The stealthy Airain Sort 20 Furtivité restricted version

Three years in the past, an enterprising Dutch watch fanatic secured the trademark for Airain, a defunct watch model famend for its Sort 20 Flyback chronographs made for the French Air Power within the Nineteen Fifties and Nineteen Sixties. As a part of Tom Van Wijlick’s umbrella firm (Compagnie des Montres Lebois & Cie) dedicated to the revival of dormant watch manufacturers Lebois & Co. and Airain, the devoted re-editions of the Airain Sort 20 have been wildly profitable. Following within the footsteps of the limited-edition brown and army inexperienced dial variations of the Airain Sort 20, the most recent mannequin is that this good-looking gray version generally known as the Furtivité (French for stealth). Rolled out in a restricted version of 134 items, the Furtivité and a non-limited black dial version are open for pre-orders as we speak. Learn on to be taught in regards to the new motion provider and a sensible design choice primarily based on buyer suggestions.

After WWII, Airain was one in every of seven watch manufacturers that provided Sort 20 chronographs to the French Military. Designed as cockpit devices for the French Air Power and different flying corps, necessary options included a rotating countdown bezel, a black dial with luminous Arabic numerals and fingers, and, most significantly, flyback performance to permit pilots to carry out successive calculations. We’ve extensively lined the historical past of Sort 20 chronographs on MONOCHROME and invite you to learn the genesis and DNA of those watches in Max Reddick and Brice’s in-depth articles.

loyalty to authentic

The Airain Sort 20 Re-edition has gained a lot reward amongst followers for its faithfulness to the historic mannequin. The look is spot on, beginning with the 39.5mm case, the piston-style pushers and the big crown. Different options reproduced from the unique are the bi-directional 12-hour countdown bezel, the domed Hesalite crystal and army markings on the screwed caseback.

In comparison with the army inexperienced and brown dial fashions, the anthracite DLC coating on the stainless-steel case on this Furtivité mannequin offers it a extra high-tech, stealth attraction. Listening to buyer suggestions, Van Wijlick has determined to substitute the Hesalite acrylic crystal for a extra resilient and scratch-resistant domed sapphire crystal.

The dial replicates design parts of the unique Airain Sort 20 with period-correct fonts, numerals, fingers, brand and the 2 registers and three and 9 o’clock. The stealth gray temper of the watch continues on the dial with its sandblasted anthracite background giving it a matte, barely gritty texture. The inside of the sub-dials – 30-min elapsed instances at 3 o’clock and operating seconds at 6 o’clock –  are snailed, and the hand for the chronograph counter and central chronograph seconds have an arrow-shaped tip. Replicating the color of luminescent materials used within the authentic Sort 20, the beige Tremendous-LumiNova is hand utilized to the big Arabic numerals and central baton fingers.

New motion provider

One other element that marks a earlier than and after within the reincarnation of the Sort 20 is the change of motion provider. In accordance with Van Wijlick: “The unique’s flyback operate was a sport changer again within the days, and due to this fact a defining attribute in our re-edition. Our earlier Sort 20 motion provider may now not help that choice, leaving us no alternative however to discover a new provider who may. Manufacture AMT – the division inside Sellita chargeable for high-end actions – will now provide our AM2 motion, a manual-wind column wheel chronograph with flyback complication.” Beating at 28,800vph, the manual-winding column-wheel motion has a barely increased energy reserve of 63 hours and is adjusted in 5 positions.

Availability & Value

The Sort 20 Furtivité comes on a  informal gray suede leather-based strap with a metal pin buckle. It’s restricted to 134 items and might be pre-ordered as we speak, with deliveries anticipated in This fall 2023. The retail worth is EUR 2,900. For extra info, please seek the advice of airain.com.