When it comes to watch styles, the category to which a timepiece belongs (diver, field, dress, pilot, and so on) is more of an approximate categorization than a specific design prescription. Sure, dive watches use materials and sports features that make them well-suited to aquatic adventure, but their design doesn’t often seek to actually emulate diving per se. Unidirectional bezels and ceramic inserts that won’t get scratched by the bumps and knocks of a dive expedition? Definitely. Actually making the watch look like a vintage diving bell? Probably not. It’s this tendency that makes AVI-8 watches notable. For one, the UK-based microbrand is laser-focused on just one style of watch, devoting its efforts solely to pilot watches. And while it might seem this would limit the number of designs, AVI-8 takes the novel approach of basing its watches not on the “pilot’s watch” archetype but instead on the characteristics of planes themselves. It’s this method that helps make the brand’s latest capsule collection compelling, particularly the Lock Chronograph from the Spitfire lineup. Made in partnership with the Imperial War Museums, these limited edition watches blend heritage styling with modern performance in a design evocative of the legendary planes in the IWM’s historic collection.
The bi-compax meca-quartz chronograph at hand belongs to AVI-8’s Spitfire collection, as suggested by the broad, multi-layered dial and prominent bulbous push-pull crown. The latter is a signature of the lineup, as it mimics the stubby nose cone of the Supermarine Spitfires for which the watches are named. Noteworthy too are the dots and lines engraved vertically on each flank of the case. Framing the pushers on one side, this Easter egg design feature is reminiscent of the panels and rivets found on aircraft bodies. While planes made of heavy steel would never make it into the air, the stainless steel brushed case and polished pushers of this chronograph make for a perfect platform on which to deliver the watch. Helpful, too, are the curved lugs. Angled downward, they broaden the wearability of the 42mm case while a big, bubbly mineral crystal with blue anti-reflective coating sits atop. Very little of the 12mm overall thickness is attributable to the crystal, but its ability to distort the dial view at low angles lends a touch of old-school sensibility to a watch that’s overall quite vintage.
Layout-wise, the dial of the AV-4089-0B is similar to existing chronographs in the Spitfire collection with 3 and 9 o’clock subdials to indicate 60 minutes of elapsed time and a 24-hour scale, respectively. AVI-8 calls the chronos in the Spitfire lineup “Lock Chronographs,” a salute to storied Royal Air Force pilot, Eric “Sawn Off” Lock. A WWII flying ace, Lock was just 22 years old with 26 air victories when his Supermarine Spitfire Mk V went missing while returning from a mission near Pas-de-Calais in France. Further distinguishing the already distinguished watch, AVI-8 has named each reference in the Imperial War Museum collection after a location occupied by the IWM over its 107-year history. The AV-4089-0B bears the name “Bethlem,” the location of the IWM headquarters since 1936. This naming convention has the unintended but welcome side-effect of replacing clunky reference numbers with specific names, something that helps immensely when referring casually to watches.
In keeping with the Spitfire Lock Chronograph’s design, the Bethlem sports a prominently raised “zero” at the 12 o’clock position that matches the even-numbered hour markers aside from the 6 o’clock, which has been replaced by an orange-rimmed date window. Circular and with several stepped surfaces, it leads down to a white-on-black date indication that despite its depth is still easy to read. Thanks to the lack of a ticking seconds indication, the smooth motion of the movement’s chrono seconds hand might trick some into thinking this is a mechanical timepiece but a sharp-eyed reading of the words “meca-quartz movement,” printed around the date window reveals the only outward clue this isn’t an automatic watch. Between the raised numerals, printed black numbers mark the “05,” “25,” “35,” and “55” minute positions, helping to fill the Bethlem’s large dial.
Most interestingly, the stick markers and the raised numerals are painted with black lume that glows green in the dark. While it’s certainly not the brightest lume available, it’s enough to give context to the brightly treated hour and minute hands. These take on a stylized form. It’s clear they belong to a pilot watch, but the thin minutes hand isn’t too far off from those found on the instrument panel of Spitfire fighters. For its part, the orange and black chrono seconds hand is just long enough to indicate the quarter-second markings on the edge of the dial and its coloration helps keep the theme with the subdials at the Bethlem’s center. Here, a helpful minute track provides a level of redundancy typically only found in cockpits. Just as a piston-engine plane’s “six pack” instrument panel provides layers of backup in case one instrument fails, the Bethlem’s hour hand can be used to approximate the minutes. While it’s a feature that’s unlikely to ever be necessary, it proves AVI-8’s design which takes cues not from pilot watches as a category, but from planes themselves.
Securing the Spitfire Lock Chronograph is a style-appropriate leather strap with a distinct taper from the 22mm lugs to the 17mm clasp junction. It’s plenty long and stitched with white thread, but absent the steel rivets found on many pilot watches. The pin-buckle is smaller than those found on many pilot watches but still sturdy and emblazoned with the AVI-8 branding. The reverse of the watch shows a screwed caseback circled by engraved specs: 50 meters of water resistance, stainless steel construction, etc. It all surrounds the quadrilaterals that make up the Imperial War Museum logo above the “8” branding belonging to AVI-8. Where AVI-8’s designs are often head-turning affairs with bold and brazen styling, the Bethlem from the IWM capsule collection is an appropriately designed tribute to the men and machines that made history – and Britain’s foremost museum that commemorates them. The Bethlem is priced at $250 USD and will be available starting September 6, 2024. Learn more at the brand’s website.
