The Best of Basel

Evan Rast shares the fantastic finds from this year’s edition of the world’s biggest watch show

Zenith’s Pilot Montre d’Aeronef Type 20 GMT 1903

If I may take you well above sea level for a moment, I’d like to introduce another of Zenith’s homages to flight. With the Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 GMT 1903, Zenith would, once again, take us back to that golden era of flight, when the limits of aeronautic engineering were tested and surpassed by remarkable, highly courageous individuals, to whom we owe many of the advances of modern aeronautics. The Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20 GMT 1903 honours siblings Wilbur and Orville Wright, who built a glider, which after countless improvements transformed into a twin-propeller aircraft named “Flyer,” that was later flown in the Kitty Hawk beaches of North Carolina on December 17, 1903. For this piece, Zenith uses the classic Pilot Montre d’Aéronef Type 20, a watch that was placed in aircrafts used by the French Air Force. The piece, which comes with a second time zone indicator, was modernized with a black DLC-coated titanium case, which also makes the piece lightweight despite hefty 48mm size. Keeping to the vintage feel are its big, Arabic numerals that have been given a worn-out effect, which were also covered with Superluminova for increased legibility.

An important thing to remember when making your Baselworld itinerary is that this fair is not only about the big brands whose booths tower over you in Hall 1 - not at the very least. Interestingly enough, it would be in the humbler halls such as The Palace where you are bound to be knocked off your feet with pieces that are just quite simply, impeccably produced, and bolder in character, created by small watch makers who have the luxury of time and the recklessness of youth that most big, long established manufactures don’t have.

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