A-17NG PATINA

MIL-W-6433 compliant
Automatic Soprod M100 R4 regulation
40mm
Stainless Steel
Domed sapphire crystal
Screw-in crown and case-back
10ATM water-resistant
Old radium X1 grade Superluminova® 
Military green synthetic tactical strap
Swiss made

CHF 1,350.00

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On December 31, 1948 Colonel J.C. Harvell, Chief of the USAF Equipment Laboratory Engineering Division, sent out a letter to the Waltham Watch Company and other watch brands asking for their comments on Specification n° 21277. This specification would later be known as MIL-W-6433. 

At the end of 1948 the A-17 specification called for a Watch; Hack, Wrist, Luminescent Dial, 1300–2400 Auxiliary Markings, Type A-17. Further details of the specification were radium lume to be provided on the 1–12 hour markers, five minute markers, hour and minute hands, the tip of the sweep second hand and on the auxiliary 13–24 markings to facilitate the reading on 24 hour military time.

A tender issued to the Elgin National Watch Company, the Hamilton Watch Company, the Bulova Watch Company, the Gruen Watch Company and, surprisingly, the Longines-Wittnauer Watch Company. In the end the United States Air Force chose to exclusively use the Waltham Watch Company for their new Type A-17 Pilot’s watch.

A legend was born on March 23, 1951 when Mil Spec MIL-W-6433 was approved for the Waltham Type A-17.  

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Specifications

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Type of Production

Swiss made
In-house production

Production quality level

Top grade

Case Size

40mm diameter

Case Features
  • 316L (1.4404) stainless steel 
  • Sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment 
  • Engraved case-back 
Finishes

Polished lugs, vertical brushed case-body, polished bezel with sanblasted indents, polished crown with sandblasted indents

 

Dial
  • Matt black dial
  • Thick painted (1.5mm) X1 grade Superluminova®  luminous print on numerals, hour indexes, H/M/S hands
Strap

Military green Cordura® tactical strap with polished 316L (1.4404) stainless steel pin buckle

Strap width

20-20mm

Water Resistance

10 ATM / 100m / 333ft

The movement

Movement
Swiss made Soprod M100 automatic mechanical movement
R4 regulation level: +4s/-4s per day and a maximum divergence in all positions of 15s/day.
Only 3.60mm thick

Functions
Hours, minutes, central seconds

Jewels
25

Winding
Mechanical, self-winding, 28’800 bhp/4Hz

Power Reserve
42 hours

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F-86 Sabre pilots watch

The A-17 had the initial vocation to equip long range bomber crews based in Europe. Then it became the F-86 Sabre pilots watch during the Korean war.  It also equipped the crews of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet and the F-104 Starfighter. 

Reviews

The A-17 so far has proved accurate to one second per day on my wrist, measured against the Official US NIST time. I will look forward to other interesting Watch Angel time pieces.

Robert

Angel for the A17, USA