Reservoir pays tribute to Eugene Bullard, an African-American pilot who fought for France during World War I, with the new Reservoir Black Sparrow, the latest model in the French watchmaker’s retrograde minute, jump hour collection.
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The U.S.-born Bullard carried out around twenty aerial combat missions during WW1 and was described as a “true French hero” by Général de Gaulle, earning the nickname “The Black Sparrow of Death”.
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Reservoir designed the Black Sparrow’s dials to recall the colors and styles of WWI cockpits, which collectors may also recognize from early 20th century pilot watches.
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All maintain the Reservoir jump hour dial layout, which indicates minutes via a large hand sweeping 240-degrees across the dial and jumping back to restart each hour. Hours are shown digitally in the aperture at the 6 o’clock position.
The launch encompasses a new 42mm steel or black PVD case and black or sand-colored dials with Art Nouveau-inspired luminescent numerals. Reservoir mounts these on a black or brown Barenia leather strap.
All the debuts picture a propeller and wings laser-printed onto the watch’s clear sapphire caseback. Reservoir explains that the propeller and wings is a popular military insignia used to identify various aviation-related military units especially the French Aeronautique Militaire.
Through that back you’ll see the Reservoir Caliber RSV-240, the watchmaker’s latest update of its signature jump-hour movement.
Introduced last year, the caliber is made in association with the Swiss engine manufacture TELOS. The automatic caliber makes use of a La Joux-Perret LJP-G100 base with a proprietary 113-piece module. With the new Caliber RSV-240, power reserve jumps to an impressive fifty-six hours
Price: $3,800.