Whitby Watch Company is a recent Canadian brand, based in Ontario, known for designing military inspired watches with assembly work performed in Germany. Most of the watches are offered in mid to affordable price range with a mix of ETA and Seiko movements.
According to Roy Tsagris of Whitby Watch Co., the mission of the brand is “To celebrate excellence through the art of watchmaking, by creating a selection of limited-edition timepieces designed to capture and honor great historical moments of Canadian Achievements and the great Canadians.”
The Avro Arrow is the second limited edition watch by Whitby Watch Co. The first limited edition by the brand is a diver watch called Intrepid, paying homage to Sir William Stephenson, a Canadian soldier best known by his WWII intelligence code name Intrepid.
The watch is named after Avro CF-105 Arrow, a supersonic jet fighter designed and built in Canada 60 years ago. In the late 1950’s the Avro Arrow was the most sophisticated interceptor aircraft of its time. The Avro Arrow exceeded speeds of Mach 2 at altitudes of 50,000 feet, a feat unheard of at the time. The project came to a halt February of 1959 when acting Prime Minster John Diefenbaker put a halt to the project, ordering the plane be destroyed and thrown into Lake Ontario and destroying all documents on the plane. The jet fighter became an example of Canadian ingenuity and intriguing case study of unrealized potential.
The Avro Arrow pilot watch honors the prowess of the Canadian aviation engineers that built and manufactured the sophisticated interceptor aircraft. Whitby Watch Co. designed the dial without any brand markings, instead replacing it with Roundel, the symbol of the RCAF.
There are three dial color options available for Avro Arrow – navy, grey, and black. The grey dial has the best contrast with the colors of the Roundel. All three options are on a Type A (Baumuster A) dial with central seconds. The 43mm case is constructed from aircraft grade titanium and has thickness of 12mm. The sapphire crystal has anti-reflective coating for greater visibility. The case back is also fitted with a sapphire crystal. The massive diamond-shaped crown pays homage to the crown of WWII flieger.Avro Arrow is powered by reliable ETA 2824-2 automatic movement with a custom rotor. It is water resistant to 50 meters. The watch has a high quality pilot style leather strap with rivets. The packaging is very interesting with a waterproof Nanuk 904 waterproof case, an Avro Arrow commutative coin, and a brief description of the fighter jet. Each dial version is limited to 105 editions each and the price is $665 USD.
There is a basic version, The Arrow, which has company logo on the dial and is powered by Seiko NH35A movement. The basic version is $293 USD. Visit Whitby Watch Co. website for further information.