Indian brand Bangalore Watch Company is continuing its celebration of Indian culture and heritage. Following its original dress watch release, the brand pivoted towards watches that it used as a platform to honor its national identity. It paid homage to cricket, the Indian space program, and multiple branches of the military. The brand released its first pilot watch four years ago, the MACH 1. Since then, it’s been revised into a second version, which has seen six iterations, including the pink “Silk Scarf.” Now, the brand is releasing a new white dial model that tips its hat to the high-altitude helicopter rescue teams of the Indian Air Force, the Bangalore Watch Company MACH 1 Avalanche.
The MACH 1 Avalanche maintains the stainless steel matte black PVD case that has defined many models of the MACH 1. The case measures 40mm in diameter with a 46.5mm lug-to-lug and a very wearable 10.8mm thickness. In my experience with several MACH 1 models, the watches wear well on most wrists. The case features a sapphire crystal and 100m water resistance. Perhaps most notably, the crown is shaped like the afterburner of the MiG jets used by the Indian Air Force, an element I’ve always appreciated since it was introduced with the first version. The watch will be paired with a quick-release black leather strap with matching hardware and also includes the pictured red nylon strap.
The dial is what’s new on the MACH 1 Avalanche. In creating the Avalanche, Bangalore Watch Company sought to capture some of the most daring personnel in the Indian Air Force, those charged with flying helicopter missions for reconnaissance, resupply, and rescue in the towering Himalayas. The Himalayas are home to 1600 peaks that measure more than 6000m, a challenging topography for helicopter pilots. The dial of the Avalanche is what the brand calls Frostpeak, a striking white with a motif de grain that gives it the texture of freshly fallen snow, mimicking the icy arêtes of the world’s tallest mountain range. Like other MACH 1 models, it features the Indian Air Force fin flash at 9 o’clock, the company’s name and applied logo at 3 o’clock, and a cutout date at 6 with a black date wheel (which I personally wish was white to go with the dial). The handset appears to bring the most pop: taking inspiration from the airspeed indicators and bright red contours of mountain rescue helicopters, the alternating red and white minute hand is paired with a white hour hand, while the black seconds hand features a slim triangular tip. C3 Super-LumiNova is applied on both hands and in small pips at each hour.
The MACH 1 Avalanche features a screw-down caseback with an illustration of a rescue chopper over the Himalayas, under which beats the automatic Swiss Sellita SW200-1. This well-known reliable movement features a minimum power reserve of 38 hours at 28,800 vph, though average daily PR is quoted at 41 hours. No complaints.
This expansion of the MACH 1 series and the BWC catalog as a whole makes plenty of sense and allows the brand to introduce a white dial, which no one will complain about. The MACH 1 has been the most successful model for the brand, and this will likely only extend that success. For my part, I’m curious to see what the next entirely new model is and what part of Indian history and heritage it will celebrate. The Bangalore Watch Company MACH 1 Avalanche is priced at$1,200 USD. For more information, please visit the Bangalore Watch Company website.
