Review of Fortis B-42 GMT/Chronograph Automatic

Model # 643.10.172 (discontinued)

Brand/Model:  Fortis B-42 GMT/Chronograph Automatic

Movement:  Swiss automatic

Material:  stainless steel case and bracelet

Complications:  date display, 24-hour GMT hand (independently adjustable), chronograph timing in one-second increments up to 12 hours

Price:  MSRP around $4,500 USD (when sold new, now discontinued)

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

This Fortis B-42 GMT/chronograph automatic may look familiar to regular readers of this blog, as it was featured as the main page photograph for a good many months.  People really seem to react to the look of this watch, with its stunning blue hands and blue bezel, it is hard to resist.  Even though this watch is now discontinued, I’ve been wanting to review it, because it is a superb piece and Fortis does make similar models now.  This also happens to be a very photogenic watch, so please enjoy the pictures!

The B-42 line from Fortis is quite varied, with standard and chronograph models both available, along with alarm and GMT complications.  This particular B-42 GMT/chronograph is a very rare piece; it was offered in the silver/white dial with blue hands both with and without the rotating bezel.  I believe the model being reviewed here is the rarer of the two.

For starters, this is a heavy and substantial watch, which is fine, but be forewarned if you dislike big stainless steel chunks sitting on your wrist.  The all stainless steel case is finely brushed and lends a nice tool-like look to this watch.  The case measures 44mm without the large, signed and non-screw down crown; 48.1mm crown included.  The crown itself measures 8.4mm in diameter.  Although these dimensions sound large, the watch does not wear overly large nor does it look clownish on the wrist.  This is partly due to the relatively short lugs, with a lug-tip to lug-tip measurement of just 52.6mm.

Lug spacing is 20mm, case thickness is 15.4mm.  While 20mm lugs may sound dainty on a 44mm sized watch, the bracelet is a continuous width design and fairly chunky, so it matches the size and heft of the watch well. 

The caseback is a screwdown display type that shows off the automatic movement with signed Fortis rotor with blue accents.  Fairly nifty. 

Build quality is generally good, along with fit and finish, but I do know some owners of this watch that have had the blue finish on the arabics start to deteriorate.  Mine is fine thus far.

This B-42 GMT/chronograph is factory rated for 200 meters of water resistance and does so without a screwdown crown.  Many people think a screwdown crown is a necessity for water resistance (especially at this depth) but the main function of a screwdown crown is to insure that the crown does not get pulled out, thus stopping the watch during an underwater maneuver.  Gasket design, construction and utilization make a watch water resistant and I have no doubt this Fortis would survive the wet and wild depths without any problems.

The chronograph pushers are large and round, which makes them easy to use.  Overall, there is nothing superfluous about the construction of this watch, it all makes sense and looks good doing it.

The dial is a light silver which trends towards white in most light.  It offers a nice contrast to the blue applied arabics on the dial, along with the blue hands and blue bezel.  The hour and minute hands are blue skeleton type, with luminous pointer tips.  The 24-hour GMT hand is a simple black stick with a pointer tip in a lighter shade of blue. 

The subdials on the watch (subdial at 9 is the watch seconds hand, subdial at 12 is the 30-minute chronograph totalizer and the subdial at 6 is the chronograph 12-hour totalizer) are ever so slightly recessed on the dial and are presented with simple black printing with blue hands.  The chronograph seconds hand is blue with a lume dot about two-thirds of the way up its shaft.

There are small square lume blocks at each five minute mark on the dial and a lume triangle at the 12 position.  Although the lume on this watch is rather sparse, it does a decent job; I rate the lume as ‘good’ according to my unofficial lume-o-meter (my eyes).

Minimal dial printing (always a good thing to me) consists of the Fortis name and crown logo just above the date window at 3, a printed ‘GMT’ to the left of the date window and very small wording below the date window of ‘chronograph’ and ‘automatic.’

A couple of notes on the dial.  A quickset date is at the three position, with a standard black on white date wheel.  Alignment of the date wheel within the window is good.  To the right of the date window is a black triangle pointer and to the left of the GMT printing is a blue triangle pointer. 

Fortis had the foresight to use these pointers as a reminder which way to turn the crown to set the appropriate complication.  In this case, turn the crown clockwise in the first-click setting position to set the date and turn the crown counter-clockwise in the first-click setting position to rotate the 24-hour GMT hand to the desired timezone position.

The arrows are a nice touch, especially since 7750-based GMT watches work opposite of a standard ETA 2893-1 GMT movement, where the GMT hand is set by turning the crown clockwise and the date is set by turning the crown the other way.  This is primarily because the 7750 was not designed to be a GMT movement, but can be used as a GMT by removing the day wheel complication and replacing it with a GMT hand.  A simple and effective way to gain GMT functionality.

