Aviator has really come into its own recently, with 2013 being a watershed year as all its watches were Swiss made for the first time. The brand occupies an interesting position – it’s committed to the entry level market, but simultaneously, its upper echelon timepieces offer serious quality disproportionate to their prices. The Douglas here is just one such example.

The Douglas is named for the Douglas DC-3 airliner, which saw widespread civilian and military usage in the 20^th century. As testament to its design and build quality, the DC-3 remains in daily service around the world today, despite its pre-war introduction in 1936 almost eight decades ago. Unsurprisingly, Aviator has chosen to drive this airliner’s namesake watch with workhorse movements of either an ETA 2824-2 or a Sellita SW200-1. These calibres have proven reliability, and parts for any servicing are aplenty, which all but guarantees the Douglas’s longevity.

Design wise, the Douglas veers away from the archetypal pilot’s watch with a different dial font, and a railway track chapter ring instead of minute indexes. While “historically correct” pilot watches stick to white dials, Aviator has opted to implement a palette of earth tones in addition to black, white, and blue for  variety instead. Rest assured, however, that these timepieces still share a common attention to legibility.

Although the dial’s details have been changed, the Douglas maintains the general design cues of a pilot’s watch. It comes in a round stainless steel case with gently tapered lugs, the latter a familiar update that allows for a better fit on the wrist. The large diamond crown is another staple which has been preserved here.