ReviewAll In The Family: Introducing The Raymond Weil Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph
As a tribute to their founder’s love for flying, Raymond Weil released their Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph, the first time they’ve introduced this complication on a timepiece
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The word ‘family’ entails more than genetics for independent Swiss luxury watchmaking brand Raymond Weil, named after the brand’s eponymous founder, who was a watchmaker and businessman with a passion for music and aviation. ‘Family’, to the brand, implies tradition, inspiration and a deep respect for Raymond Weil’s history. These ideas shine through in the brand’s Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph, an ode to brand CEO Elie Bernheim’s grandfather, Raymond Weil. With a flyback function on a bicompax dial layout, the vintage-inspired pilot’s chronograph is a contemporary embodiment of what the founder sought to achieve when he first started the brand in 1976—quality Swiss craftsmanship made affordable to all those who appreciate good watchmaking. This is also what elevates the Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph from simply a tribute timepiece to a quality Swiss mechanical watch created for enthusiasts of mechanical watchmaking and aviation.
Passion For Flying: Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph
Raymond Weil passed on his love for flying to his grandson Pierre Bernheim, chairman of the Geneva Airport board, and his love of watches to both Elie, current CEO of the brand, and Pierre Bernheim. A pilot’s watch, then, seems a given for Raymond Weil, which makes it all the more surprising that it took the brand this long to create one. The Freelancer, arguably the brand’s most-recognised line of timepieces, seems the most suited to their latest pilot’s watch. Introduced in 2007 as a free-spirited line of watches, the Freelancer collection is not defined by any one type of complication. It includes divers’ watches, world-timers, dials with skeletonised balance wheels, open-worked dials, chronographs, and time-and-date watches.
The Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph is sized at 42mm with a thickness of 13.8mm, pretty much a standard size for aviation watches, so as to aid quick reading for pilots on the go. The rounded steel Freelancer case is coated with grey PVD to offset the brown leather strap and green dial. This gives the timepiece a vintage aesthetic, enhanced further by a large, signed, onion-shaped crown at three, and retro-inspired pushers at two and four o’clock. The large crown, also a pre-requisite of an aviation watch, allows for easy handling for a pilot’s gloved hands. The calf leather strap is decorated with rivets, giving the timepiece a more pilot-esque look overall, although it serves no real purpose otherwise. Antireflective sapphire crystal glass shields the dial, and the window on the screwed-down caseback. The watch is water-resistant to 100m.
The green dial features a textured outer ring, grained to resemble the runway tarmac, and a matt finish on the inner circle. These differences in texture add a distinct dimension to the dial, further augmented by the snailing on the two chronograph recorders arranged in a bicompax layout on the dial.
Flying Under The Radar: Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph
White, applied numerals in a serif font and coated with Super-LumiNova, and two inverted lume-filled ‘pilot’ arrows, are surrounded by a minute track marked cleanly in white, aiding legibility in dim lighting conditions. Baton-shaped timekeeping hands are also filled with Super-LumiNova, while the central chronograph hand stands out in yellow. The running seconds sub-dial is at nine o’clock, while the yellow-handed 30-minute chronograph recorder is at three. At 12 o’clock is the brand name, and at six, the word ‘flyback’ stands out in yellow against the matt green of the dial.
Tribute To The Skies: Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph
On turning the watch over, engraved on the sapphire crystal caseback is a propeller motif, as if to symbolise the origins of the timepiece. Visible through this crystal is the automatic RW5530 calibre. The fully-integrated movement with a column wheel and horizontal coupling, offers timekeeping and chronograph functions, and a 56-hour power reserve. The flyback function on the chronograph can be operated by a single pusher, via the thermally-blued column wheel that controls the chronograph’s start, stop and reset functions.
The clean and legible Freelancer Pilot Flyback Chronograph displays modern timekeeping with a vintage aesthetic. This tribute to the brand’s roots and what the independent, family-owned watchmakers stand for today will appeal to horologists and flying enthusiasts alike.
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Raymond Weil Freelancer
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