clean:
Corum - Admiral's Cup - Admiral?s Cup Legend 42 | Worldtempus

Rado's re-release of their classic 70's DStar satisfies the anal minimalist in me:
Rado: Unique Swiss designer watches

The Ikepod has become a classic already:
Marc Newson’s Ikepod time « melange

[Keef]

I'm glad the OP solved his problem!

I used to be a watch freak. I bought all sorts, each more expensive than the last. What I really wanted was a Breitling - well, cause I was a pilot.

Finally, about 20 years ago I bought a Breitling. The leather strap rotted after three months (it seems I perspire nitric acid). I paid £750 for a stainless steel bracelet. That fell apart after a few weeks, but was promptly replaced under warranty.
Then the stopwatch bit stopped working. It went back several times for that, eventually spending best part of a year at Breitling. It still doesn't work, and I've given up.
It keeps nigh on perfect time - gaining maybe one or two seconds a month. It needs a new battery every two years (I fit it myself, under a fiver).

It's showing its age a bit, but it soldiers on, and is easy to read. I reckon it'll last longer than I do.
I've never used the calculator ring in anger.

[tmmorris]

I've never used the calculator ring in anger.

Really? I use mine all the time; e.g. in Sainsbury's yesterday (if porridge sachets come in packs of 8 or 14, with special offers if you buy two packs of 8, which is cheaper per packet...? that sort of thing). Takes seconds and saves pennies...

Tim

[GGR]

Watch rage

Many of my colleagues go for the big watch lots of features etc. I bought a Seiko analogue no frills watch in 1988 from John Lewis that still works 100% having only consumed 1, yes 1 battery.
Many of my Rolex etc toting colleagues regularly poke fun at my £80 marvel. I ask them the time, they reply, I check my Seiko and reply correct! Works every time. When flying I always carry a spare and a torch and a.........

GGR

[Dulay]

Pilot watch

This is something that I have never really understood: pilot watches. I have a breathing but never use it when flying. Actually I don't use any watches when flying! I see ads for IWC, Brentling with fancy planes behind them, but honestly when was the last time anyone really used a watch while flying?
Remy

[abgd]

I judge people on what they have on their wrists.

I used not to wear a watch - I'll check my mobile if I need the time. Since learning to fly in an aircraft with a non-functional clock, I bought myself a digital Casio watch for £11 in the sales.

I'd be absolutely fascinated to hear what you make of this. Don't hold any punches. I'm fairly thick skinned.