Sobre el Airman de Glycine, un poco de historia, algo larga pero creo que interesante (eso sí, en inglés):
A five page letter, written on airmail paper in 1953 marks the birth of the Glycine
Airman.
The letter was signed:
Hope to see you soon
Dein Freund
Sam.
Sam is short for Samuel W. Glur and the letter was addressed to Charles Hertig Sr.
who took over Glycine in 1953. Samuel was already his most important staff
member of the Altus Company. They had worked together for many years and
formed an inseparable team. To control business traveling was essential in those
days. The political tumult during his stay in Calcutta gave Samuel time to write
a long letter to Charles in Biel. In it we find a detailed report on price
development in the Far East. Market opportunities enriched with day-to-day life
stories during the fifties. No Internet or ATM machines. No quartz watches either!
The world was a big place but started to get smaller. On page 3 of Sam’s letter he
describes his meeting with chief-pilot Chat Brown during a flight from Bangkok to
Calcutta.
This is a translation of an important part of his letter:
“During most of my journey from Bangkok to Calcutta I was seated at the place of
the first Officer, next to the commander in a DC 4 from Thai Airways. The captain
explained to me in detail what kind of watch pilots from all nations would actually
need. According to him this watch is not on the market.
The specifics are:
Waterproof – Automatic - Calendar (CS F694 21jwls)
24-hour dial
Hour hand 1 x 360˚ revolution 24 Hour
Minute hand 1 x 360˚ revolution in 60 Min
Sweep second 1 x 360˚ revolution in 60 Sec
Outer dial, a rotating bezel with 24-hour division
More and more Greenwich Mean Time had become the standard flight time, giving
the pilot access to both time zones. (GMT + Local time). “The Tissot Navigator is
absolutely not the right watch for the job” explained chief pilot Chat Brown.
I believe we can build this watch without extra costs and sell it to Airline
Companies that issue standard watches to their pilots. Think about it. “
“The team of designers in cooperation with civil and military pilots”, a sentence
Glycine always mentions in their history, suddenly comes to life in this letter!
After Samuel returned from his trip to the Far East, Glycine’s first 24-hour watch
was developed and launched in the USA. In the 1950s a new model was developed
and presented within four months. At first there was only the white version
with pencil hands and the PM/AM model. It was a success in the USA and further
feedback provided the necessary adjustments to turn it into a world hit. It is
most likely that around 1955 the black version with the famous arrow hand was
presented in Basel. Rolex launched one of the first GMT watches with two hour
hands in 1954. Glycine therefore was a trendsetter in the field of pilot watches.
The Airman could display two time zones with just one hour hand and was therefore
easily manufactured without extra costs for the consumer.
This background gives us a better understanding as to why this small watch,
displaying only 24 hours, was sold in many tens of thousands in a 12 hour
dominated watch world. It was the world getting smaller. The civil airlines
and their growing number of passengers demanded a modern watch that was
equipped with:
-black 24-hour dial with luminous hands and markings for clear visibility
-rotating bezel for setting a second time zone
-hack second to synchronize time
-date display
-arrow hour hand
-automatic movement
-waterproof
Yo ninguno de los dos...