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I lately wrote an in-depth crash course on the style of flieger watches. A pure follow-up to that’s this overview of French pilot’s chronographs referred to as Kind 20, which had been modeled on the German flieger chronographs of World Battle II manufactured by Tutima and Hanhart.
Dodane Kind 20 (picture courtesy AnalogShift)
Breguet and Vixa had been the primary ones to produce Kind 20 chronographs to the French navy in 1950. Then, in 1954, Auricoste turned the official provider, adopted by Dodane in 1960. The manufacturers nonetheless manufacturing trendy Kind 20 chronographs are Breguet, Dodane, and Auricoste.
Nonetheless, Breguet stands out from the others when it comes to high quality and horological significance.
Definition of Kind 20
Kind 20 is a specification by the French Ministry of Protection for his or her standard-equipment pilot’s wristwatches. In contrast to the German flieger specs, these for the French Kind 20 are usually not clearly documented however are primarily based on widespread traits shared by varied producers.
The motion of the Vixa Kind 20 (picture courtesy Sean Music)
Kind 20 traits seem to intently comply with Hanhart flyback flieger chronograph specs. These are as follows.
- Black dial with two registers at 3 and 9 o’clock that rely as much as half-hour
- Luminous fingers and Arabic numerals
- A case diameter of roughly 38 mm
- Flyback perform (retour en vol), which stops, resets, and restarts the chronograph with a single press of the decrease button
- Bidirectionally rotating 12-hour bezel
- Correct to inside eight seconds per day
- Energy reserve of at the least 35 hours
- Capability to function chronograph satisfactorily at the least 300 instances
An attention-grabbing marking on the case backs of the issued watches is “FG” (“fin de garantie”), which implies “finish of guarantee.” The FG marking was adopted with the date of the following service; the Kind 20 watches had fragile actions, which meant they required service typically.
The outstanding FG marking on the again of a Vixa Kind 20 (picture courtesy Sean Music)
The FG marking distinguishes between military-issue and civilian watches.
Breguet Kind 20 and XX
Montres Breguet, headquartered in Paris till 1976, was already a family title in France. Breguet turned the official provider of the Kind 20 to the French navy from 1954 till 1960, supplying variations of the flyback chronograph to the Air Pressure, the Naval Aviation Department (Aéronavale), and the CEV (French flight check heart).
A Breguet Kind 20 Reference 5101 with no emblem on the dial (picture courtesy @Toiche)
Breguet additionally offered civilian variations of Kind 20 from 1954 till 1970, which, in accordance with Breguet, is why the marginally differentiated Kind XX title got here into use. It designates civilian fashions.
A 1957 Breguet Kind XX from the Breguet Museum (picture courtesy Bruno Simon/Breguet)
The Breguet Kind 20 was housed in a chrome steel case with screwed case again and powered by a Valjoux 22 motion with a flyback module.
Most Breguet Kind 20 chronographs got here with a 30-minute counter, however the model additionally made chronographs with a 15-minute counter for Aéronavale and CEV.
There have been a couple of variations of the crown form, probably the most outstanding being the massive oignon-style crown. The fingers assorted between syringe-shaped and baton-shaped luminous shapes.
The earliest Kind 20 fashions didn’t include a model emblem on the dial, however the civilian variations (Kind XX) did have the Breguet emblem.
Mouthwatering: the Mathey-Tissot huge eye Kind 20 belonging to GaryG
An attention-grabbing truth about earlier Breguet Kind 20 watches (additionally recognized in Kind 20 parlance because the “first technology”) is that they had been subcontracted to Mathey-Tissot, who manufactured the chronographs per specification. Mathey-Tissot additionally made and offered Kind 20 chronographs below its personal model title for civilians that had been similar to these bearing the Breguet title.
