Darkness. The alarm sounds in the dark. The idea bursts into warm dreams that the series of New Year holidays has passed. By touch we are looking for a phone and, squinting, we look at what time it is. You need to pull yourself together, focus and return to normal life. To work, study, household chores. We get up and have a quick breakfast. Urging sleepy children who are late for school, we are trying hard to decide which watch to wear today?
At the beginning of winter, I wanted to wear something round, vintage, in warm colors and on a belt. During the holidays, elegant winter or eccentric club options were asked for. Now, in anticipation of bright and light spring hours, for example, I want to have something discreet, smart-sporty and well readable on my hand. The clear greenish light of the phosphor is needed more than ever - there is a lot to do, but little light.
Usually divers are considered everyday sports watches. But this time we're going the other way! Not a very standard combination for the hero of our review, is it? .. But time is running out! Rather, we snap the bracelet of the new DELMA 41702.570.6.038.
Pilot's watches are one of the most powerful branches in the development of watch technology and design. They appeared when accurate and well-read time measuring instruments became necessary for the needs of aviation. At the moment, the standard of aviation style is the design of the B-Uhr (the so-called "Air Observer's Watch"), developed for the German Air Force during the Second World War. Personally, I used to find their strict instrumental design boring. But over time, I appreciated its conciseness, functionality and ... beauty.
I'll say more! I think that the “pilots” on the bracelet with good water resistance and date indication are an excellent, not trivial, version of a versatile everyday watch in a sport casual style. They are stricter and more accurate than divers. And they can be smaller. The most famous manufacturers of such products are IWC, Fortis, Sinn. Hamilton and Ball have good options. Among the Japanese, one can recall the legendary Nighthawk quartz line from CITIZEN.
Lately, I've been fascinated by the discreet and functional beauty of sky watches. Not surprisingly, when I received an offer to write a review of new models from DELMA, I became interested in the Comander Aero model on the bracelet.
The imposing satin-brushed watch case has a diameter of 45 mm. This is a tribute to history. Classic "pilots" should be large. The originators of the style were generally 55 mm in diameter and were worn over the sleeve of the jacket. The satin-brushed surface of the case and bezel is a sign of a true tool watch. Small scratches are not terrible.
A comfortable and grippy diamond-shaped crown completes the look. This is also a tribute to tradition. This form made it possible to work with the clock right in gloves.
Of the minuses, I would note some fuzziness, blurring of the edges of the case. At the same time, oddly enough, the bracelet shines with clear outlines. And even dilutes the modesty of the case finish with touches of polished links. A sapphire crystal with internal anti-glare covers the most distinctive design element - a black dial with contrasting white Arabic numerals and a "historical" inverted triangle with dots at 12 o'clock.
The arrows are white, wide and noticeably different in length. With the definition of time at twilight, we will definitely not be mistaken. By the way, about twilight. This is the most difficult test for the readability of the dial. It is at this moment, when the contrast is minimal, the lighting is poor and there are parasitic shadows and glare, that all the flaws in the watch's readability come out. The different length and width of the hands, the contrast of the dial markings, the clear positioning of the 12 o'clock position and, of course, the presence of a thick layer of good phosphor are just a necessary feature for real pilot watches. It is worth the light to hit the dial once, and in the next 12 hours the readings will be guaranteed to be readable.
The date window of non-standard design and the red second hand are some deviation from the canons, but they fit perfectly into the instrument image. I'm somewhat frustrated by the small size of the date digits and their location too close to the center. But this is unavoidable when using standard watch movements of small diameter.
By the way, about the mechanism. Inside the watch, behind the golden self-winding rotor, the balance of the Swiss movement Sellita SW200 beats. Nothing special, but the accuracy on my copy was decent: from +3 to +5 seconds per day in various positions. Not bad.
A busy day is ending. Things are done, plans for tomorrow are built, the children are sleeping and the darkness of the winter night is again outside the window. And on the nightstand, pilot watches phosphoresce like fireflies. And you can immediately see how much time is left until a new day. Perhaps their greenish glow will help us, without getting lost in time, to wait for a bright and warm spring.
