Greetings, my name is Andy and my horological journey started with buying quartz Seikos for family members on a Malaysian holiday in 1988. Attending air and watch shows ignited my love and interest in pilot watches, and I soon acquired my first vintage Breitling, an all-black AOPA ref 806 Navitimer. My passion and interest in them has never waned.
After inheriting my grandfather’s 1942 middle east delivered Longines, I developed a rare condition called Longineitis, before falling into a large rabbit hole. My skin bubbled with excitement seeing my very first large vintage Weems in a watch show in Hong Kong. I could not afford it, but clearly remember buying my first Hour-angle after meeting my best mate Shawn in Burger King, Singapore.
Today, each and every one of us has likely been a beneficiary of the golden age of aviation that shaped the world we know. The challenges of air navigation and aviation cost countless lives of both unknown and household name aviators and aviatrix who risked all, trialing new technology, pushing flight boundary limits in exploration and scientific pursuits as well as for commercial and military purposes. An accurate, robust, and precise timepiece was an essential instrument for survival during this age.
The passion for aviation and exploration watches endures with Flightbirds. We chronicle some of the characters, history, advertising, and take a shallow and deep dive into all aviation timepieces that made 20th-century air navigation and flight possible, from the early 1900’s, and all the decades that followed….
We are very much real humans and learn every day. We appreciate, value, and respect any comments, feedback, suggestions, and of course corrections. If you have an article about an aviation watch, or perhaps a timepiece in this space that you are willing to share, then please drop us an email. Please help us fly higher, we’d love to hear from you.
A story featuring the most important watch display in all aviation and horological history, (we’re a little biased), was featured in the article by Hodinkee below.
Andy’s grey hair is on full display in the Hodinkee video.
