The C8 Pilot is 44mm by a slim 9.7mm. It wears incredibly Breitling Blackbird A4435910.B811-PIL (NEW) Mens Watch comfortably because of this, and is effortless to slide under sleeves. After my usual-wear dive watch at 15mm, 9.7 is a lot more versatile and comfortable since the weight sits lower and is spread out, the watch doesn't move nearly as much when your arm moves; less of a pendulum effect. It's hard to explain, but if you've worn a heavy, tall watch, you'll know what I mean. At 140g, this is also a very light weight watch, adding to the comfort. The thinness also means that the C8 can work as an unusual dress watch. I've bought a couple of watches from Christopher Ward Breitling Blackbird A4435910.B811-PIL (NEW) Mens Watch back in 2006, and have been meaning to do a review.
At the time, watches were an essential navigational component since dead reckoning requires only a compass, clock, and map. All three had to be reliable and functional. Additionally, piston engines of the time had a much higher level of vibration than do modern jets, so legibility was critical. The original watches of the time were quite large because of this, often 50mm or more, designed to be worn on long straps over an outer coat. Self-winding watches lay in the future, so they were handwound pocketwatch movements. Iconic designs from this time came from IWC, Laco, Stowa, Wempe and Lange. You can read more about them here and here. If you browse those links and the pictures on them, you can see the inspiration for the Christopher Ward C8 pilot here: big crown for use with gloves, upright Arabic numerals, dotted *** at 12 o'clock, luminous hands outlined in black and an easy-to-spot second hand. There's also the ecru-stitched black leather band with (decorative) rivets, matte-finished case (a shiny case is bad in a plane -- the reflections are distracting), as well as the invisible antimagnetic case and dial. In this case, CW has updated the classic design with a few modern elements: the movement is a self-winding (automatic) ETA 2824-2, the lume is blue, they added a date window at 3 o'clock, and there's a small window Breitling Blackbird A4435910.B811-PIL (NEW) Mens Watch on the back to show the balance in motion. The dimensions are changed a bit -- for the better, actually.
