The New Graham Chronofighter Fortress Watch

Graham-London is an English watchmaking company named after the George Graham, born in 1673, master watchmaker who lived in Fleet Street in London. In the spirit of a true inventor, he came up with a lot of interesting innovations, but he never patented any of them. For this he gained the nickname honest George. Today, Gorge Graham is recognized as the first creator of the stopwatch and the dead-beat escapement. He even built the master clock for Greenwich Royal Observatory.

This watch pays homage to the iconic Chronofighter, the Chronofighter Fortress watches, worn by the aircrews of RAF, the British Royal Air Force, Bomber Command, back in 1940’s.

As I already mentioned in one of the earlier posts, at the beginning of 20th century the watches were worn only by women, and men preferred pocket watches. Even the stopwatches used by the flying officers were, if truth be told, just large pocket watches strapped over bomber jackets. However, these watches were an essential part of pilot’s equipment, as they provided a durable and precise apparatus to follow flight plans and to shoot air raids.

The epic Chronofighter, the Chronofighter Fortress, was carefully designed to meet the highest demands of high altitudes. The famous lever, which truly stands out on this original design, was developed to flawlessly start and stop the chronograph, with a single push of the thumb. This practical dimension is reflected in the oversized design, meeting the need to activate the chronograph without fail, even in the highly stressful situations or while wearing the heavy pilot’s gloves.

Graham Chronofighter Fortress column wheel chronograph comes with a vintage black dial brushed up with thin yellow time markers and two big Arabic numerals. Two snailed chronograph sub-counters display seconds and 30 minutes. A small date window is placed between 4 and 5 o’clock. Crafted in stainless steel with round bezel, this watch boosts 43 mm in diameter. The famous lever provides left-hand fast-action start/stop trigger and reset pusher.

The Graham Chronofighter Fortress has a see-through sapphire crystal case-back, which allows for the view on the Calibre G1742 automatic movement, equipped with incabloc shock absorber and 28 jewels. The watch provides 48 hours of power reserve. It is water resistant to 100 meters and mounted on a light brown bomber jacket calf leather bracelet. The Graham Chronofighter Fortress is priced at 7,950 CHF, which is an approximate equivalent of 8,497 USD.