Among these, whether sub- £100/$100 quartz watches or astronomically priced COSC-certified aviation chronographs from ultra-luxury manufacturers are pilot watches that are also pilot chronographs - arguably the highest of high-flying wrist instruments. Could he mean pilots or wannabe pilots, or even those who are simply fascinated by aviation? Is the reason for their enduring fascination, he postulates, '˜the pleasingly busy look of sub-dials, registers or scales - their meanings now utterly arcane - crowded onto the dial'? Ironically, there's a fundamental conflict between what constitutes a true '˜aviation watch' or a '˜watch for aviation' and the pilot watches that have come to define a whole sub-category of timepieces.

While introducing a recent issue of QP magazine, Timothy Bamber asked, '˜What is it that makes such a perennially appealing, nay essential, watch so long after the tasks for which it was designed became redundant?' Continuing, Bamber suggests that a chronograph isn't just a watch to look at, but one to interact with as it satisfies its '˜techy, toolish' audience. In the air, it's all about time: estimated time of arrival (ETA) points of no return, time to fuel exhaustion time to missed approach time to drop bombs or release today's terrifying smart weapons and more'¦ So let's push the metaphorical yoke forwards and dive into the world of pilot chronographs, that most important subset of pilots' watches, and arguably the quintessential aviation watches. In addition, we've seen it with pilots' watches including pilot chronographs. We've seen it with divers' watches (now usually replaced by dive computers) and racing chronographs (replaced by sophisticated electronic timing). If you're reading this, the likelihood is that you can identify with the appeal of wearing traditional analogue timepieces - whether quartz powered or mechanical. Yet hand in hand with technology's relentless march, there's been a resurgence of interest in traditional watches. Technology's progress inevitably means that for many people, traditional watches are being replaced by computerised electronic devices - mobile phones, smartphones and smartwatches such as the Apple Watch. Pilot chronographs - In the air, it's all about time Part 1: So what is a pilot chronograph? Read on to find out what makes pilot chronographs among the best aviation watches available. Pilot chronographs - in the air it's all about time.

Dual time pilot watch