Tutima has launched the Flieger Friday Edition, a limited edition that echoes the German brand’s famed pilot watch from 1941. In place of the original’s brass case, Tutima cases the new model in satin-finished steel as it did with its vintage-inspired Ref. 783-01 Flieger model from the early 1990s. The case size of the new watch is the same as the 1941 model however, measuring 38.5 mm in diameter.
Just as importantly, however, to collectors of vintage pilot watches, Tutima retained all the original model’s significant tactile features. Thus, here we find a bi-directional, fluted, rotating bezel with red reference marker. In addition, Tutima has designed the watch’s large cathedral hands to match the original. The dial features the Tutima logo and numerals in the watch’s original fonts.
Equally impressive to purists is the movement, which, like the 1941 edition, is built from a Valjoux 7760 chronograph caliber that Tutima enhances with a flyback function. In its original run, the movement was known as Caliber 59 and was the first German-made two-pusher flyback chronograph wristwatch. Today, Tutima refers to it simply by its base manual-wind caliber, now made to modern specifications by ETA, and again enhances it with a flyback function.
Updates
Tutima has also updated other features on the watch, including the illumination of hands and markers. All are now treated with a bright SuperLuminova compound. Similarly, Tutima has coated the domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating for maximum legibility.
Also new, the caseback is fitted with a sapphire crystal to better showcase the gold-plated bridge Tutima has placed in the ETA Valjoux 7760 caliber. The clear back also exposes the Tutima engraving. The 1941 original was housed in a nickel-plated brass case with screw-down caseback.
The limited-edition new member of Tutima’s Flieger collection comes with a vintage pilot style leather strap. Each of the 25 editions are individually numbered and engraved, and all arrive with a printed certificate of authenticity.
Price: $3,450
Specifications: Tutima Flieger Friday Chronograph Limited-Edition
Case: 38.5mm x 15.5mm steel with steel, fluted, bi-directional bezel. Water resistance to 100 meters.
Movement: Manual-wind ETA Valjoux 7760 modified by Tutima, 28,800 VPH, 48-hour power reserve, gold-plated bridge and Tutima engraving.
Dial: Displaying hours, minutes, small seconds, central chronograph seconds
Strap: Vintage pilot leather strap
Price: $3,450