Fast Info Breguet Kind 20 First Technology (Reference 5101/54)
Case: 38.5 mm, stainless-steel
Motion: handbook winding Valjoux Caliber 222, 17 jewels, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 40 hours energy reserve, motion dimensions 31.3 mm x 6.4 mm, monometallic stability, Breguet stability spring
Features: hours, minutes; flyback chronograph with 60-second and 30-minute totalizers
Years of manufacture: 1954–1960
Auricoste Kind 20
Auricoste was well-known for manufacturing marine chronometers for the reason that 1800s. After World Battle II, Auricoste started collaborating with Patek Philippe on an electro-mechanical timekeeping community for the French Navy’s warships.
Auricoste gained the contract to ship greater than 2,000 Kind 20 watches to the French Military between 1954 and 1955. In contrast to Breguet, the Auricoste chronographs had the model emblem on the dial. The circumstances had been fabricated from stainless-steel, chrome-plated copper, or aluminum.
Auricoste Kind 20
The Auricoste Kind 20 chronographs had been additionally offered to the Argentine Air Pressure and the Royal Moroccan Air Pressure, whose pilots had been coaching in France. The Argentinean pilots wore the Kind 20 watches throughout the Falklands Battle towards the UK in 1982.
Fast Info Auricoste Kind 20
Case: 38 mm, metal, chrome-plated copper, and aluminum
Motion: manually wound Auricoste Caliber 2040 primarily based on Lémania Caliber 15TL, 17 jewels, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 36 hours energy reserve, motion dimensions 33.3 mm x 6.5 mm, Breguet stability spring, Incabloc shock safety
Features: hours, minutes; flyback chronograph with 60-second and 30-minute totalizers
Years of manufacture: 1954–1955
Vixa Kind 20
Vixa was named after a late president of Timex Watches France; Timex had a manufacturing unit in Besançon till 1960. Nonetheless, the Vixa Kind 20 was manufactured by Hanhart in 1954.
After World Battle II, Germany’s Black Forest was a part of the French Occupation Zone. As a part of German reparation funds to France, Hanhart produced chronographs below the Vixa model title for the French forces – a lot the identical method Stowa produced watches for the French Military.
The similarities between the Hanhart and Vixa chronographs just like the fluted bezel, which is a distinguishable function of Hanhart watches altogether, are straightforward to see.
Vixa Kind 20 (picture courtesy Sean Music)
Roughly 4,000-5,000 Vixa Kind 20 chronographs had been provided to the French Air Pressure.
Fast Info Vixa Kind 20
Case: 39 mm, stainless-steel
Motion: manually wound Hanhart Caliber 4054 (primarily based on Hanhart Caliber 40), 17 jewels, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 36 hours energy reserve, Breguet hairspring
Features: hours, minutes; flyback chronograph with 60-second and 30-minute totalizers
Years of manufacture: 1954–1960
Dodane Kind 20
Dodane was based by Alphonse Dodane and his father-in-law François-Xavier Joubert in 1857 in La Rasse, primarily to supply ébauches (motion blanks) for different watch corporations.
It was the second technology led by Alphonse Gabriel Dodane who started the specialization in flyback chronographs and equipping fighter jet dashboards with onboard chronographs.
In 1929, Raymond Dodane (third technology) relocated the manufacturing unit to Besançon to pursue extra conventional watchmaking. The corporate manufactured roughly 5,000 Kind 20 and Kind 21 chronographs from the Fifties till the Eighties.
Dodane Kind 20 (picture courtesy AnalogShift)
Dodane additionally offered Kind 20 watches below different model names like Airain and Chronofixe.
Except for manufacturing watches for the French armed forces, Dodane carried out repairs on all of the Kind 20 and Kind 21 watches utilized by the assorted arms of the French navy. Dodane turned one of many accredited suppliers to NATO as effectively.
Dodane primarily used the Valjoux ébauche in its watches (Valjoux Caliber 22 within the Kind 20 and the Valjoux 72 within the Kind 21). All of the circumstances had been made in stainless-steel with screw-in case backs and countdown numbers on the bidirectionally rotating bezels.
