It seems that I’ve been having a lot of Flieger-style (or Flinger-Inspired) watches crossing my virtual desk these days. Many of these have taken other designs and mixed it up with a Flieger handset. IF you want something that is a bit more of a traditional, barebones style Flieger, then the Altitude Pilot Watch may be the one for you.
As you can see, this is very much the “pure” interpretation of a Type A Flieger – the 40mm case has a matte finish, into which is set a black dial with crisp white (luminous) numerals and indices, as well as the iconic dotted triangle. Over that spins the (also iconic) recognizable elongated diamond-shape handset. What’s interesting here is that, often times, the hands are outlined in blue to help set them off from the black dial. Here, it appears that they’re just polished, which gives things a subtler look.
Tucked into the case of the Altitude Pilot Watch is a Japanese Quartz movement. It’s not one I’ve heard of before, but quartz is quartz, and it’ll keep chugging along so long as the button cell has juice. With quartz, you might be expecting that the pricing will be kept low. What you might not expect is just how low – early bird pricing starts at just $41 (for the first 50 pieces) and then goes up to $48 (for the next 50), which includes the leather strap and carry pouch.
Why is the pricing on the Altitude Pilot Watch so low? Well, the brand is taking the crowdsourcing platform name literally, and they’re using this initial 100 piece order to kickstart the production line. Presumably, once things hit their stride, the watches will be available through more normal channels (say, their website) with pricing expected to be somewhere in the $125-150 range (so, you’ve got about a 70% discount if you get one now). Frankly, at these prices, it’s a pretty low-risk bet you’re putting down. Just move quickly – the project wraps up on August 1st (delivery is anticipated for October 2019), and the project sits at 117% funded as of this writing. project page
Watch Overview
- Brand & Model: Altitude Pilot Watch
- Price: Earlybird pricing starts at $41
- Who we think it might be for: You like the idea of helping a brand start out, you like Fliegers, and you want a low dollar bet on a brand being able to deliver
- Would I buy one for myself based on what I’ve seen? At this price for a no-nonsense quartz watch? It’s tempting!
- If I could make one design suggestion, it would be:Don’t be afraid to put color on the hands – and see about upping that WR rating as well.
- What spoke to me the most about this watch: Clean, simple, and reliable, all at a super low price.
Tech Specs from Altitude
- 40mm Diameter Watch Case (48mm lug-to-lug)
- Japanese Quartz Movement (PC-21)
- Leather Strap
- Luminescent Hands
- 3 ATM Water Resistant
