Guinand Flight Engineer is a technical pilot watch featuring a soft iron inner cage with magnetic protection up to 1000 Gauss (80,00 A/m). Flight Engineer flieger is in good company with Rolex Milgauss and Sinn EZM 3, which offer the same antimagnetic resistance. For a normal watch enthusiast 1000 Gauss may be an overkill, but it is very useful for an engineer that encounters strong magnetic fields on daily basis. This is perhaps the most innovative and stealthy watch Guinand has come out with since post Helmut Sinn era.
A Flight Engineer (FE), is the third in command in the cockpit, after the pilot and the co-pilot, and responsible for monitoring and control of various aircraft systems. While you still find FE on large fixed-wing planes, helicopters, and spacecrafts, the modern computer has eliminated FE’s seat in the cockpit. A flight engineer was an on-board mechanic responsible for the highly complex on-board systems. He relied on a wrist watch for measurement, hence he required a very accurate watch that was protected against magnetic influences. Magnetic field impacts the accuracy of the watch by magnetizing the balance spring, which causes the balance wheel to oscillate faster, thus causing the watch to run fast.
The Flight Engineer pilot is an uncomplicated three-hander, and has a dial layout similar to the Bell & Ross BRV1-92, including the date between 4 and 5 o’clock. It has a glossy black dial with hour numerals and Indices coated with SuperLuminova. The hour and minute hands, and orange tip of the seconds hand is also filled a generous coating of SuperLuminova. Guinand uses the highest X1 grade SuperLuminova, which shows a performance increase of up to 60% after two hours compared to the standard grade.
The stainless-steel case has a circumference of 40.6mm, and a rather significant height of 14.8mm. The case has a satin finish and a bi-directional bezel made of light-weight alloy, with orange luminous capsule on the zero marker. The dial is protected by a domed sapphire crystal with an anti-reflective coating on the inside. A screwed crown has double O-ring seal, which enables water resistant ratings of 200 meters.
But the simplicity of this watch is deceiving, as the special feature is concealed inside the case. A soft iron inner cage consisting of three parts effectively shields the mechanical movement against the magnetic fields, up to a magnetic field strength of 1000 gauss. The cage is made of RFe 60 / 1.1015 according to DIN 17405. It protects against the magnetization of the balance spring and other steel watch parts such as levers, screws, and shafts. To avoid the penetration of magnetic fields through case openings, the inner cage is not just a simple turned part, but a complex shaped turning and milled part with only a small hole for the stem, and a reduced hole for the date display. The proportion of pure iron (Fe) in the core is well over 99%.
The Flight Engineer is powered by Sellita SW 220-1 automatic movement. The movement is decorated with perlage and diamond snail, blued screws, and the rotor decorated with Côtes de Genève with engraved Guinand logo. Overall, it is like a B-2 stealth bomber, packed with technology, and flies under the radar. It is only available directly from Guinand for € 1,399 on leather strap, and € 1,556 on steel bracelet (this includes German VAT).