Introducing: The Micromilspec Pilot GMT Dualtimer And Milgraph White Watches
Micromilspec is a hardcore watch brand from Oslo, Norway. The watches from this young and dynamic brand are rough, rugged, and ready for almost everything you can throw at them. The Milgraph, for instance, flaunts its rugged military capabilities with a cool sense of Scandinavian style, especially now that there’s a new version with a frosty white dial. But the biggest news is the introduction of the Micromilspec Pilot GMT Dualtimer, the brand’s first pilot’s watch available to the public. Both watches are limited to 75 pieces in this year’s annual collection.
In August last year, Micromilspec, a brand known for creating custom watches for military units and first responders, introduced its first watch to the general public, the Milgraph. The watch was initially developed for special operations forces and combines a chronograph with a GMT complication. It’s a “lefty” and boasts a microblasted 100m-water-resistant Grade 5 titanium case with a 42mm diameter, 15mm thickness, and 50.3mm lug-to-lug. The first Milgraph had a black dial, and the 75-piece limited edition that comes second has a polar-white one. But more on that later. First, we focus on the brand’s first pilot’s watch, the Pilot GMT Dualtimer.
The new Micromilspec Pilot GMT Dualtimer
The Pilot GMT Dualtimer is a travel watch for pilots and passengers. This new timepiece draws inspiration from the brand’s 40+ custom military watches. In particular, the Pilot GMT Dualtimer pays tribute to Micromilspec’s first commission, a pilot’s watch for the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The new pilot’s watch looks very much in line with the Milgraph and shares the angular and detailed 42 × 15mm form. This now-200m-water-resistant case is not executed in titanium, though, but in brushed steel, and the crown is on the right this time.
The black 24-hour bezel is also completely different from the Milgraph’s and helps you track time in two time zones, day or night. Micromilspec uses green Super-LumiNova, to indicate local time and blue lume on the GMT hand and the indications on the bezel to indicate the time at home. A travel/pilot’s watch isn’t complete and functional without a date, so this GMT Dualtimer with an instrumental past gets one. The date window is in the style of a cockpit instrument.
Brushed steel for the Dualtimer
The Pilot GMT Dualtimer forgoes the chronograph function of the Milgraph, making it a more affordable watch. On a black, orange, or white textured rubber strap with a steel pin buckle, the Pilot GMT Dualtimer costs €1,670. The watch is also available on a brushed steel three-row bracelet, which brings the price up to €1,735.
Inside is the travel watch beats the Sellita SW330-2 GMT, an automatic 4Hz movement with a 56-hour power reserve. This movement is a so-called ”caller” or “office” GMT, allowing independent adjustment of the 24-hour hand for tracking a second time zone, while the 12-hour hand is used for local time. Maybe a second generation of Pilot GMT Dualtimer watches will get an updated “flyer GMT” function once Sellita starts producing these. A watch with such a strong instrumental background deserves it. Besides that, the price and looks of the steel watch could prove a bigger hit than Micromilspec’s more complicated titanium firstborn. This year, the brand will make just 75 Pilot GMT Dualtimers. Fratello top tip: act fast if the watch speaks to you, and go to the Micromilspec website now.
The Milgraph White, a new version of the first commercial Micromilspec watch
I could cut a long story short by saying the Milgraph White is the same as the first one but with a dial in the opposite shade. I won’t. Instead, I will give you some details and specs worth mentioning. This watch stands out with its characteristic bezel showing four deep indents with an elapsed-time scale. The so-called QuadGrip adds practicality in turning the bezel, making the watch visually stand out. The 60-minute scale continues underneath the bezel, so it does not interfere with the watch’s functionality.
This version’s new white dial shows three sub-dials, the GMT function, and is easily legible. The base is the 60-minute scale with the applied hour markers. On the rehaut, you will find a 24-hour GMT scale. The three sub-dials differ in size and sorting in visual and functional hierarchy, with the smallest being the running seconds at 3 o’clock. The two chronograph registers outrank the small seconds and are thus larger. And even among the chronograph counters, there’s a strict hierarchy. The largest is the 30-minute counter at 6 o’clock, and the 12-hour counter at 12 o’clock is the second largest on the dial.
Black, orange, and white magic
The broad and oversized hour and minute hands are half-skeletonized, while the other half is filled with Super-LumiNova X1. Topping the handstack is a slim seconds hand with an orange tip, and a black GMT hand featuring an orange arrow-shaped tip lies nearest to the dial. Bright orange and fresh white combined with contrasting black can create magic on a watch dial when done right. Apart from the two orange tips, the word “MILGRAPH” on the dial is the third, subtle orange element. The rule of three applies to watch dials, as you can see for yourselves. Micromilspec got everything precisely right.
The 200m-water-resistant 42 × 50.3 × 15mm brushed titanium case holds the 4Hz La Joux-Perret L121 caliber, an automatic column-wheel chronograph movement with a “caller” GMT function. The movement has 26 jewels and offers a 60-hour power reserve. Again, maybe soon, Milgraph iterations will, just like the Pilot GMT Dualtimer, benefit from a promotion to a superior flyer GMT movement. For now, carry on.
The Micromilspec Milgraph White is an annual limited edition of 75 pieces and costs €3,500 on a white, black, or orange textured rubber strap with a titanium pin buckle.
Let me know your thoughts on these new creations from Norway in the comments section.
