Model # GL0074
Brand/Model: Glycine Airman SST-12
Automatic GMT
Movement: Swiss automatic
Material: stainless steel case
and stainless steel mesh bracelet
Complications: date display,
independently adjustable GMT hand, inner rotating 24-hour bezel
Price: approx. $2640 USD (can be found heavily
discounted)
Plenty of photos follow the review.
Click on the pictures to enlarge.
About two years
ago, the Invicta Watch Group purchased the Swiss watch company Glycine, presumably
to give themselves more of an ‘in’ with the genuine Swiss-made watch market and
because many Swiss makers are struggling these days and I’m sure the price was
right. I won’t go into the whys and
maybes associated with the acquisition, but I am glad that since the deal was
done, existing stocks of Glycine watches have gone down in price and can be had
at ‘steal’ prices at many retailers online.
Glycine was founded
in 1914 and was for the majority of time a small, independent watchmaker that
made its name with the iconic Airman series of 24-hour and GMT pilot watches
that made their debut in 1953. There are
far too many variations of the Airman line to dissect here, but if you’re
looking for a true GMT watch that can track up to three timezones at once or a
true 24-hour format watch with GMT capability, look no further than the Airman.
I have previously
owned a 24-hour format Airman (the hands make one full rotation every 24 hours
instead to two (a.m./p.m.) and it was a nice piece (reviewed by me on this
blog, May 2012); I just never warmed up to nor needed the 24 hour format.
As I do enjoy a
watch with a GMT complication, I’m always looking for another one to add to my
collection and when the Airman SST that is the subject of this review popped up
at a great price, I pulled the trigger and haven’t looked back, as it’s a
superb piece.
And before we go
any further, I wanted to make it clear that this model of Airman is a standard
12-hour timepiece, with a.m. and p.m. cycles and is part of Glycine’s ‘Vintage’
Airman series.
The Glycine Airman
SST-12 starts with a stainless steel cushion-style case that is polished on the
sides and finely brushed on the top. The
case measures about 42.4mm without the perfectly sized signed and screwdown crown;
46.7mm crown inclusive. Overall height
is 46.4mm which makes for a nice placement on the wrist. The curve of the case hugs the wrist extremely well.
Case thickness is a
relatively svelte 11.1mm with lug spacing at 22mm. The polished caseback screws down and
displays a beautifully embossed design of a supersonic Concorde jet with a
polished relief and a satin grey background.
Super cool.
The crown at three
is the watch setting crown, which is signed and screws down with about four
full turns. The crown is a bit wobbly
when fully extended, which is a bit odd, but it never feels like it’s about to
fall out.
There is also a
screwhead slotted crown at the two position, which is used to turn the inner
24-hour rotating bezel. This crown is
very stiff, so once it’s moved to the desired position, it will stay put. Glycine supplies a nickel-sized ‘coin’ that
fits into the slotted crown to rotate the bezel (see photo). You could use something else, but this ‘coin’
fits perfectly and looks pretty cool as well, as it’s emblazoned with the
Glycine name and SST nomenclature.
Fit and finish on
the watch is strong, and the quality of the mesh bracelet (to be discussed
shortly) is great. This watch is very comfortable to wear, in part due to the
very comfy bracelet.
The Glycine Airman
SST-12 is factory rated for 20 ATM of water resistance.
Part of what drew
me to this particular model Airman is the color of the dial. I’m one of those watch guys that dig lighter
color dials, like white, ivory and cream and while the dial on this watch is
not entirely one of those shades, it is close, more like silvery cream. It’s a very pleasing hue.
While the dial
might look plenty busy with all the arabics on it (and regular readers will
know I don’t like overly busy dials) this watch is actually very legible and
not confusing to look at. The outer
track of the dial is a 24-hour chapter ring with orange numbers, with another
24-hour ring with black numbers that is the inner rotating bezel controlled by
the screwhead slotted crown at the 2 o’clock position.
On the inside of
the first chapter ring are hash marks for the seconds and standard arabics
every five minutes, both in black. Lumed
rectangles are also positioned above each of the black arabics, with small lume
dots between each five minute arabic.
Below the 12
position is the Glycine crown logo (printed, not applied), ‘Glycine’ and
‘Airman’ all in small black type. Other
than a small ‘Swiss Made’ at the bottom of the dial, there’s also ‘Automatic’
above the six position and small AM and PM markings in orange (AM on the center
right and PM on the center left.
