A review of the new RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph watch
Thursday - 31 August 2023
The new Airfight Chronograph watch is RESERVOIR’s WWII P-51 Mustang-inspired model. As the brand’s first aviation chronograph, its special nods to the gauges and measuring scales seen in the Mustang’s cockpit make it a truly unique collectable to get your hands on this year.
If you haven’t done so already, it’s probably time to give RESERVOIR some serious consideration when it comes to growing your mechanical timepiece collection. RESERVOIR watches are renowned for their time measuring instruments that offer a radical and bold way to read the time. Many RESERVOIR watches are inspired by counters and gauges seen in cars, cockpits and in marine vessels with their retrograde minute, jumping hour and power reserve functions. Joining the latest line-up of RESERVOIR watches from the Airfight collection is the brand’s first chronograph watch inspired by aviation. Like so many others, its design captures the adrenaline experienced by many pilots, drivers and captains who have voyaged on journeys in years gone by, relying solely upon measuring instruments like those that this chronograph is based upon.
Altogether RESERVOIR has a total of 12 different watch collections based on cars, aeronautics, marine and music. One of which is the Airfight collection that now welcomes the new chronograph model to its range. In the years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, RESERVOIR was nominated at the Geneva-based Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Geneve awards and received the Red Dot Award last year.
With P-51 Mustang DNA
The new Reservoir Airfight Chronograph watch takes inspiration from one warbird in particular – the P-51 Mustang. It is not the first luxury watch brand to do so, but it is perhaps the only manufacturer to do it in so much detail. Its distinctive Bi-Retrograde display cements the brand’s strong roots in aviation and embodies its approach to creating timekeeping mechanisms that look totally different to anything else on the market. The watch’s retrograde hands and semi-circular scales go a long way to achieving this.
The strong message behind the new RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph watch is that both functionality and technical aesthetic move forward in tandem together, rather than two separate mediums. Just as the functional elements of any warplane like the P-51 have been designed for and by pilots themselves, the watch has been manufactured by those who can truly appreciate the beauty of a mechanical timepiece in motion. The details on the dial are all easy to read and understand, not to mention easily operational for pilot watch enthusiasts.
Aircraft-inspired elements
The aircraft-inspired elements of the new RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph watch include the large iconic black hour and minute hands, finished with a luminous triangular tip at the end, which echo the indicators used on the instrument panel of the P-51 Mustang aircraft. The dial also features nods to the Baldin vertical airspeed indicator, displaying the up and down variations in feet. Set across a rich black dial are sections of colour in orange, red and green. These colours are often seen as status indicators in the cockpit – green for normal, orange for danger and red for prohibited. The layout of the dial is also reminiscent of stalling speed indicators (VS) and carburettor temperatures.
At the heart of the dial is the chronograph itself, which you can use to measure elapsed flight time. It can also be used to mark off waypoints and calculate remaining flight time – all indispensable features that the chronograph has been utilised for in bygone eras. This part of the dial is separated into three sections – the large seconds at the centre of the dial, the 30-minute counter at 12 o’clock and the 12-hour function at 6 o’clock. Together these features work harmoniously together to create highly legible, readable functions for utilising day and night. The dial functions are framed by a telemeter scale that borders the entire display.
Whilst the left of the dial is the retrograde seconds, the right-hand side of the dial is where the date can be found. Both are presented in retrograde format and both are inspired by the fuel and temperature gauges of the P-51 Mustang. There are two case options to choose from when it comes to the new RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph watch. One is a 43mm stainless steel case, the other is a 43mm Black PVD-coated steel case. You can also enjoy two straps supplied with the purchase of the watch. One is a black leather and canvas strap, securing with a stainless steel butterfly folding clasp. The other is a black NATO style strap with quick release spring bars that make the strap-changing process fast and easy.
Inside the case of the RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph watch is the Calibre RSV-Bi120, which performs at a rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour. It also supplies a power reserve once fully charged of 60 hours. With its 50-meter water resistant case, cockpit-inspired dial and crown designed to look like the Mustang’s potentiometer. – the new RESERVOIR Airfight Chronograph is one to add to your collection whether you’re a fan of the American fighter bomber or a devoted collector of RESERVOIR watches.
If you’d like more information on the new RESERVOIR Chronograph watch, you can check the Airfight Chronograph model out here, or call and speak to a member of our Jura Watches sales team today on 01335 453453.
