AVI-8 SPITFIRE TYPE 300 AUTOMATIC EDITION (AV-4073)
3in1 face in black, blue and gray color
The New Spitfire Range from AVI-8, this first model is titled the Spitfire Type 300 Automatic Edition, paying tribute to the prototype Supermarine developed in 1934.
Inspired by the lines, form and design of the famed WW2 era fighter, AVI-8 delivers a unique take on a stylish timepiece that draws from one of the most famous aircrafts to have ever flown.
The case is shaped to follow the form of the Spitfire. From lug to case body, from the convex sapphire lens to the case back, flowing side profile, the crown references the nose of the propeller, the Type 300 is an immediate form driven echo of the Spitfire.
The Type 300 uses the indexes, hands and layout of the cockpit dials as a blueprint of the dial. The rotor is a carved out unique birds eye view silhouette of the Spitfire.
Automatic switchover in sunset DIM mode. Completely revised with Photoshop, encoded in WatchMaker.
More Info see Function below. Enjoy this extraordinary face.
Function:
- Function with Display unlock
- Tap 6 = Display unlock / lock Tap function
- Tap Center for zoom, twice for extra zoom
- Tap 1 = shows backside
- Tap 3 = adjust face brightness
- Tap 11 = switch face
- Tap 12 = DIM mode off / on / sunset auto on
- Permanent battery indicator in sub dial.
- UCOLOR for DIM mode, AOD w/o ucolor.
The Supermarine Spitfire was developed in 1934 and would eventually become one of the most recognized and important aircrafts ever created. It was a pillar of the Royal Air Force throughout World War II, and continues to capture the imagination of history buffs, pilots, and watch lovers alike. This, of course, is not the first watch to bear the Spitfire name – IWC has produced a line of pilot’s watches under the Spitfire name for many years. AVI-8’s tribute to the Spitfire is of course very different from IWC’s series of wattches, which are really designed as tools for aviators. The Spitfire Type 300 Automatic Edition is more akin to a history lesson in the form of a physical object.
As with other AVI-8 watches, the Spitfire Type 300 Automatic takes many design cues right from the famous fighter plane on which it is based. Some of those design cues are obvious (the winding rotor is cut in the shape of the Spitfire), and some are much more subtle (the shape of the crown is a reference to the nose of the propellor). The most important design element is likely the lines of the case itself, which are modeled after the shape of the plane, something that should be easily identifiable to anyone who has spent time studying the Spitfire. In practice, what that means for the watch is a quite elegant case shape, that appears would hug the natural curvature of most wrists with ease.
AVI-8’s dials are always a great opportunity for the brand to get incredibly specific with references to the planes that are the inspiration for their timepieces. Naturally, the dial has an instrument like appearance, using gauges and readouts from vintage Spitfires as inspiration for the design. The hands have been designed with legibility in mind (fitting for any watch that has anything at all to do with aviation) and key dial elements are covered in yellow lume (or white, depending on the dial variant chosen), providing an appropriate vintage aesthetic for a watch of this type.
Four color variants are available, and all are actually quite subdued. You can have your choice of dials in blue, green, black, or gray, and all are available on three-link oyster style bracelets. Some of these AVI-8 editions can go well over the top with on-the-nose tributes to aircraft visible right on the dial, but the Spitfire is more sober, and more obviously suitable as a normal watch than some of its counterparts. This was the right move by AVI-8 – the Spitfire is so iconic, it simply doesn’t need lavish treatment that other, less familiar aircraft might have received.
(W&W, Ron D.)
