I have noticed a trend: luxury watch brands are pairing served by other brands to create new versions of the existing watches. Now, this is by no means a new trend, but it's one that seems to have had an appreciable uptick as of late. Unsurprisingly, these collaborations concentrate on other accouterments of a luxury lifestyle. When it comes to status symbols, owning your own plane certainly is up there, as well as for those who feel drawn to these products from Piper Aircraft, the new Raymond Weil Freelancer Piper means an interesting continuation of that trend.
Surprisingly enough for a collaboration like this, I see no reference to Piper Aircraft on the watch at all (we confirmed with the brand that the Piper logo only shows up around the box). This makes for an odd collaboration, but it also makes it a bit more flexible if you are not flying Pipers: it’s just a pilot watch from Raymond Weil.
Specific branding aside, the Raymond Weil Freelancer Piper definitely includes a full swath of airplane-inspired cues. What caught my eye at first was the sub-seconds dial at 9 o’clock, that can bring along the look of an attitude indicator that might be found on the dashboard of a plane. Past that, the handset subtly depicts the rotor blades found on the front of the plane, which I do really like. Along with as being a nice design nod, the handset looks to become well-sized for the watch.
Outside of that, we are really left with the complications which help to comprise what is considered a pilot’s watch. I obviously like the GMT complication (with the hand being red only at the end, that should cut down on distraction on the dial), and then there is the chronograph too. For that, you have the chrono minutes at 12 o’clock, and hours down at 6 o’clock; that complication is rounded by the tachymeter bezel around the AR-coated sapphire crystal. All this is made possible by the RW5020 chronograph movement tucked in to the case.
Speaking of that case, we generally expect pilot watches to become a bit larger, as that was how things were done “back in the day” to enhance legibility. Here, the Raymond Weil Freelancer Piper measures 45mm diameter (just under 14mm tall), and it is made of both steel and titanium. In the end do not have word on what part of the case is made of titanium, this should help reduce the weight a bit, which is beneficial on bigger watches such as these. This same combination of materials turns up on the deployant clasp, so there is a welcome consistency in materials (and, one assumes, finish).
With the combination of GMT and chronograph complications, along with the obvious airplane-derived cues, the Raymond Weil Tango Mens Replica Freelancer Piper is certainly aimed at those who are pilots (or at best like to pretend that they are). As the Piper Aircraft collaboration is called out, it is surprising to not see something more on the watch that would separate it from “just another” Raymond Weil watch. For all those picking up one of the 1,500 pieces of the Raymond Weil Freelancer Piper at $3,495, you’ll also get a model of a Raymond Weil-branded Piper airplane – you have to supply your own sound effects. You’ll have time to practice, though – these aren’t likely to be available until early Fall 2021. raymond-weil.com
Tech Specs from Raymond Weil
- Movement: Automatic Chronograph – RW5020
- Power Reserve: 46 hours
- Functions
- Watch Central hours and minutes, small seconds hand at 9 o'clock
- Date window at 4 o'clock
- Central GMT hand
- Chronograph Start, stop and restart using push-button at 2 o'clock
- Reset using push-button at 4 o'clock
- Central chronograph hand
- 30 minutes counter at 12 o'clock
- 12 hours counter at 6 o'clock
- Tachometer ring
- Case Round – Titanium and stainless steel
I wasn't entirely correct that there is no overt Piper Aircraft reference using the watch. Should you purchase one of those special edition Raymond Weil Freelancer Blue Replica Freelancer Piper pilot watches, then you get a little version of a Raymond Weil-branded Piper plane. Apparently, Mr. Raymond Weil himself was an owner of a Piper plane.Attached in to the watch is a perforated soft black leather strap attached to a titanium deployant clasp. The strap, while pleasant, includes a confusing design since you mainly associated straps such as this with racing, rather than aviation watches. At least Raymond Weil is holding you back on your toes. It is a worthy first entrant in to the pilot watch arena that will locate takers, but I am excited to determine where Raymond Weil goes next using their game watch collection. If successful, it could mean more comparatively affordable Swiss sport watches – and, in my estimation, you can not have enough of those. The longstanding Raymond Weil Nabucco watch collection receives a tourbillon for 2021. With that said, I don’t believe I'd have paid any attention whatsoever if Raymond Weil made a decision to do something similar to Frederique Constant and come out with a lower-priced tourbillon. Well, within this scenario, that isn’t the perfect example, because the Frederique Constant tourbillon is in-house made.- Diameter: 45mm
- Thickness: 13.7mm
- Crown: Screwed and fluted with RW monogram
- Crystal: Sapphire crystal with dual-sided antiglare treatment
- Dial: Black, Indexes Arabic numerals enhanced with luminescent material
- Hands
- Hours / minutes Black, barrel-shaped, enhanced with luminescent material
- Second at 9 o'clock Red, baton type
- Chronograph Blue, barrel-shaped
- GMT Black with red pointer and enhanced with luminescent material, barrel-shaped
- Case back: Screw down, with sapphire crystal
- Bracelet: Black open work genuine leather strap with a RW titanium and stainless steel folding clasp with double push-button security system
- Water resistance: 10 ATM
When I had been out there for a circa $40,000 sports watch having a tourbillon and had any affinity to music, I'd probably put the Raymond Weil Nabucco Cello Tourbillon a short list. While the concept behind the timepiece seems difficult to envision on newspaper, in implementation, this can be a fairly wonderful timepiece with a fantastic wrist presence.The black-toned Nabucco-style case is, again, 46mm broad and produced from components in steel, titanium, and carbon fiber. In 15.25mm thick, it is not exactly skinny – that is why I continue to say “sport watch,” despite the timepiece’s obvious delicate character, given the motion. Sportiness in the aesthetic outlook is improved upon by the assortment of matte black surfaces such as the case, parts of the skeletonized dial, in addition to the black alligator strap. As a plus factor in to the Raymond Weil Nabucco Cello Tourbillon being a sports watch, the situation is water resistant to 200 meters.It had been approximately 1999 that Raymond Weil apparently made a decision to proceed “musical” as it came to the muse behind the majority of their product names, and at least some of their designs. The Raymond Weil Nabucco Cello Tourbillon is actually one of the few watches, nevertheless, that mixes a musical theme within the name in addition to the design itself.
