Zenith Pilot Watches

Some of us are happy for our watches just to tell us what the time is, but some of us are not. There are a handful of people for whom a watch must display not only the time, but the date, the day, the month and even the phase of the moon. Entry to this club will set you back a few thousand pounds, but the upper end seemingly has no limit. Question is—can you tell the difference?

Now Baselworld 2019 has ended—and now we’ve got the big-hitters out of the way—it’s a chance to take a look at what caught our eye at this year’s show. So here they are, the best of the rest from Baselworld 2019.

If you’re just getting into watches, it won’t be long before you come across the El Primero. Meaning, ‘the first’, it was the name given by its creator, Zenith, to mark the creation of the world’s first integrated automatic chronograph movement. That was 50 years ago—there’s been a lot of progress since.

If the digital age has taught us anything, it’s that there’s something unquestionably appealing about analogue. Whether its hi-fi, photography, cars or watches, being in control of a machine with moving parts that we can manipulate and understand is inherently satisfying. But as technology moves forward, knowledge of the old ways wanes, some of it to be lost forever. It is our responsibility to pass that knowledge on to new generations of aficionados, our duty—so with that in mind, here are five things you must never do with your mechanical watch.