Aviator's watches: The RAF, RAAF, RCAF and the Air-King

This is the third part of a series. The first part "The birth of aviation and the modern wristwatch" can be found at this link.


By the beginning of World War II, Rolex watches had already acquired a reputation for reliability and durability so that many Australian, British and Canadian military officers acquired Rolex watches to replace their inferior standard-issue watches.

At the time Rolex use to name its watches with names like Cellini, Prince, Royal and Viceroy. Hans Wilsdorf, founder of Rolex, decided to market watches targeted at Allied servicemen, and mainly pilots. Among these was the Rolex Hurricane (named after the British fighter plane, the Hawker Hurricane), Sky-Rocket, Victory, Air-Tiger, Air-Lion, Air-Giant and Air-King.

Unlike 55 mm IWC's Large 52 S.C. Calibre Pilot's Watch designed for the Luftwaffe, which was designed for maximum visibility, the watches Rolex created for the military ranged in sizes from 29.5 mm to 33 mm. The smaller 29.5 mm watches, like many Allied military issue watches were designed to be small to reduce the chance of damaging them by inadvertent contact. The smaller case, allows the watch to safely be shielded by the width of a wrist.

The Air-Tiger, Air-Lion, Air-Giant and Air-King were reputedly named in commemoration of the gallant Allied pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain

These watches all used the reliable 10.5 hunter manual wind movement with 15 jewels. Ultimately, after the war, these line of watches were not so popular and were dropped from the Rolex catalog. The only survivor from this series in the Rolex Air-King.

Rolex Air-King with the steel engine turned bezel and blue Roman dial

The Rolex-Air King, now powered by a self-winding movement. And while it by today's standards looks more like a dress watch the a sports or military watch. With its 100 meter water resistance rating, brushed finished case and bracelet which is more resistant to scratches than a polished one, it is actually still suitable for rough use.

Unlike watches manufactured for the German and Italian military which were custom built for their military, the Rolex military watches, like other Allied Military watches were really nothing more than re-badged current production watches. But this was soon to change. In the early 1940's the British Ministry of Defense put out a specification set for military watches that it wanted to supply its troops. By 1944, these Mark X watches were being issued to its troops.

Part IV of this series can be found at this link.