Included strap — Nylon strap · Negro · without logo · gold buckle
“Before radio beacons and satellites, a pilot knew where he was by looking at his watch”
— Swell Manifesto · Ground Swell
What we know about the 131, stated plainly. And what is not yet settled, stated just as plainly.
A round 42 mm steel case plated in 24 K gold: the proportions of a pilot’s watch, legible at a glance. The large fluted crown turns easily, even with cold fingers. On the reverse, a sapphire caseback reveals the mechanical movement
Olive-green lacquer over a grained base that can just be glimpsed beneath, with a fumé that deepens towards the edge, like fields passing beneath the wing. Eleven two-digit numerals and a faceted baton at every hour, applied in gilt metal. At 9 o’clock, the flat small seconds, finished with concentric snailed grooves, beats six times a second
From speed, heading, wind and time, a pilot would calculate his position on the map. It is called dead reckoning, and for decades it was the way to cross a sea or a cloud-covered sierra by night. That is why pilots’ watches have large numerals, legible at a glance, and a crown that can be turned with gloves on. The Estima wears the green of the fields passing beneath the wing as the minutes are counted