The other item of note on the dial is the way Fortis decided to present the GMT format.  Instead of having the 24-hour chapter ring run from 1 to 24 hours starting at the 12 (or midnight) position, they have made the chapter ring run from 12 to 24 hours from the 12 to the 6 position and 1 to 12 hours back from the 6 to the 12 position.  This countdown style may be a preferred method for some pilots or ship captains, although I really don’t know.  Of all the GMT watches in my collection, this is the only one that presents the 24-hour GMT track in this fashion.

There are also small black minute arabics just inside the 24-hour GMT track, with plain black markers for the remainder of the minutes.  The small minute arabics tend to compete with the GMT hour markers, because they are the same size and color.  A bit distracting at first and not a huge error, but something worth mentioning anyway.

Topping the dial is a flat sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating.  The beautiful blue bezel is a 120-click unidirectional style with a lume pip at the 12 and standard markings; arabics every 10 minutes with hash marks for the other minutes.  The bezel is easy to rotate but does has a bit of backlash.

Overall, the dial, while conveying a lot of information, is a clean and easy-to read layout.  The chronograph seconds hand is a bit hard to see at times if you’re not tracking its movement by its lume ball, but otherwise, I have no real complaints about the dial.  And with all the blue hands, it looks absolutely stunning.

Inside the B-42 GMT/chronograph is the well-regarded Valjoux 7750 Swiss Made automatic chronograph movement, modified for the GMT complication as mentioned earlier.  All functions on this watch (chronograph start/stop/reset, GMT hand setting, date setting, winding, etc.) all work well.  Of course, the movement hacks and manually winds (easy to do with the large crown) and runs extremely well in this example.  Power reserve is a good 49-¼ hours and accuracy has been measured at plus or minus a couple seconds a day both on and off the wrist.

The bracelet is very nice on this B-42.  It is a fully brushed, solid link stainless steel design with solid end links, a signed double locking clasp with machined deployant and a stamped steel dive extension.  There are five micro-adjustments on the clasp and since the links themselves are rather narrow, there is no need for any half-links.

The bracelet measures 20mm at the lugs with no taper to the clasp.  Two things I love about this bracelet are the easy to adjust links with screwbars and a screw on one end and the awesome screwbar arrangement that secures the bracelet to the watch head. 

As many of you know, removing or installing a bracelet on a watch that uses standard spring bars can be a temper-testing exercise.  Fortis uses robust screw bars that can only be inserted one way into the watch lugs and it is a cinch to insert these bars through the bracelet ends and secure the bar with the large end screw.  Very slick!

While this B-42 model is discontinued, it is well worth seeking out.  It combines no-nonsense tool watch personality with superb functionality and a great look (gotta love that blue!) that will make it a star in any collection.  A real winner from Fortis, too bad it was discontinued.

Pros: easy to use functionality, great blue-tone hands and bezel, large crown, hefty size and weight but not overly so, accurate and reliable Swiss engine

Cons:  perhaps a bit too chunky for some, odd ergonomics in relation to the GMT chapter ring, could use a bit more lume, pricey when new

Verdict:  a super functional, super attractive GMT/chronograph that is a strong value on the used market, providing you can find one.  Well worth seeking out, this Fortis B-42 is a winner on almost every level.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics.

Excelsior!

-Marc

Review of AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane Automatic Pilot Watch

Model # AVI-4016-02

Brand/Model:  AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane

Movement:  Chinese automatic

Material:  stainless steel case, leather strap

Complications:  date display

Price:  MSRP:  $520 USD

Plenty of photos follow the review. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

When a representative from the AVI-8 watch company contacted me about doing a review on one of their watches, I was quite excited.  What’s this?  A watch company that has a wide range of nifty looking watches that I have never heard of?  Great, bring it on! 

AVI-8 is a British company that sells a lot of their watches in the UK, but also has distribution in the U.S.  Their watches can also be found at a considerable discount off MSRP at Amazon.

The AVI-8 web site is well done, the range of pilot watches and chronographs they produce is impressive, with styles that are their own; there aren’t really any homage-type pieces in their collection, which is refreshing.  They make both quartz and automatic watches and I was interested in reviewing one of their popular Hawker Hurricane automatics.

This model is named after the Hawker Hurricane airplane, which was the first monoplane fighter to enter service into the Royal Airforce (RAF) in Britain according to an information card included with the watch.  Powered by a Rolls Royce engine, the Hurricane was the first RAF fighter to exceed 300 mph.

While the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane watch doesn’t go 300 mph, it does hold its own on your wrist.  Starting with a brushed stainless steel case that measures a healthy 46mm without the large knurled crown, the Hawker Hurricane does make a statement when worn.  The big crown enables easy setting and winding and is embossed with the AVI-8 bulls eye logo.

The watch measures 50.8mm including the crown.  Lug width is 22mm, case thickness is 13mm.  While this watch is ‘large’ by most people’s standards, it is in keeping with the trend toward 45mm and larger watches.  More importantly, it really doesn’t look clownish on the wrist, which is a testament to its overall subdued style, as there are no garish touches that so many other watches have these days.  In a word, it’s ‘clean.’

