It must prove to be extremely precise, and provide supreme legibility at all times – in the case of luminous designs, even in the dark. Pilot watch dials always use big numbers and/or indices. These requirements result in a couple of design features that are common to all aviation watches. Most pilot’s watches are reduced to a three-hand display of time and, apart from the historically significant chronograph, they usually have no other functions.
Cases are normally rather large, in order to give enough space to the usually light-colored numerals or indices on the dark dial. The bright hands are often diamond-shaped and the '12' is often marked with a triangle, so that we can instantly see where “up” is. In order to ensure legibility even at night, the numbers, indices, and hands are coated with luminous matter.
However, today there is a great variety of models that have additional functions. One example would be the second time zone function with date display, as found in the ADVOLAT FLIEGER GMT. The FLIEGER 8 Rattrapante Chronograph is intriguing, as it allows you to display split times while the stopwatch keeps on running. Dials do not necessarily have to be dark either, there are also bright dials with dark numerals, indices and hands. Even colored dials such as the ADVOLAT FLIEGER Rallye model are possible – all that matters is high contrast to ensure best legibility.
