Blancpain Aviation Watch Is been Around Longer Than You Think

There’s a new Blancpain aviation watch and it’s been around longer than you think.

BLANCPAIN HAD A short but illustrious history making aviation watches for the French and American military. Around the same time that it was making Fifty Fathoms, the world’s first true dive watch, the company answered a call by the French Ministry of Defence. In the early 1950s, the ministry had issued a request for a high-precision chronograph that its pilots could use on missions.

As with all military-specified equipment, there was a stringent list of demands that the ideal watch needed to fulfil. Because it was to be used by fighter pilots in the cockpit and at all times of the day and night, legibility was key. The ministry stipulated that the watch must have a black dial with contrasting luminous hour-markers and hands. And because the timepiece was required to assist pilots in synchronising attacks, precision was also of utmost importance.

For this reason, the ministry required a flyback chronograph that allows multiple short laps to be taken instantaneously. In addition, the watch was to have a small seconds hand because every second counts in times of war.