By Michael Thompson
TUTIMA
Flies High
The Glashütte-based maker of acclaimed pilot watches spreads its wings with new models that update its vintage-inspired Grand Flieger and M2 collections .
Tutima Grand Flieger Airport with ceramic bezel in classic blue with grey Cordura strap .
This original Tutima 1941 pilot watch inspires the current Grand Flieger collection .
The town of Glashütte is renowned for its history as the center of German watchmaking . While that history was interrupted for decades between and following two world wars , when the village ’ s deep horological knowledge base dispersed to points West – or to extinction – Glashütte has again become the focus of the region ’ s watchmaking activity .
After being founded in Glashütte in 1927 , Tutima rejoined the former East German town in 2011 , fully sixty-five years after it was forced to move away . During those years away , Tutima intensely developed a focus on pilot ’ s watches , starting with the now-famed 1941 pilot ’ s chronographs known for their fluted steel case , large crown , red reference marker and , most critically , their flyback function , an unusual feature at the time .
It was that wartime aviation design that propelled Tutima to fame among aviators and , eventually , pilot watch enthusiasts . Tutima ’ s Grand Flieger collection today directly references that 1941 design .
Much later , in 1985 , Tutima received a contract from the German army to build a new military watch with particularly stringent specifications for accuracy , shock resistance , pressure resistance and legibility . Answering that request , Tutima developed the Military Chronograph 798 , known as the NATO Chronograph , which in its modern guise within the current Tutima M2 collection remains standard equipment for German military pilots .
GRAND FLIEGER AIRPORT Today , Tutima references the milestone pilot watch from 1941 within its Grand Flieger collection . The line now includes three-hand models as well as more traditional chronographs . The Tutima Grand Flieger Classic , for example , sports its vintage look with military inspired styling , including the historical fluted bezel . Tutima has modernized the pilot watches to perform according to current , more
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