Aviator is the cleanest line inside the pilot family, and its job is singular: to let you read the time at a glance in a moving cockpit. The DNA traces to the German B-Uhr (Beobachtungsuhr) observation watches of World War II, built to the spec of the RLM, the German Air Ministry, by just five firms: IWC, Laco, A. Lange & Sohne, Stowa and Wempe. Cases ran to 55mm, crowns were oversized for gloved hands, and the movements often sat in a soft-iron cage for anti-magnetism with hacking seconds for synchronizing a flight. Two dial layouts became canon. The Type A puts hours 1 through 12 around the dial with a triangle and two dots at twelve; the Type B, introduced in 1941, moves a 0-60 minute scale to the outer ring and shrinks the hours to an inner track. That stark, high-contrast logic is what still defines an aviator, and it is why a slide-rule Navitimer reads as a navigator chronograph rather than a true Flieger.
The real examples span a wide range. At entry level, Laco's Augsburg Type A starts around $475, and Stowa's Flieger Klassik sits near $1,000, with the broader Flieger range climbing past $3,000 for the manufacture-movement Flieger Original. Hamilton's Khaki Aviation Pilot Auto, redesigned in 2024, comes as a 36mm time-only piece or a 42mm Day Date, both near $1,000. In the middle, the IWC Pilot's Watch Mark XX in 40mm is about $5,250 on leather and $6,150 on the steel bracelet. For more wrist presence, the IWC Big Pilot 43 lists near $9,700 and the Zenith Pilot Big Date Flyback in steel sits around $12,500. At the top of the French Type 20 strand, Breguet's 250th-anniversary Type XX Chronographe 2075, a hand-wound 38mm piece in Breguet gold, reaches roughly $43,500 in the black-dial version.
When buying, decide on a dial type first: Type A is cleaner and more classic, Type B is more tool-like but busier. Watch the diameter, since the original 55mm wears heavy, which is why most modern makers offer 36mm to 42mm. Purists should look for a matte black dial, white numerals, blued-steel or lumed hands, and a thick rivet-style canvas or brown leather strap. Crown size matters too: a genuine aviator should carry a large onion or diamond crown. This category suits a buyer who wants one robust, legible everyday watch with military and historical character. The trade-off is plainness; most Fliegers are simple three-handers, so if you want a chronograph or GMT, look toward the Navitimer or the Big Date Flyback.
There are useful sub-types. The pure Flieger, the B-Uhr line, differs from the French Type 20 lineage, which adds a flyback chronograph and a large knurled onion crown, as seen in the Zenith Pilot Type 20 and the Breguet Type XX. On the vintage side, original A. Lange & Sohne, IWC and Wempe B-Uhren are auction territory, impractical for daily wear but the reference point for the whole genre. For most buyers, Laco, Stowa and Hamilton are the right entry, with IWC and Zenith as the longer-term keepers.