In many ways, a pilot’s watch is the original wristwatch. Watches were attached to bracelets as far back as the 17th century, but the modern watch as we know it only really took off, if you will, with the advent of the age of flight in the early 20th century. Almost certainly the first was Mr Louis Cartier’s answer to flyboy pioneer Mr Alberto Santos-Dumont and his plea for a timepiece for which he wouldn’t need to rummage in his pockets while wrestling the controls. Concomitantly, the staple elements of a pilot’s wristwatch were established: high-contrast legibility and luminous markings, sturdy cases and a certain degree of magnetic resistance (a cockpit’s instrument array hides a battery of electric solenoids). Those traits form the basis of a modern-day tool watch, compounded in 1948 by IWC Schaffhausen’s RAF-issue Mark XI. And today, they form the perfect weekend watch, matched better to casualwear than a lounge suit – or indeed G-suit. Scroll down for our own particular mavericks.