I know this dial
sounds like there’s a lot going on, but trust me, it all works together nicely. And remember, all this info on the dial means
you can track three timezones at once.
The hands are
simple stick style, done in silver with inset lume. The seconds hand is a simple silver stick as
well, with a lume ball about two-thirds of the way up. A red arrow-style GMT hand extends all the
way to the inside of the 24-hour rotating track.
While there’s not
an abundance of lume on this watch, what there is appears to be of good quality. The hands glow green and the rest of the markers are a green-blue.
A quickset date is
at the three position, with a black on white date wheel. Alignment of the date wheel in the window is
fine and the quickset date mechanism functions perfectly.
A flat sapphire
crystal caps the dial with three layers of anti-reflective coating on the
underside.
There is also a
fixed polished bezel (really more of a thin ring or rim) that has 14 sides to
it and pretty much blends into the case and doesn’t stand out or distract. One small nit to pick (at least to my fussy
self) is that this bezel could be aligned a smidge better, so that the flat part
of one of the sides is even with the top of the watch. As you will see if you look closely in my
pictures that it’s every so slight crooked, but most people won’t notice it or
be bothered by it. It doesn’t bug me,
but I wanted to make mention of it nonetheless.
Inside the Airman
SST-12 is the venerable ETA 2893-2 Swiss made automatic movement (Glycine
caliber GL 293 with decorated Glycine rotor).
This is a great movement, proven in many different brands of watches and
keeps great time.
The GL 293/2893-2
runs in 21 jewels and beats at 28,800 vph.
I have read that due to the case size on some of the Glycine Airmans
that there is a spacer to have the movement fit properly inside the case, but
seeing that the caseback is solid on this watch and I don’t want to open it up
to look, I will leave it at that.
Besides, spacers don’t bother me as they seem to do some people.
The GL 293 inside
my Airman winds silently and sets properly, hacks and keeps outstanding
time. During testing in my atelier, it
ran at +1 second over 24 hours in the crown up position, and also keeps this
excellent time on the wrist as well.
Outstanding! Power reserve is
equally impressive, clocking in at 50 ¼ hours of run time on a full wind.
As with all ETA
2893-2 movements, the third GMT hand sets with the crown in the date setting
position. You rotate the crown up
(clockwise) to set the GMT hand in one hour increments.
Overall, I have
zero complaints about the engine in the SST-12 and it should provide years of
reliable, accurate timekeeping.
Another design
feature of the SST-12 that attracted me to this watch is the inclusion of a
mesh bracelet. As many WISes know, mesh
bracelets come in a wide variety of styles and adjustment schemes. This is a finer style mesh (fine chainmail or
milanese type) that looks great and gives a dressier feel to this watch. The bracelet is finely polished, but not
glaringly so, and is fairly flexible so fitment is not a problem. The bracelet is 2.5mm thick.
The bracelet
measures 22mm at both the lug and clasp ends.
The lug ends are nicely capped where the spring bar fits through and the
clasp is a signed double locking type.
What I particularly like about this style of mesh is that there are no
links to remove, you simply release the ‘lock’ or clamp on the inside of the
clasp and slide the opposite end of the bracelet through the clasp to the
desired fitment and re-secure the clamp, no muss or fuss for a perfect fit. The bracelet is comfortable and does not pull
any hairs.
Presentation is
standard, a black cardboard outer box with the Glycine logo and a black inner
box with the instructions and warranty in a separate envelope. A clean and straightforward setup.
I have owned
several Glycine watches over the years and have always found them to be quality
pieces with some unique design elements and this Airman SST-12 is no
exception. For one, it’s not a watch
that you see every day, even with the storied history of the Airman line. This watch is well built, keeps exceptional
time and has very useful timezone tracking features for those who need such a
feature, or those like me that just think it’s a cool watch that looks great
and has some history behind it. Grab one
while you can and enjoy it to the max.
Pros: storied
watch series from an established Swiss brand, robust Swiss engine with superb
accuracy, super nice bracelet, true multi-timezone capability, great overall
look
Cons: dial
might be too busy for some, top bezel ring could be aligned a smidge better,
could use more lume
Verdict: it
doesn’t get much more iconic than an Airman from Glycine, no matter with flavor
you choose, an excellent choice for pilots or anyone who wants a GMT watch with
a story and one that will deliver the goods year after year. Simply a superb watch!
Thanks for reading
and enjoy the pics.
Excelsior!
-Marc
