After finding yesterday’s watch, I really had a taste to want to find an affordable 24 hour watch, which brings us to the example I found today from the Aviator watch brand. Aviator is actually a brand owned by the Volmax Corporation (along with Buran and Sturmanskie), and obviously is a Russian brand. While I can’t speak as to the heritage of the watches, today’s selected one is intriguing.
It’s the Aviator 2614/1225830, which is part of their Classic line. Unlike what we may be more used to calling a 24-hour watch (which is generally just a GMT hand), this watch actually features a 24 hour time scale on the dial. That means there will be a learning curve to reading the watch – but hey, what’s life without a little challenge?
The watch itself features a nice complement of functionality:
- 2614 mechanical movement (17 jewel) with a 42 hour power reserve and shock resistance
- Hours/minutes/seconds
- Date display
- 40mm case (10.5mm thick)
- Sapphire crystal
- Water resistance to 50m
- 20mm leather strap
Now, Aviator isn’t one of the bigger brands, so finding information on the watch, or even a place to buy it, proved a bit more difficult. From what I’ve been able to gather, this watch should come in at just under $300 – at least from what I could find with some online vendors.
At that price, it’s definitely not an impulse buy. For me, though, this has a great mix of styling (aside from the white background on the date display), and offers up the less-common 24 hour scale in packaging that would take the casual observer a second glance to catch what’s different with the watch. What say you? If you think there’s a better mechanical, 24-hour scale watch in this price range, let us know in the comments.
