S.A.R. Flieger-Chronograph — Black Dial / Black Rubber

The start pusher on the S.A.R. Flieger-Chronograph sits at 8 o'clock, not 2. Mühle-Glashütte moved it there so a helicopter crew could work the chronograph without pressing against the hand on the flight controls.

The S.A.R. Flieger-Chronograph was developed in 2010 with the rescue pilots of the German Navy, and it is an aviation watch rather than a sea-rescue one. A clearly marked 10-second scale is used to compute airspeed, specified for Sea King helicopter crews, and the chronograph markings are picked out in orange against the black dial.

It is the largest watch in the S.A.R. family: stainless steel, 45.0 mm across, 16.2 mm tall and 54.0 mm lug to lug, with a bidirectional rotating bezel over an aluminum inlay and a 2.5 mm anti-reflective sapphire crystal. Mühle's own MU 9413 caliber drives it, built on a Swiss base and reworked in Glashütte with the traditional Glashütte three-quarter plate, visible through the exhibition caseback. Small seconds, date, Super-LumiNova on hands and markers. Black rubber strap with a steel folding clasp.

Big, purposeful and clearly built for a job. At 10 bar it is a flight instrument rather than a dive watch.

Perfect for: aviation chronograph collectors, large case watch wearers, German tool watch buyers.