Only One Pilot’s Watch Can Legally Say “Pilot” on the Dial — Here’s Why

The history of the Zenith Pilot goes back a long ways — even before the first successful flight.

Published May 16, 2024

Updated May 16, 2024

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After the dive watch, the pilot’s watch is arguably the most recognizable purpose-built watch style out there. Practically every brand makes one, and the style’s combination of sporty looks, a rugged build and high legibility makes it a popular choice among collectors and the general public alike.

There are many diverse iterations of iconic pilot’s watches, including chronographs like the Breitling Navitimer, GMTs like the Rolex GMT-Master II and the stripped-down Fliegers exemplified most notably by IWC. But none of these pilot’s watches actually say the word “Pilot” on the dial; not even those from IWC, which has an entire line of watches whose model name is “Pilot’s Watch.”

There is just one watch brand that can legally put the word “pilot” on a watch, and that’s Zenith. So how did a company best known for making high-beat automatic chronograph movements end up with such a high-flying trademark?

zenith pilot watch on wrist — With its proud “Pilot” on the dial, the Zenith Pilot is unique among pilots’ watches.

He Believed We Could Fly

To discover the reason behind Zenith’s ownership of the pilot name, I interviewed the maison’s head of heritage, Laurence Bodenmann, who traced the origin of the story back to a surprisingly early beginning.

“The reason why Zenith is the only brand able to use the name ‘pilot’ is because of a trademark,” Bodenmann says. “It was filed in 1888, which was before even the first successful flights, right at the start of the realm of aviation.”

The trademark was the brainchild of Zenith founder Georges Favre-Jacot, whose strong belief in the future of aviation led him to file the application before an airplane ever even took to the sky.

vintage zenith watches trademark — Zenith’s original 1888 trademark was for the French “pilote.”

“He was himself a pioneer,” she says of Favre-Jacot, noting how he made Zenith the first watchmaker in Switzerland to vertically integrate its operations under one roof. “He wanted to prove by trademarking the pilot name that these aviation pioneers — who hadn’t been successful yet — would be successful. He believed in it, just like he believed in his own concept.”

It took some time, but Favre-Jacot’s foresight would pay off as he was proven right when the Wright Brothers took to the sky in the Wright Flyer in 1903. Having been vindicated, Favre-Jacot didn’t rest on his laurels. Instead, he acted quickly to obtain another trademark. As his initial 1888 trademark had been only for the French name “Pilote,” he followed it up in 1904 with an English trademark for “Pilot.”

That trademark has been continuously renewed to this day, which is why Zenith is the only brand — by law — that can print the word “Pilot” on a watch dial.

Pilot’s Watch vs Pilot Watch

Despite owning the “Pilot” trademark for well over a century, Zenith has scarcely put it to use. The brand produced a number of tool watches for military pilots in the early days of aviation beginning in the 1920s, including for the British Royal Air Force, and also made pilot’s chronographs for the Italian Air Force via Italian retailer Cairelli in the 1960s and ’70s. Curiously, the word “Pilot” never appeared on the dial of any of these Zenith pilot’s watches.

zenith pilot watch — Zenith’s military pilot’s watches, like this early example from the 1930s, did not say “Pilot” on the dial.

According to Bodenmann, this was a deliberate decision to keep any excessive dial text from interfering with the pilot watches’ main function, which was legibility.

“The pilot name was trademarked, so it was reserved, but it wasn’t used (on pilot’s watches) because it would challenge the readability of the watches,” she says. “[The military watches] never got the pilot name on the dial because they were for professionals … the watches were dedicated to pure and immediate legibility.”

The first time Zenith actually put its trademark to use by printing the word “pilot” on a watch dial didn’t come until the 1950s. In the aftermath of WWII, air force veterans in Europe and the United States found new careers as commercial airline pilots, and they needed a watch that conveyed the prestige of one of the most glamorous occupations of the nascent Jet Age.

vintage zenith watch ad from the 1950s — The first Zenith watches to say “Pilot” on the dial were dress watches from the 1950s, similar to the ones seen in this vintage advertisement.

“[The first Zenith Pilot] was a dress watch. It was worn by aviators just to have on the plane, but it wasn’t a tool watch at all,” Bodenmann says. “It was also for aspirational people who dreamed about aviation as this prestigious thing, as aviation had become a symbol of status and prestige that little boys and girls were dreaming about … In theory, that’s the kind of watch that has the Pilot name.”

Today’s Zenith Pilot Blends Heritage and Modernity

Even after those 1950s dress watches with “Pilot” on the dial, Zenith still rarely made use of its trademark. The brand even refrained from using the word on pilot’s watches like the iconic El Primero Rainbow Flyback of the 1990s. The next notable Zenith Pilot didn’t actually debut until 2012, when the name was used on a new product line of traditionally style pilot’s watch based on Zenith’s military aviator watch designs of the 1930s.

This marked the first time Zenith had put the word “Pilot” on the dial of an actual pilot’s watch, coming well over a century after first securing the right to do so. The watches were oversized with big numerals and even bigger crowns, and included variants with complications useful to pilots like a chronograph, GMT and big date display. The line lasted for over a decade in Zenith’s catalog.

That brings us to 2023, when Zenith gave its Pilot line a complete revamp. The new watches are sort of a distillation of the last century of Zenith’s pilot’s and Pilot watches alike, with a heavy dose of contemporary styling for today’s consumers.

There are two versions of the new Zenith Pilot: A simple three-hander with a date, and a flyback chronograph with a big date complication, with each style available in either stainless steel or black ceramic. The flyback function, along with the rainbow subdial of the stainless chronograph, recall Zenith’s Rainbow Flyback pilot’s chronograph of the ’90s. The big date display is an ode to 2012’s Zenith Pilot Big Date Special.

But despite the watches’ pilot-specific functions (in the case of the chronograph) and robust build (all versions are water-resistant to 100m), Bodenmann is quick to point out that the modern Zenith Pilots are not tool watches. Instead, they’re more in the spirit of those dressy Zenith Pilots from the 1950s that were as much for fashionable dreamers as actual pilots.

zenith watch in a mans hand — The new Zenith Pilot is thoroughly modern with nods to the past, including a version with flyback chronograph and big date complications.

“By owning the name pilot, we can take the design further and rethink what a pilot’s watch [is for] new generations,” Bodenmann says. “It was a great opportunity … because [other brands] kind of have to stick to what looks like a traditional pilot’s watch to be recognized as such.

“We’re in another a new generation now, so we thought about how the new watch should become a second skin just like it was for the aviators from before. This meant we could have a smaller crown so that it doesn’t scratch your arm, but it’s still ridged so you can manipulate it very easily. The watch itself is no longer oversized, it’s more wearable … it’s not a tool watch anymore. It’s just a watch that is immediately legible and makes you feel like it was designed by you.”

In short, the current Zenith Pilot doesn’t look like a traditional pilot’s watch because it doesn’t need to. Since the brand owns the name, a pilot watch is whatever Zenith wants it to be.

Personally, I’m a fan of Zenith’s current vision of what a pilot watch should be.