The Watches of Fighter Pilots
Which watches are worn when?
What do a James Bond villain, Mission: Impossible agent, and Pan Am pilot all have in common? All pilots who famously sported the Rolex GMT-Master II, AKA the “Pepsi”—a multi-time zone watch created and marketed specifically for pilots.
In the 1950s, jet aviation was exploding, so Pan Am World Airways contacted Rolex in search of a watch that could precisely track both cockpit time and multiple time zones during transcontinental flights. The iconic Pepsi was born, resulting in pilots and watches ever after being joined at the hip—or wrist.
But fancy watches are only for glamorous actors and fancy-schmancy commercial airline pilots staying at the Ritz, right?
Wrong.
Even the fastest man in the world, Chuck Yeager—the first human to break the sound barrier—wore the Pepsi Rolex as an Air Force fighter pilot.
Fast forward 70 years, and although cockpits have made massive technological gains, the need for a precise and reliable wristwatch remains as important as ever.
You won’t find many Rolexes hanging around ready rooms these days, but there’s no shortage of interesting timepieces worth talking about.
Which begs the question, in today’s day and age of military jet aviation: which type of watches do I see on most of my fellow F-18 drivers’ wrists?
Casio F91W Digital Watch
Without a doubt, the most commonly worn watch, the Casio F91W is cheap, reliable, and, most importantly, cheap. It’s nothing special, but it gets the job done. Compliant with secure rooms like a SCIF and durable enough to get banged up in the cockpit, nothing says “simple and professional” like the F91W.
Garmin Fenix
Coming in at a very close second is the Garmin Fenix line of watches. High speed and techy, the Fenix is a glorified Apple Watch that lets everyone else know you’re 100% in the military. “Still don’t believe me? Check my tattoo of this 3-masted ship!” What’s funny about the Fenix is that it was standard government-issued at one point for F-18 aircrew when the 18 was struggling with cabin decompression issues.
G-SHOCK
The more understated sibling to the Garmin Fenix wearer—still proudly carrying their fair share of military hubris. The G-SHOCK is a popular one, probably by the fellow who was deciding between becoming a SEAL or a pilot and… this was just a “better fit”. Riiight. Still a cool watch though, and thankfully tough enough to handle an air-conditioned cockpit.
Apple Watch
With 80% of iPhone users also owning an Apple Watch and Apple Watches making up 10-15% of all watches worldwide, it’s no surprise these watches are prevalent in naval jet aviation. Although certainly convenient, they’re just not that cool…
Breitling
I have to imagine a Breitling comes with a complimentary DCS World membership—these watches seem to be a favorite among the serious aviation crowd. And it makes sense. They’ve got the style and pedigree that appeal to pilots who know their stuff. At least, that’s how it looks from my perspective—someone who definitely doesn’t.
Shark Watch
I had never seen these before prior to getting into naval aviation and… for good reason? I think they’re either a cult classic or some type of surf watch. Maybe both. In any case, that does kind of check out because, I don’t know what it is, but a disproportionately large number of pilots dress like they’re all surfers from San Diego. Maybe they are. I think it’s more likely they share the same genetic mutation as those flight school students who move to Texas for Primary and all of a sudden decide to start wearing cowboy boots.
Rolex
Last on this list because, well, it’s a f$#king Rolex and they’re the OG. But WHO in the military is getting paid enough to justify flying with a Rolex, and does the IRS know about them? On top of all that, I have actually never seen a GMT on a fellow naval aviator, mostly Datejusts. Sad.
All this talk of watches, you know the crazy thing? There are some sick individuals out there who don’t wear one at all. I guess you can’t be late to push on timeline if you never know the time…
Are you a pilot? What watch do you wear?
Let me know down below if you think I missed one!
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