If you’ve been following my blog, you guys might know that I’ve got a thing for Pilot watches. I’ve been collecting them for the past several months, and one of the ones that I have kept is the Eklund Pilot Watch. This watch uses German and Swiss parts, with the Swiss ETA 2824 workhorse movement. Glass is sapphire and the dial I believe is from Germany. Retail price on this watch is $650US from GNT Watch.
Dial is a simple Pilot dial with the Dots and Triangle 12 o’clock marker. Lume is good, but not fantastic – the luminous material is SuperLuminova. Matte black finish, with a 41mm case diameter, which makes it very wearable without being too large and uncomfortable. This is a great beater watch!
The Sapphire Glass is not AR coated, but it is curved so some reflections are noticeable. The case is brushed and the bezel is polished. Hands are polished stainless steel with SuperLuminova. There is a Date feature with quick-set and hacking seconds, which is standard with the ETA 2824 movement. I have mounted the Eklund Pilot watch on a Hand Made in Germany Jurgens pilot watch strap which looks great with the watch and is extremely comfortable.
As you can see, the watch has a Gilt ETA 2824 movement, and it is accurate at the moment to about 10 seconds a day. This could possibly be regulated to be slightly more accurate. The case back is exhibition and polished. I think having the caseback bushed like the rest of the case would have been better as it sometimes seems to cheapen the look of a watch a bit when they do not match.
The proverbial Wristshot. Shown on my 6.75″ wrist, the watch appears smaller from the angle that I’ve taken the picture, but I feel the 41mm diameter looks fine on my wrist. It does seem to wear more like a 40mm, however. The thickness is 11mm, and feel just about right. Not a bad watch if you can snag it for half price used, though at the retail price you have some more recognizable German and Swiss brands that would be a better choice.
