Of all the archetypal sport watches that have so gripped our ever-growing community, the pilot’s watch might be the most enigmatic. It’s not as singularly focused or popular in the mainstream as the dive watch, and it doesn’t revel in the romance of travel or flaunt a colorful bezel like a GMT does. Its function is ostensibly straightforward enough – tell the time legibly in the air – yet the how and with what is so undefined that no singular complication or model is the obvious poster child from which all other designs are merely descendents. With a pilot’s watch, you can truly understand how brands flex their creativity and interpret what they see as an aviator’s invaluable tool. The three watches in the spotlight today may all fall under the same broad category, but each takes such a different approach that it wouldn’t be farfetched to have all three in a collection. It might even be a good idea.

Of all the archetypal sport watches that have so gripped our ever-growing community, the pilot’s watch might be the most enigmatic. It’s not as singularly focused or popular in the mainstream as the dive watch, and it doesn’t revel in the romance of travel or flaunt a colorful bezel like a GMT does. Its function is ostensibly straightforward enough – tell the time legibly in the air – yet the how and with what is so undefined that no singular complication or model is the obvious poster child from which all other designs are merely descendents. With a pilot’s watch, you can truly understand how brands flex their creativity and interpret what they see as an aviator’s invaluable tool. The three watches in the spotlight today may all fall under the same broad category, but each takes such a different approach that it wouldn’t be farfetched to have all three in a collection. It might even be a good idea.