Description
These Gruen Airflight watches were used by pilots in the 1950s as they displayed conventional time, then after midnight, all the numerals in the apertures switch over to 24-hour time. The watches featured 24-hour dials, sweep second hands, and the numbers 1-12 on the outside of the dial and 13-24 on the inner ring to accommodate military time. This dial is original and has the added “CONTACT AA” wording and American Airlines logo. We are not certain if this logo was added by American Airlines after Gruen produced the watch as the quality of the print is not as fine as the rest of the original Gruen factory script on the dial. Our guess is that these watches were possibly used by AA employees or the print was added by the previous owner. We are simply unsure of this addition. One thing is for certain, it adds interest to the dial! Notice the original and interesting hands. The stainless steel screw-back case with base-metal top measures 35mm across. These white metal cases are harder to find than the more usual gold-filled varieties. The manual winding movement was cleaned and is accurate.