Fast Info Dodane Kind 20
Case: 37 mm, metal
Motion: manually wound Valjoux Caliber 222, 17 jewels, 2.5 Hz/18,000 vph frequency, 40 hours energy reserve, motion dimensions 31.3 mm x 6.4 mm, Breguet stability spring
Features: hours, minutes; flyback chronograph with 60-second and 30-minute totalizers
Years of manufacture: late Fifties–early Nineteen Sixties; Kind 21 till 1970
Kind 21
The French Ministry of Protection barely modified the Kind 20 specs to enhance the standard and usefulness of the chronograph to turn into the Kind 21.
Whereas many of the options remained the identical between the Kind 20 and Kind 21, the latter required a extra strong motion to lower upkeep prices; some new options included a countdown bezel and the next water resistance score.
Dodane turned the only provider of the Kind 21 as Breguet’s watches turned too costly for the French armed forces. Dodane used Valjoux 720 actions for each navy and civilian chronographs and offered them below the Airain, Dodane, and Chronofixe model names.
The place are these producers now?
Cédric and Laurent Dodane (fifth technology) re-established enterprise below the model title Dodane 1857 in 2013.
Right this moment, the corporate produces Kind 21 and Kind 22 watches utilizing modified ETA Valjoux automated actions in addition to analogue and digital watches powered by quartz actions.
A contemporary Dodane Kind 23 from 2015
Auricoste now produces trendy Kind 20 watches powered by ETA actions with Dubois Dépraz chronograph modules.
Vixa was resurrected few instances below totally different house owners, however presently doesn’t supply any Kind 20 watches.
Breguet’s trendy Kind 20 historical past
Breguet has turn into probably the most outstanding trendy Kind 20 watch producer and is standard with each aviation and common watch fans.
Breguet was acquired by Chaumet in 1970, at which era the second technology Kind 20/Kind 21 watches had been launched with unidirectional anodized black bezels and circumstances with squarer lugs.
Breguet’s Kind XX Transatlantique Reference 3827 in platinum with salmon-colored dial was made in 1998 in a restricted version of 90 items
In 1995 Breguet launched the third-generation Breguet Kind XX Aéronavale Chronograph, which remains to be within the model’s present catalog. Reference 3800ST/92/9W6 is powered by automated Caliber 582, which relies on Lémania Caliber 1350 with an added flyback module.
In 1999, the Swatch Group acquired Breguet, together with the Lémania motion manufacture, which it subsequently annexed and renamed Breguet Manufacture.
Since then, Breguet has launched variations of the Kind XX in several metals and problems. Most lately Breguet launched the sixth-generation Kind XXII with a light-weight silicon flat stability spring beating at 10 Hz.
Breguet Kind XXII Reference 3800ST from 2010
Whereas the dialogue for mechanical innovation and evolution of the Kind XX has been carried ahead in watchmaking, the usage of mechanical watches in France’s air pressure has remained redundant with at this time’s abundance of inexpensive quartz watches.
Nonetheless, there’s a rise in demand for Kind 20 watches throughout the ranks of classic watch collectors. Chris (@toiche), who’s an avid Kind 20 collector, tells me, “the primary technology of Kind 20 from the mid-50s have restore stamps on the case again as much as 1985; it’s completely gorgeous to have such an extended life within the navy as day by day gear.”
Fast Info Breguet Kind XXII (Reference 3800ST)
Case: 44 x 18.05 mm, stainless-steel, bidirectionally rotating bezel
Motion: automated Breguet Caliber 589F, 28 jewels, 10 Hz/72,000 vph frequency, 40 hours energy reserve
Features: hours, minutes, seconds; date, second time zone, flyback chronograph
Date of introduction: 2010
Value at launch: $18,200
* This text was first revealed on January 8, 2021 at Full Information To Kind 20 Pilot’s Watch Chronographs.
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