Raymond Weil has just released its first Pilot Watch called the Freelance Piper. This was produced in partnership with the aviation manufacturer Piper Aircraft, Inc. to make it the swiss watch brand’s first ever pilot watch.
Raymond Weil is a Swiss luxury watchmaker, founded in 1976 in Geneva. It is a family company founded by Raymond Weil (1926-2014), and now managed by Olivier Bernheim (Weil’s son in law) and his two sons, Elie and Pierre Bernheim. It is one of the last independent brands in the Swiss watch industry.
Piper Aircraft on the other hand is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned by the Government of Brunei. Along with Beechcraft and Cessna, it was at one time considered one of the “Big Three” in the field of general aviation manufacturing
The watch is made of titanium and stainless steel in a 45-mm-diameter case and contains a mechanical, self-winding chronograph movement equipped with a pilot-friendly GMT function and a date indication. The shiny blue minute and hour hands resemble an aircraft’s rotor blades while the GMT hand, with its red pointer, has the look of a compass needle. The small seconds subdial at 9 o’clock is inspired by a dashboard altimeter. The black leather strap also has a classic, vintage aviator look. Features of the watch includes a tachymeter-scale bezel, 100-meter water resistance, and a 46-hour power reserve. Each Raymond Weil Freelancer Piper watch is packaged in a special box along with a model of the official Raymond Weil-branded Piper aircraft owned by brand CEO (and descendant of the founder) Elie Bernheim. The watch will be priced at $3,495 and available at retail in the fall.
