Airman Vintage "The Chief" GMT Grey Ref. GL0303

Since its founding by Eugène Meylan in 1914, Glycine has been producing watches at its factory in Bienne, Switzerland.

Meylan was an uncompromising watch engineer who strove for perfection and nothing less. He had a profound understanding of both the market demands and the possibilities offered by the technological advances of the time. Today, offering excellent value at reasonable prices is an essential part of Glycine's philosophy. The company's strong foundation, coupled with its emphasis on rugged and reliable products, make Glycine a respected name in Swiss watchmaking today.

Since the early 60s, Glycine has served the market with this line of sturdy and captivating watches, made for severe conditions of wear and use. The precise automatic and chronograph movements are housed in a high-grade steel case of rugged construction, offering excellent value for money.

Glycine Airman Vintage "The Chief" GMT Grey Ref. GL0303

Whenever the subject of aviation comes up, the name of Glycine mentioned as one of the pioneers of watchmaking for pilots and frequent travelers. Beginning in 1953, Glycine started production of the Airman, a watch that became legendary for introducing multiple time-zone watches to the market. Since then, Glycine has developed an unbroken chain of aviation watches, ranging from successively more complex world timers to unique collector's items. Examples in their archive are like during the Gemini 5 and Apollo 12 flights in 1965 and 1969. Both these missions, astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad wears a Glycine Airman on his wrist throughout.

During the introduction of the Airman, the minute hand acquired a long tail, similar to the long tail on the hands of today's auction watches. This tail has no obvious function. An early brochure, appearing in Andre Stikkers' book, on pages 16 and 17, states "GLYONE-Ainnon for the man who can fly, GLYCINE-Chief of the Navy." Until recently, neither Neither Stikkers nor any other collectors know what 'The Chief' is. The Chief 'is one of those odd aviators with a long-tailed minute hand and can now be seen in the Gallery. Turler, the name of the retailer on The Chief's dial, is a Swiss watch retailer whose well-known, especially those known as Omega retailers.

In 1955, Airman began appearing in a substantial format that would be maintained through the balance of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The major changes were the introduction of a large hour hand with a tail (it now functions as a pointer on the opposite clock, useful for non-militants in expressing time in the normal 12 hour manner).

Aged treated case that looks like its from yesteryears

Glycine Airman Vintage “ The Chief” GMT Grey Ref. GL0303 is the new edition based on their original and famous watch from the 50s. It features an attractive aviation vintage grey dial, a GMT function, the original red date which is read through the magnifying cyclops. Further, featuring vintage triangular markers, period-correct hands with SuperLuminova lume, doing things the Glycine way. All in the name of a sweet-spot 40mm case.

Made from 316L stainless steel, The Airman “The Chief” GMT bears nostalgic yet with a distinctive vintage aesthetic. It’s classic aviator case style measures at 40mm and 12.5mm thin for unsurpassed comfort on all wrist sizes. The slender lugs with lugs to lugs length of 49mm, help the watch to wrap around the wrist like a pair of gloves while glamouring on one’s wrist. Glycine’s airman collection are all based historically from their 1950s tool watches, this particular model, known as “The Chief,” is traditionally styled to the Airman No. 1 watch - now with a long-tail hour hand - the very first edition of the 1950s. It is a faithful reproduction from aesthetic wise through and through.

Entirely hand finished and Made in Switzerland, the watch is satin brushed on the top, and high polished on the sides to a very high standard, again synonymous with Glycine. The transitions between the brushed and polished parts are very well defined.

Bezel locking system done by the crown at 4

The bezel is true to the 50s Airman design through and through; featuring the hallmark 24-hour bezel of the original Airman. Furthermore, the only way to rotate it is through manipulating the retained locking feature on the thumbscrew crown at the 4 o'clock position on the case. Once it is unlocked, the friction bezel can rotate in both directions at ease — absolutely pure charming 1950s technology. The crown at 3 o’clock features all the necessary time, date and GMT adjustments.

The Glycine Airman Vintage “ The Chief” GMT Grey Ref. GL0303 stayed faithful to the original, coming with a sapphire crystal with three layers of anti-reflective coating on the inside, and topping off the OG red-colored date.

The highlight of Airman continues onto the sunburst grey, military-format dial. It seems like Glycine has brought everything from the 50s Airman without tweaking anything. For an instant, it features the original 24-hour format, With a double 24 hours markings on both the dial and bezel, this allows one to track up to two different time zones still, even without a new GMT hand. The sword handset filled with a right amount of green SuperLuminova for superb glow-in-the-dark.

C1 SuperLuminova

Used to be powered by vintage movement Felsa Bidyanator automatic movements, the Airman got its upgrade by having a Glycine GL293 movement which is essentially an ETA2893-2/SW330, operating at 28,800 bph (4 Hertz) with hacking and hand winding capabilities. It has 25/26 jewels with a power reserve of 42 hours. With this movement, the Airman follows a more current style time reading by driving the main hour hand around twice per day, having a slim blued GMT hand doing the 24-hour duty. The Airman comes with a 22mm Glycine brown leather strap and signed tang buckle.

Overall, the Glycine Airman Vintage “ The Chief” GMT Grey Ref. GL0303 exhibits very great value given the history and built of the watch. Now in the perfect 40mm size, it imbues the original Airman treatment on the case provides the military/aviation look, overall aesthetics allow to have a sense of nostalgia on many wrists. The unique Glycine looks thoroughly purpose-built and radiating its origins in the cockpit of many airliners back in those days, make this an exceptional bargain and hard to beat. The Airman fits Glycine's philosophy that Mr. Eugène Meylan set out in 1953.