OVER 250 guests – including retailers and clients – from around the world congregated in the Musée des Arts et Métiers (Arts and Crafts Museum) in Paris recently to celebrate the stellar PILOT collection by Zenith. Through this collection, Zenith is reasserting its legitimacy and its expertise in the field of aviation. The brand has indeed been accompanying aviation history from its beginnings by producing time measurement instruments used to help pilots in flying aircraft, notably including onboard counters. Since 1865, Zenith is the benchmark in terms of precision and reliability – twin qualities that are indispensable in the aeronautical field. Louis Blériot, the first man to fly over the Channel in 1909, who boasted about the accuracy of his Zenith watch in 1912: “I am extremely satisfied with the Zenith watch that I generally use and cannot recommend it too highly to people who are looking for precision”. The event witnessed the launch of three new models in the PILOT collection, which is a worthy and legitimate heir to the heyday of airborne conquest. Its mechanism features a concentrated blend of the historical expertise of the Manufacture and of the beauty that naturally follows in the wake of the freedom that is found in flight. Designed for devotees of aviation and of its history, as well as all those with a love of boundless vistas, the PILOT collection symbolizes discovery and exploration, the taste for adventure and the fulfillment it brings. The PILOT Montre d'Aéronef Type 20, a vibrant tribute to the free-spirited pioneers of the sky, echoes the finest airborne conquests of the early 20th century. Its 57.5 mm-diameter case made of titanium features a ratcheted easy-grip crown serving to wind and set the watch. The PILOT Big Date Special is resolutely geared towards functionality. Its design is inspired by a classical spirit and its technique honors the legendary El Primero movement born in 1969. The Pilot Big Date Special features a 42 mm case with polished and satin-brushed finishes that make a delightful contrast with a matt black dial. Finally the PILOT Doublematic is a open invitation to travel. This chronograph exercises infallible control over time and features an alarm function controlled by the push-button and the crown at 8 o'clock. The Pilot Doublematic also defies time differences thanks to its two discs simultaneously displaying the time in different parts of the world. Beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour and endowed with a 50-hour power reserve, the mechanical automatic El Primero Calibre 4046 may be admired through an openworked oscillating weight that is itself visible through the sapphire case-back. Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith earned swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence – an absolute record in terms of pocket watches, onboard timers and wristwatches. – SG
