Flieger Friday: Hanhart Primus Carrier Pilot

Hanhart is based in Germany’s Black forest, in a small town of Gütenbach, and is best known for its vintage pilot watches.

In 2018, Hanhart released three different editions of Primus pilot watches – Austrian Air Force, Monochrome Pilot, and the Black Falcon Limited Edition.  This year Hanhart introduces a new dial in Primus edition known as Carrier Pilot. It is a modern aviator chronograph in rich royal blue, a perfect color for the summer wear.

Hanhart has a storied history of manufacturing watches for several Navies in the 1940s and 1950s. The Carrier Pilot combines the elements of air and water in the blue color dial, representing the sky and ocean, all the while maintaining clear visibility for the pilot to view and operate the watch.

Felix Wallner, Hanhart’s Co-Managing Director, states “Landing on a carrier is one of the most demanding and dangerous flying operations for pilots, especially at nighttime or with bad weather. The Primus Carrier Pilot is the perfect companion for these maneuvers: perfect legibility at day and night, matte case without reflection and flexible lugs for maximum wearing comfort.”

The modern chronograph pilot has all the features of a typical Hanhart watch, like the fluted bezel with red index inlay, and the red pusher. Like the historical Hanhart chronographs, this pilot watch has a bi-compax dial, which means that the small subsidiary dials are located at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock. Bi-Compax dial layout is much easier to read in the most challenging circumstances.

The Carrier Pilot case is 44mm in diameter with 15mm in case height.  The case is great for outdoor activities since it is sandblasted matte stainless steel, with flexible lugs.  It has a screwed down crown for 10 ATM waterproof rating in accordance to the German DIN 8310 standards. There is sapphire crystal on both the front and the back.  The red chronograph pusher at 4 o’clock is made from anodized aluminum.  For optimal night visibility, there is generous coating of SuperLuminova on hands, numbers, and markers.  The pilot watch is powered by a modified Valjoux 7750 automatic chronograph movement.

The blue dial, and matching blue canvas strap with leather inlay, gives the watch a unique look in combination with the sandblasted matte steel case.

The Primus Carrier Pilot is available now for all pilots, captains, pirates, and desk divers, directly from Hanhart online shop, and from their regional retailers for 2,740 Euros.

Photo Credit: Hanhart