Watches with a design that is inspired by the aviation-industry have always attracted me. The Rolex GMT II, Breitling Old Navitimer, Fortis Flieger, Revue Thommen Airspeed are all watches I really enjoy wearing. So when yesterday the latest addition to my collection arrived you can imagine how excited I was! Let me introduce the new acquisition, it is the Malvern Aviator limited edition by Christopher Ward:
The Aviator is a special edition that celibrates the 70th anniversary of the first pilot-watch, limited to 1936 pieces. (1936 was the year IWC introduced its first pilot watch).
Technical Details
First, let's have a look at the technical details:
- ETA 2824-2 movement with decorations
- Diameter: 38mm
- Height: 10.8mm
- Weight: 80g
- Case: Stainless steel with brushed finish (316L)
- Luminous hands and indexes
- Strap: 18mm Italian leather (black) (metal bracelet also available)
Case and crown
The Aviator is closely related to the Malvern Automatic and has the same case-design, only instead of the highly polished case, the Aviator has a beautifull brushed satin finish:
With 38mm (exl. crown) and a weight of 80 grams, the Aviator wears very comfortable on the wrist. The matte finish of the case gives it a more low-profile look when compared to the high polish of the Malvern automatic. When screwing the crown loose, the crown has the tendency to 'jump' to the second position, which is date-setting, so you have to be carefull when winding the watch and remember to check the correct position of the crown. The crown is slightly larger then the crown of the Malvern Automatic, which looks good for a 'flieger'-type watch and makes it easier to control the crown when using it.
Movement
Now lets have a closer look at the movement, the well known ETA 2824-2:
I own four different watches with this movement and see-thru caseback, but this one has by far the nicest decorations with the blued screws, open rotator with engraved logo, and bridges that have a very attractive circular graining. Notice the small imperfection on the blue screw that holds the rotor. I only noticed it on this close-up, it can't be seen very well with the naked eye.
After running for one day, it gained +4 seconds, which is normal. After a few months I will evaluate the accuracy again, and if necessary, the watch can be regulated very easily.
Dial and hands
As with the Malvern Automatic, the Aviator also has a dial consisting of two parts with a lowered inner part, giving the watch a 3-dimensional look. Add to this an extra detailed second-scale and large numbers for the hour-markers and you have a beautifully balanced design, not too much detail, but enough to make the watch interesting to look at.
The shape of the hands is inspired on the shape of the rotorblades of the Spitfire aircraft. Combined with the anti-reflective sapphire crystal and black dial it makes it very easy to read the time from this watch.
The luminous material on the hands and hour-markers makes it possible to use the Aviator in low-light situations.
Notice that the hands emit much more light than the hour-markers.
Strap & buckle
The buckle with CW-logo has the same satin finish as the case, the strap is made from "genuine leather" (as is printed on the inside), and has a matte finish on the outside.
The leather is very soft, therefore it fits closely on the wrist. A solid-steel bracelet is also available for the Aviator.
Conclusions
The Aviator is a great addition to my watch-collection. The watch wears very comfortable, is easy to read, and I enjoy the looks of it. If you consider the price, £165 (approx.: €242,47, $310,24) I think the Aviator gives exceptional value for money!
Hans
), prefering instead a simple quartz without complications. It's all you need. What's really special about the MA is the way it evokes famous watches of the Lindberg generation. I love it.
