This Affordable Pilot’s Watch Has No Business Being This Good

Perfectly sized, great-looking and a specs monster — what more could you want?

a jack mason pilots watch on a mans wrist

Published February 5, 2025

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It may seem hard to believe, but 2025 marks 10 years of independent watch brand Jack Mason. It’s hard to believe because, for many watch enthusiasts, the brand wasn’t really on their radar until 2022.

Jack Mason launched its Strat-o-timer GMT in October of that year as one of the first watches in the world to house the game-changing Miyota Calibre 9075, an automatic GMT movement with an independently adjustable local hour hand.

For the first seven years of the brand’s life, Jack Mason was a “fashion brand,” churning out good-looking quartz watches sold in shopping malls and department stores. In other words, they weren’t going after the enthusiast segment. But the launch of the Strat-o-timer marked Jack Mason’s hard pivot toward the enthusiast market, and the brand has been on a roll ever since, with each new release improving upon the last.

a jack mason pilots watch on a stone windowsill — Jack Mason is celebrating its 10th anniversary with its best watch ever.

Jack Mason’s latest watch is its best yet and signifies the brand coming full circle. The Pursuit Pilot 10 Year Anniversary Edition is a reissue of the brand’s very first watch from 2015, but with every single detail optimized for enthusiasts. I’ve never seen a pilot’s watch anywhere close to this for the money.

Nothing But Clear Skies

There is a lot of great stuff packed into Jack Mason’s new pilot’s watch, but I’m going to start with what I believe is the watch’s crowning achievement: Its absurdly great visibility in all conditions.

There are a few factors that contribute to this. The dial design is inspired by classic Flieger-style pilot’s watches, namely the IWC Mark XVI, and has the expected prominent Arabic indices and broad sword hands against a matte black dial.

The flat sapphire crystal is coated with an abundance of a very high-quality anti-reflective coating. It has a blue tinge to it that reminds me a lot of IWC’s distinctive AR coating, and boy oh boy does it do its job. This crystal repels reflections like a champ. Even in direct sunlight, it’s always legible.

a closeup of a jack mason pilots watch on a mans wrist — The Grade X2 Lumicast markers and outstanding anti-reflective coating combine to create an extremely legible watch.

Last but most definitely not least is the lume, which is one of the best applications of Super-LumiNova I’ve ever seen. The indices are solid blocks of Lumicast, which has been used by high-end brands like IWC and Tudor. These three-dimensional blocks of lume glow brighter and longer than their painted lume counterparts.

The lume formula used is also special. The Pursuit is one of the first watches —and the first I’ve seen — to use the new Super-LumiNova Grade X2. X1 had previously been Super-LumiNova’s brightest and longest-lasting lume, but X2 is apparently up to 87 percent stronger. I have no doubt about that statistic. The lume is absurdly bright, and can even be seen glowing in relatively bright conditions once activated.

a man holds a jack mason pilots watch with glowing indices — The lume is so strong, it’s even visible in relatively bright conditions once activated.

The Lumicast blocks appear in the “old radium” style in daylight but glow blue, except for the hands, which glow green. The “X” index at 10 o’clock also glows green as a subtle tribute to the brand’s tenth anniversary.

A Refined Flyer

This is a tool watch, but it’s quite a luxurious one. Jack Mason doesn’t claim to be a luxury brand, and I don’t know of any luxury pilot’s watches on the market for under two grand, but this comes awfully close to meeting the criteria.

The size is damn near perfect. While the original Pursuit was a 42mm watch, this new version clocks in at 39mm across, 11.8mm thick and just 46mm lug-to-lug. It’s nicely finished throughout, with fine brushing on the sides of the case, the top of the lugs and the bezel, and mirror polishing around the outside of the bezel and along the chamfered lugs. There’s more detail and refinement than you’d expect from this type of pilot’s watch, which I appreciate, as I sometimes can find this style of watch boring.

a jack mason pilots watch held by a leather gloved hand — The finishing on the Grade 2 titanium case and bracelet leaves little to be desired.

The case and the Oyster-style bracelet are both made of Grade 2 titanium, which means the watch is exceptionally light. The big knock against Grade 2 titanium is that it scratches very easily, but Jack Mason has thought of that too. An anti-scratch coating boasting a hardness rating of 1,200 Vickers has been applied to the case and bracelet, and I noticed no scratches during my time with the watch.

The bracelet has a nice taper, which adds to the elegant vibes of the watch, and it’s equipped with the usual niceties seen on modern Jack Mason watches, namely quick-release spring bars and a micro-adjustable clasp. If I had one nit to pick, it would be that the clasp is a bit too long. I could do with a few millimeters less of adjustability in exchange for a smaller clasp, but I’m grasping at straws for things to complain about here.

the caseback of a jack mason pilots watch — Behind the commemorative caseback is a nickel-iron cage that protects the movement from magnetic fields.

Inside the watch, unsurprisingly, is more good stuff. The movement is a Swiss-made La Joux Perret Cal. G101 automatic with a 68-hour power reserve. It’s been regulated to run at +/-5 seconds per day and is regulated by Jack Mason at its Texas headquarters, where the watch is also assembled.

The caseback bears an “X” to denote the 10-year special edition, and behind that is a nickel-iron cage protecting the movement from magnetism — a traditional element of pilot’s watches. The watch is also water resistant to 150m, which outperforms most pilot’s watches.

Pricing and Availability

With its high levels of wearability and legibility, its stacked specs sheet and its elegant utilitarian looks, the Jack Mason Pursuit Pilot 10 Year Anniversary Edition seems like it should cost a lot of money. It does not.

The watch is priced at $1,649, which does make it the brand’s most expensive watch. But it’s also the brand’s best watch, and it’s still an absurd bargain at that price. I can’t think of any pilot’s watch that comes close for less money.

three jack mason pilot watches — The “Core Collection” of the Pursuit Pilot comes in three colors.

This version of the Pursuit Pilot is a limited edition, but Jack Mason has also launched a new steel version with virtually all of the same specs. Available in three dial colors, the “Core Collection” lacks the “X” index at 10 and the commemorative caseback, has printed instead of Lumicast Arabic markers (the other indices are still Lumicast), and is made of stainless steel instead of titanium.

Otherwise, it’s the same watch, and it’s even cheaper at $1,399. All four versions of the Pursuit Pilot are available to pre-order now on Jack Mason’s website.