Airman 42 Lume Dial GMT Ref. GL0069

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

Glycine Airman 42 Lume Dial GMT Ref. GL0069

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.

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.

Customised blackout case

The Glycine Airman 42 Lume Dial GMT Ref. GL0069 based on their original and famous watch from 1953. It features a customised blackout case, pairing with an attractive full black GMT dial, and a unique handset which is read through a domed sapphire crystal, doing things the Glycine way.

Made from 316L stainless steel, blasted in PVD blackout finishing, the Airman 42 Lume Dial GMT bears nostalgic with a distinctive vintage aesthetic, fused together with a mysterious yet modern cool full-black touch. It’s classic aviator case style measures at 42mm and 12mm 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, is traditionally styled to the Airman No. 1 watch (even it’s reference name), the very first edition of the 1950s. It is a faithful reproduction alright. 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 even with its black overall.

Reverse luminous lime-green coloured dial

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.

What are good looks without performance? The Airman 42 Black GMT has an upgraded domed sapphire crystal that covers almost the entire surface, with three layers of anti-reflective coating on the underside for added clarity under different lighting conditions for excellent durability and readability.

The highlight of Airman continues onto the full lure GMT dial. It seems like Glycine has brought everything from the 50s Airman with some inclusion of amazing aviation touch. Like this instant, it features a reverse luminous lime-green coloured dial; whereby Glycine reverse the process of applying the entire dial with SuperLuminova while making the hands and numbers in black. No-nonsense and super legible for our views whether is it from the airplane, or in the office.

Bezel locking system done by the crown at 4

Further, it features the original 24-hour on the outer-track that flanks the black color. With a double 24 hours markings from its bezel and dial, this allows one to track up to three different time zones, The bold black syringe-style hour markers and handsets are done in black, allowing the SuperLuminova dial to have superb glow-in-the-dark effect.

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 38 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 GMT hand doing the 24-hour duty.

The Airman comes with a matching full black nato strap, along with a Glycine signed tang buckle.

C1 SuperLuminova

Overall, the Airman 42 Lume Dial GMT Ref.GL0069 exhibits very great value given the history and built of the watch. The original Airman treatment on the case provides the military/aviation look, being in congruence with the original Airman No. 1, merely a sense of nostalgia on many wrists. The unique Glycine looks even cooler, being 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.