The model comes from their Pilot line of watches developed in honour of the aviator Louis Bleriot, who in 1909 first crossed the English Channel with a Zenith watch on his wrist.

This piece comes in titanium with DLC coating, domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides, Elite 693 automatic movement, water resistant to 10 ATM, capable of holding up to 50 hours autonomy, timeless design with leather strap, with the emblematic and instantly recognizable logo of the band displayed on the right of the dial.

The big onion crown to accommodate the pilot’s gloved hand, white Arabic numerals contrasted against a black dial in a rotund case for instantaneous readability, and the ability to “hack” or stop the movement for synchronization when pulling the crown are all design indications of a navigator watch, or pilot watch. This genre, which Zenith pioneered, is unmistakable here.

Zenith has quickly built up its current Pilot collection of watches after starting with only one provocative 57.5mm model and equipped each watch with an automatic in-house movement. Given that Zenith owns the trademark for “pilot,” you will only see “pilot” on a Zenith dial, lending serious stature to their pilot collection.

The GMT Type 20 nicely balances the oversized pilot watch expectation with a very wearable wrist presence. Yes, the watch is big, but it wears nicely without being cumbersome, and no one would mistake it for a pocket watch on a strap.

Its appeal is undeniable and at only 100 pieces you can count yourself very lucky if you manage to spot this in time.