Victorinox Swiss Army Airboss Mach 4 pilot’s watch

The new Victorinox Swiss Army Airboss Mach 4 pilot’s watch that was first presented in April will officially start selling in about a month.

Although mostly known for their high-quality Swiss army knives, the Swiss brand also sells very good wrist watches that, if properly serviced, work for years without giving their owners any trouble.

Since the brand has a very strong “militarist” aura about it, their best selling timepieces continue to be all sorts of pilot’s watches.

Powered by a pocket-watch-sized Unitas 6497 hand-wound caliber, the watch comes in a huge 45 mm stainless steel case. Although definitely oversized, the case nevertheless has one natural advantage: it provides lots of real estate for the dial.

In fact, the dial is so large that there is enough space for a huge seconds counter at 7 o’clock, a set of huge Arabic numerals and even for an inner rotating bezel of the Airboss. Operated by a separate crown at 2 o’clock, the bezel serves to track time between different events. Sorry, at this time of night I can’t really imagine, what kind of events an average owner of the watch is supposed to track with this 60-minute scale.

Of course, persons suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder will love the function.

The most interesting feature of the Airboss Mach 4 is its two-handed seconds indicator. Instead of one hand that completes one turn in 60 seconds, the watch has two hands pointing at two scales from 0 to 30 and from 30 to 60 seconds on the inner scale. I can not really say that it adds sufficiently to the watch’s usability, but at least it makes the watch fun to look at.

What I really love about the new Victorinox Swiss Army Airboss Mach 4 is how “un-German” it is! While many watchmakers draw their inspiration from the German WWII B-Uhr timekeepers, this one simply has its design based on an average altimeter gauge of an average aircraft.

While not terribly “historic,” it at least looks more original than dozens of “aviators” that you may find in an average brick and mortar shop.

Photos: Victorinox Swiss Army

Victorinox Swiss Army Airboss Mach 4 watch specification:

Price range: below €1000
Movement: Unitas 6497, hand-wound, 16.5 lignes
Complications: N/A
Power reserve: 56 hours
Case material: Stainless steel
Case size: 45 mm
Case height: N/A
Dial: Black
Water resistance: 100 m
Strap: Brown leather
Crystal: Sapphire, anti-reflective