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Rotary Ladies Ceramique Watch CEWBG/18

£126.50 inc. VAT

Rotary Gents Ultra Slim Collection GS08002/10

£189.00 inc. VAT

Rotary Gents Les Originales GB90018/05 Bracelet Watch

£224.00 inc. VAT

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Pilot watches

Pilot watches

Remarkably, the popularity of the wristwatch is only a relatively recent phenomenon and actually came about largely due to aviation and military needs. Although the wristwatch had already been invented (by Patek Philippe in 1868), at the turn of the twentieth century it was really only used as a lady’s bracelet and was worn as jewellery.

However, in 1904 a French watchmaker Louis Cartier was commissioned by the early aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont to design a watch that would be more practical than a pocket watch during flight. The first “aviator” or pilot watch was the “Santos” wristwatch. Wristwatches further gained popularity during the First World War due to their practicality during battle, and eventually such watches were manufactured en masse for both infantry and pilots.

Subsequent innovations to the pilot’s watch were the chronograph (a type of stop watch), and a tachymeter (a dial for measuring speed and distance). The functionality of both mean that many pilot watches also come with both a chronograph and a tachymeter.

Moores Jewellers offers a good range of pilot’s watches from the likes of popular watchmakers such as Casio, Citizen and Seiko, and as for all our watches we offer free same/next day delivery at the best prices on the web.