Calling connossiuers, what are observation/navigation watches
Im trying to find info on this genre of watches, any help from you guys would be appreciated. Are observation watches just pilot watches? What are there criteria? What is there history?How were they used?. I know theres alot of seriously knowledgeable people on here and id love to learn from you
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Ian
Went from big interest in divers to drifting into world of pilots watches
Member since
Last active: 2 years ago
These are more akin to deck chronometers used aboard navy ships.
Look up the Hamilton Khaki Navy Pioneer as an example.
Also, here’s an example borrowed from the web of an original WWII Hamilton deck chronometer.
These are more akin to deck chronometers used aboard navy ships.
Look up the Hamilton Khaki Navy Pioneer as an example.
Also, here’s an example borrowed from the web of an original WWII Hamilton deck chronometer.
Thank you, but i heard of people wearing observation watches when traveling to the south pole for example. Could you tell me what the watches function/how it was used in a situation like this? It could be obvious but im quite confused
Navigators could use celestial fixes for latitude but longitude has always been a problem. It was ultimately discovered that using extremely accurate chronometers, you could fix your longitude using your last known position plus speed over time.
Here's an article describing Charles Lindburgh's solution calculating longitude but you should be able to catch the general purpose of accurate timing devices in navigation from the article.
https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/the-history-and-science-behind-the-lindbergh-longines-hour-angle-watch