Glycine

Airman 9

When I heard that Glycine were bringing out the Airman 9 chronograph I could hardly wait, when it did come out I nearly threw my computer monitor out of the window! I was so disappointed I could barely bring myself to talk about it. So what is wrong with the Airman 9?

The case, bracelet and the distinct Airman heritage are all fine but the dial is a disaster. The seconds scale is incomplete, I fail to see the point of a chronograph where you cannot tell what the seconds are? If the chronograph second hand stops between 25 and 35 seconds what are you supposed to do? Guess? The tachymeter scale is unnecessary and causes a space problem. Glycine have used the classic Airman arrow hour hand, however on the Airman 9 it obscures the registers at certain times, the hour hand should be an index type hand to get around this problem. There is no continuous seconds sub-dial (normally I do not buy chronographs without a continuous seconds), it is important so that at a glance you can see the watch is running and secondly it allows you to set the watch accurately against a time signal etc. In order to maintain the symmetry of the dial Glycine could have used a cross-hair type continuous seconds sub-dial such as the one used on the Damasko DC56. The use of “Tot Min” and “Tot Hours” on the registers is unnecessary in my opinion and does not add to the looks of the dial at all. My final gripe is that the Airman 9 could not be used as a purist 24 with the current dial layout.

Combat Chronograph

This is almost the perfect chronograph, superb functional dial, great hands, but sadly no continuous seconds sub-dial. This watch would be in my collection now if it had a continuous seconds sub-dial, a Damasko DC56 cross-hair style continuous seconds would work well.

Combat Chronograph 44mm

Oh dear, possibly the most useless chronograph on the market today, function has been totally sacrificed for form, and the form is just horrible. It has a seconds scale that has been eaten away by the minute and hours register and what is the point of having 14, 16, 20, 21 and 22 printed on the dial. It is hardly worth mentioning the lack of a continuous seconds sub-dial.

Grand Carre Chronograph

No major complaints here, not my style though, “Tot Min” and “Hours” spoil the dial a bit.

Lagunare Chronograph

When I first saw this watch my immediate reaction was “wow”, then I noticed it has not got a seconds scale at all! What is the point of that? Make’s it useless as a chronograph. I could even live without the continuous seconds in order to keep the “Big 9” but can’t live without a seconds scale. Another watch I would definitely have bought but for the above.

Ningaloo Reef Chronograph

No real comments, not my style; negatives no continuous seconds.

Stratoforte Chronograph

One of Glycine’s best chronographs, negatives, no continuous seconds and superfluous “Tot Min” and “Tot Hour” on the dial.

Stratoforte Complique

In terms of function this is Glycine’s best chronograph; dial is a little too busy for me, but nevertheless a great watch.

SO GLYCINE IF YOU ARE READING, PLEASE ADD CONTINUOUS SECONDS SUB-DIALS TO YOUR ROUND CHRONOGRAPHS, ESPECIALLY TO THE COMBAT CHRONOGRAPH. REPLACE THE TACHYMETER CHAPTER RING ON THE LAGUNARE CHRONOGRAPH WITH A SECONDS CHAPTER RING. DROP THE “TOT MIN” AND “TOT HOURS” AND FINALLY PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE CAN WE HAVE AN AIRMAN CHRONOGRAPH WITH A CONTINUOUS SECONDS SUB-DIAL, COMPLETE SECONDS SCALE, INDEX HANDS AND A DIAL LAYOUT THAT WOULD ALLOW A 24 HOUR PURIST CONFIGURATION.