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Glycine Airman Vintage "The Chief" Automatic Watch

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Glycine Airman Vintage "The Chief" Automatic Watch

Name: Glycine Airman Vintage "The Chief" Automatic Watch
Brand: Glycine
SKU: glycine-airman-vintage-the-chief-automatic-watch
Price: 479 USD
Availability: OutOfStock
Rating: 5 (10 reviews)

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Product Description

Glycine has been producing quality timepieces since 1914. The Airman is perhaps the most recognizable timepiece in its collection Read More

Customer Reviews

5.0

(10 reviews)

(10)

(0)

100% would recommend to a friend

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JMCHOI

Mar 29, 2021

Verified Buyer

Flawless

Glycine's Airman is my first 24-hour wristwatch. It has very good build quality and good leather straps. The only sad thing is that I have presbyopia and the letters are no longer visible.

Recommends this product? Yes

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tadpiero

Oct 27, 2020

Verified Buyer

Orologio meraviglioso. Ottimo venditorr

Orologio di una bellezza unica, perfette proporzioni dimensionali, secondo il mio parere la cassa da 40mm è ideale per qualsiasi polso. Sapore vintage e qualità prezzo ottimo

Recommends this product? Yes

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Cornwallj

Jun 6, 2020

Verified Buyer

I like this watch a lot more than I thought I would

Well, I wrote an epic novella of a review and then went to drag a picture over here and lost it so you've all been spared! I do love this watch a lot. More than I thought I would. I bought it mostly to get with the century and stop wearing my Hamilton 4992B 16s miltiary 24h pocketwatch from the 40s. This is my medium-priced entry into a nice modern true 24 watch, and while I was starting to accept it would be an Airman (and giving up on finding one with a "12 up" dial) I didnt have the chief on my radar until it showed up here. It wears very nice, light and comfortable. Its thin, and the acrylic crystal is very charming. It adds a certain softness and authentic vintage feel while reducing weight. Nice. Also let me say something nice about this modern take on classic blued hands because they are sharp, and the little cheater-tail on the hour hand is a good touch. The GMT bezel I thought I would roll 12 hours forward to read 13-23 easier, but instead found a use for it right at UTC to see crypto candle closures at a glance. If you didn't think you'll find a use for it you might be surprised, it only takes a small use-case to be perfect. And on to a couple things Im critical of... This is my first Sellita SW330-1, and I havent worn an ETA 2824 in a long time or paid attention well enough to compare... But, this movement does have a little jank to it I hope smooths out a bit over time. The crown (which btw I wish was the large waffled one... minus half a point there Glycine) doesnt engage the date wheel very well, the hacking spring doesnt 'snap' into place very well needing a little too much pull-and-hold, and the winding function feels like it might be the kind I should never touch. Also, it doesnt sound great. The rotor really scrapes around compared to say a 7s26 and is loud enough that was the reason I eventually opened up the caseback. Looks like maybe the bearings offer a little too much wiggle room, but clearance is fine so it is what it is. Oh yeah and the pallet jewels sound like they're really slapping that escapement to the point it has an unpleasant ring of reverberation to it that might be softening up a little... Either that or its struggling to turn over some date/time combination or something... Anyway haha you guys got your novella back congrats. I do love this watch and wont be taking it off likely until some grail comes my way. I forgot to add, after a sloppy initial setting it was fast about a minute after 10 days or so. In the week since, if I actually did a great job last time it's about 20 seconds slow so maybe she is settling in a little. The dial has a subtle but mesmerizing sunburst pattern to it that doesnt photograph well. The included Glycine padded leather strap is surprisingly decent, but I opted to put it on the Ashland Horween in #8, as I feel like it takes much better advantage of the lightness and low profile being so simple and thin. Hopefully I dont screw up the pics this time. Enjoy, and consider this watch even if at first (no sapphire? No exhibition caseback? No Problem) it looks like it might be $100 overpriced...

...

Recommends this product? Yes

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BertjanH

May 31, 2020

Verified Buyer

Great

Nice size, very good quality, very nice Watch.

Recommends this product? Yes

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monchodf

Apr 9, 2020

Verified Buyer

Very good

A superb historic watch

Recommends this product? Yes

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RobertlRuff

Jul 19, 2019

Verified Buyer

I am enamored with the Airman Line of watches. The "Chief" is a good example

The Chief is a reissue of an earlier Airman model updated to a larger form factor consistent with current size tastes, but maintaining the layout, font and aviator spirit of the original series. For those not familiar with the Glycine Airman line, these watches were introduced in the early 1950's as the one of the first watches to adapt a 24 hour dial and enable international pilots to track multiple time zones. For example the watch could be set to international time, aka Greenwich Mean Time (today coordinated universal time UTC is largely equivalent to GMT, technically UT1 is the same as GMT), and the bezel set to the time zone that a person was in or traveling to. Over time the Airman line has evolved to include 12 hour dial for people who are not comfortable with 24 hour, aka military, time. The Chief model in question is available in a purist model where the hour hand rotates around the dial every 24 hours or in a GMT model where a the hour hand rotates about the dial every 12 hours and a separate hand, the GMT hand shows the 24 hour time. The difference in the hour indicator markers makes it easy to tell the time on both the purist and GMT models. There are different combinations of dial and band color to choose from for both the GMT and purist models. I liked the beige and dark gray dials. The finish of items was excellent. The leather bands used by Glycine are good, but require breakin as they are stiff when the watch is new. I recommend a quality leather conditioner to help the leather mold to your wrist. I have collected Glycine Airman watches for many years and to date the quality of the product has not changed since the brand was acquired by Invicta, which indicates to me that Glycine remains a distinct and distinguished brand.

Recommends this product? Yes

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KelpieMindTricks

Apr 19, 2020

RobertlRuffThis watch looks great! I am a little worried about the crystal. Will it scratch easily?

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paul.vavro

Apr 20, 2020

KelpieMindTricksBuy some Polywatch and polish the scratches away. No worries :)

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Rtb1

Jul 18, 2019

Verified Buyer

Superb watch

Nice size, easy to read not too busy dial. Very comfortable to wear for casual or dress.

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bazsy_r1

Nov 24, 2019

Rtb1Really nice watch, only worried about water resistance. 10m isnt a lot. Any thoughts

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Rtb1

Nov 25, 2019

bazsy_r1Never swim in a watch with a leather strap so 10m is well okay. Always been warned that one of the worst things to do in a watch how ever waterproof is to wash the pots!

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chipsa964

Apr 5, 2019

Verified Buyer

The build quality is so good on this watch. Sure, it's acrylic, but it gives a great warmth to it. The sunburst dial, the blue hands, and the thin profile make it a really handsome stunner.