The caseback is a screw down display type with a polished stainless steel outer edge.  The movement is really nothing special to look at; it’s undecorated and the rotor is not signed or stylized in any way, so what’s the point of putting a display back on this watch?  It would be much nicer if AVI-8 installed a solid caseback instead, emblazoned with a graphic of a Hawker Hurricane fighter.

The Hawker Hurricane pilot automatic is factory rated for a modest 50 meters of water resistance.

Overall fit and finish on this piece is good, with no unduly sharp edges on the case or dirt or other discrepancies noted on the dial under an 8X loupe exam.  One of the plates on the movement had some discoloration or smudging on it, but it didn’t affect the movement’s performance.

The dial is quite interesting on this watch.  The field of the dial has a textured, slightly pebbly black finish with an overlayed chapter ring that has the luminous minute and hour markers on it, with a luminous triangle with a dot on either side located at the 12 position.

At the 3 position is a rather small round date window ringed in silver.  The date window is a tad bit too small, as it almost obscures part of the date wheel, especially when the date is in double digits.  A larger date window is required here.  The date wheel itself is black on white and alignment within the small porthole is good.  Quickset date action through the crown works fine.

The hour and minute hands are semi-sword style and are black with inset lume.  The seconds subdial located at the 9 position (making this watch in popular parlance a ‘nine-eater’) is surrounded by a screwed down silver frame, adding a bit of flair to the dial.  The subseconds dial has small arabics every 10 minutes, with hash marks for the rest of the dial.  The seconds hand is black with inset lume.

All the lume on this watch is green colored in normal light, which at first I wasn’t too crazy about.  I like lume on a watch, but sometimes if it’s too greenish in daylight, it detracts from the overall look of the piece.  I’ve grown accustomed to the green lume on the Hawker Hurricane and in the dark, the lume quality is acceptable.

The rest of the dial is nice and clean, with ‘AVI-8’ and ‘Hawker Hurricane’ under the 12 position and ‘automatic’ above the 6 position.  The balance of the dial is slightly off-kilter due to the large subseconds dial on the left and the small date window on the right, but it’s not a major distraction and actually helps give this watch its own sense of style.

Capping the dial is a flat mineral crystal set perfectly into the case, with no distortion or defects noted.

Inside the Hawker Hurricane is a Chinese automatic movement, a DG-3809-3D, which AVI-8 tells me is a ‘modified Seagull movement.’  Beating at 21,600 bph, the movement hacks and manually winds.  Setting, winding and overall operation of the movement has been fine.  Accuracy has averaged about +10 seconds/24 hours (even better on the wrist), which is completely acceptable for this movement type.  Power reserve is a very fine 49 hours. 

I still have reservations on the long-term durability and reliability of Chinese-made automatic movements, but so far, the one in this Hawker Hurricane has acquitted itself quite well.

One pleasant surprise with the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane is the quality of the leather strap that comes on the watch.  It’s a smooth dark brown leather with white contrast stitching, not really padded, but quite thick.  Many times thick straps are too unwieldy, but this one has enough give to make it properly hug your wrist, even with the large size of the watch itself.

The strap is signed on the inside and has a brushed stainless steel buckle signed with the AVI-8 name.  Two keepers, one fixed and one floating keep everything in check. The strap measures 22mm at the lugs and tapers slightly to about 21mm at the buckle.  The end of the strap is squared off with rounded edges, which is a nice touch.  The strap also doesn’t have any offensive odors to it.  Sometimes, cheaper leather straps smell like a wet dog, but this strap is a quality piece that compliments the watch well.

Presentation is another strong point with the Hawker Hurricane.  A white cardboard outer box with a brown padded and stitched leather-like inner box with a snap tab closure contains the watch.  Inside this padded box is the watch, hang tag, watch pillow, instruction manual, warranty card (a two-year warranty is standard) and the Hawker Hurricane info. card mentioned earlier.

The way the box is designed, the top half lays practically flat when opened, so you could use it as a small jewelry box or watch holder on a dresser top if desired.  At last, a watch box that can be used for something useful instead of being relegated to a dark closet shelf.

Overall, the AVI-8 Hawker Hurricane is a smartly styled affordable (when bought at a discount) pilot watch that certainly has its own unique look.  It wears surprisingly well for its size and has enough flair to keep up in today’s frenetic world.  Props to AVI-8 (pun intended?) for coming up with watches that have interesting designs, good quality and nice features in the crowded watch world.

Pros: a watch that has its own design style, large crown makes operation easy, nice quality leather strap, easy to read dial and hands

Cons:  modest water resistance, a solid caseback is preferred, date window too small, case size still too large for some

Verdict:  stylish and bold but not brash, this Hawker Hurricane automatic pilot watch shows that AVI-8 is serious about bringing an affordable alternative to the crowded field of ‘me-too’ homage watches and other look-alikes.  Cheers! to the company for making a pilot watch that stands on its own.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the pics.

Excelsior!

-Marc