AVI-8 presents Flyboy Lafayette Chronograph, a special edition quartz chronograph as a tribute to the courageous and patriotic warriors of Lafayette Escadrille, the unit of American volunteer fighter pilots who served under French command in 1916, during World War I.

Lafayette Escadrille

The name of the unit pays tribute to Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American revolutionary war. Aside from the initial core squadron, other American volunteers would join the French air effort and their presence marked them as members of a wider Lafayette Flying Corps.

The pilots serving came from a diverse background. Some were idealists and patriots, while others were adventurers. Nevertheless, they all sacrificed their lives and showed immense bravery and courage to volunteer in the face of America’s own neutrality during WW1. After the war, many of the Lafayette Escadrille and the Flying Corps would serve as the founding fathers of American combat aviation, with the formation of the US Air Force.

AVI-8 Flyboy Lafayette Chronograph

To create a special timepiece that proudly bearing the Lafayette name, AVI-8 used design bookmarks from the late 1910s to 1920s, fused with practical and modern watch mechanics and precision.

A 42mm pilot field case is sensibly sized, topped by a hardened mineral lens with both sapphire and anti-reflective coating. An “onion” style crown draws from early trench watches fashioned out of traditional pocket watches. Piston like pushers operate and snap back reset the chronograph easily.

Art-deco inspired fonts mark the hours, and while the dial is calibrated comprehensively it remains clearly readable courtesy of intelligent spacing, proportionality and use of depth to dip into the chronograph sub dials.

The central dial layer’s subtle horizontal lines are drawn from the wing pattern of a Nieuport 17, an aircraft flown by many members of the Escadrille. A pulsometer is marked out on the tension ring of the dial with a nod to the French elements imbibed in the origin and inspiration of this watch.

The syringe like hour and minute hands are met with detailing on the chronograph seconds hand where a French Air Force roundel has been carefully applied true to the commitment of the brand to reflect history and narrative into the detail of the watches.

The solid steel case-back features the famed Indian head insignia of the Escadrille found on the Spad VIIs and other aircraft flown by them.

The AVI-8 Flyboy Lafayette Chronograph houses a Japanese High Beat Meca-Quartz Sweep hand chronograph movement. Providing pin point split time accuracy to one fifth of a second, the movement’s behavior as an automatic with the precision of quartz makes for a very satisfying timing experience.

More details at AV-8 online store.

Technical details

Model: AV-8 Flyboy Lafayette Chronograph | AV-4076

Design highlights

• Date frame inspired by the airspeed indicator on the instrument panel.
• 24 hour display inspired by the year (1916) the Lafayette Escadrille was constituted under French command.
• Dial design inspired by wing pattern found on Nieuport 17, an aircraft flown by the Lafayette Escadrille.
• The second hand inspired by roundel on the Nieuport 17.

Case
Stainless steel case
Diameter: 42.0 mm
Thickness: 13.5 mm
Stainless steel case-back with engraved insignia of Lafayette Escadrille
Front glass: Mineral lens with anti-reflective coating
Onion crown
Fixed case bezel
Water resistance: 5 ATM

Dial
Multi-layered dial
Swiss luminous applied indexes
Swiss luminous hands

Functions
Date
24 hours indication
Center 1/5 chronograph second
Small second
Chronograph minute counter

Movement
Caliber: VK68-TMI
Japan Meca Quartz Chronograph with date and 24 hours

Strap
Solid stainless steel bracelet
Strap width: 22.0 mm
Solid stainless steel fold-over buckle with safety lock and push button

Warranty
2 Years

Retail price
£ 225.00/ $ 285.00/€ 265.00

Please visit AV-8 Watches online store for more technical details, pricing and availability.