I love Glycine.. for all the reasons you mentioned. great history and a distinctive GMT style. I mean there are SO many GMT Master homages out there, there is never mistaking a Glycine Airman design. It's also predates the GMT Master to hit the market with a GMT watch for consumer market. Lots of great things for the brand and this particular design. I used to want the Airman No.1. The most true to design and scale to the very first and original Glycine Airman from the late 50's. But, it WAS very expensive before.. often around $2k, even used.. cause they were pretty rare. HOWEVER, thank god for Mass Drop. They have a lot of Glycines at probably the best prices and they have had these No.1's available for very good price about just under $600. I was so tempted to get it, but, I had bought an Airman No.1. You usually also get a very nice wooden box with that, too, as opposed to the standard black leatherette ones from Glycine. The Airman is a great series from Glycine. I've owned 3, but my last I was most happy with was the Airman 18. at 39mm. The previous 2 were 42mm. I think 39mm is a very great size for a GMT watch.. especially when most are no smaller than 40mm, often 42mm and even larger. And, you can't deny Glycine's ability to keep their watches so thin. I think barely 10mm thick on the Airman 18, and even on some of the larger versions at 42mm, I don't think they exceed 12mm thick. The Airman No.1 is best for that very true to vintage Glycine Airman design and feel. I appreciate the red date disk. HOwever, I am glad I got the Airman 18 instead. 36mm is a bit dainty, but ok, and the 40mm is maybe better because it has a more full dial without having the date window cut out part of the outer track. But, in either 36 or 40 versions of the Airman No.1, they are sadly only 30m WR. That's why I enjoy the Airman 18 as it could very well be a dive watch with 200m of WR. Additionally, the 39mm case with the chunkier dual crowns just looks cooler and easier to operate than the smaller ones on the No.1. For me, I rarely need 3 time zones or more, let alone even 2, really. As such, the pursist 24-hour version is the best Airman configuration for me. It's most intuitive to use, I think, as well. In either local or alternate timezone, it's easy to set and clearly see what is AM & PM hours. And, the neat trick about the 24-hour movement and dial with these particular style hands are the extended back end of the hour hand.. it acts as a pointer to corresponding 12-hour equivalent time if the hour hand is actually pointing at a time after between 1200 & 2400.. easy peasy military time translation on the dial if you're not accustomed to reading a 24-hour dial and movement. It's just a cool and interesting alternative movement than your standard 12-hour ones for a change. Some have complained about QC.. maybe the hands weren't exactly lined up correctly to read precisely on the hour and/or minute. IDK? I've never experienced that with any of the 3 Airmans I've ever owned. I can say the movement they use is very good. Always very consistently accurate with my usage. I think no more than +2 or +4 seconds per day. And, the handwinding action of all my Glycine Airmans is perhaps the smoothest I've ever felt. I can barely hear and feel the wind.. it's so buttery smooth. The 24-hour rotating bezel is proper! It's bi-directional and has a good and correct 48 easy but solidly affirming clicks so you can set at half-hour offsets for those oddball timezones that have that. I love the 2nd crown that locks the bezel in place. You really don't need it as it clicks into place very well without budging, but the added security is good. PLUS, I like that it gives the overall watch a classic "WEEMS" pilot style look to the watch akin to the Omega CK2129 which JLC and Longines also made similar WW2 pilots watches back in the day. Forget any stigma with the Invicta purchase. It has absolutely no negative effects to the quality and origins of the watch. Still made in Switzerland with very high quality, imho. If anything, it's given Glycine some backing to continue to produce the watches, perhaps expand their market as well as perhaps now being able to keep their watches at an even more affordable cost new. For just a couple of niggles: I agree about the weak lume. namely the dots.. the hands are decent, but kind of near useless without the dots as references.. you could get away with it if the dial was a 12-hour dial, but with the purist 24-hour version will be too difficult to rely on hands only glowing in the dark..the space between 24 numbers is too tight to decipher just by 2 hands as opposed to a 12-hour dial and movement like they have in their 4 handed GMT version of the 3 handed double twelve version of the Airman line. Sadly, that was one of the main reasons I decided to sell my Airman 18. I love good lume and if it's not done well or complete, it's a REAL BUMMER. In such cases, I'd much prefer no lume at all than to have half-ass lume application that just disappoints any expectations I might have had. I also wished Glycine would offer a bracelet option for their Airmans. They usually look better on a leather strap or NATO, but they can look pretty nice on a metal bracelet and I usually like to always have a bracelet option available for all of my various watches in my collection. Only like one or two Airman's I think were sold with a bracelet option.. not enough.
@@donrossi1603 my first Airman was also a Purist with gradient blue to black dial and came with bracelet. But, sadly, my gripe is the smaller versions such as the no. 1 and 18 like I have, 40mm and below, usually do not have that option. Also, similarly disappointed is most glycine combat subs also do not include bracelet options. A select few do, but not usually in the variant I want.
This is a late reply to your comment, but I own a vintage Glycine Airman, dated to 1964. Do you know if your Airman watch had radium paint on the hands and dial or tritium paint? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
truly in love with mine. just got myself an Airman 18 purist with blue degrade dial last year, immediately swapped the leather strap with a thin brown leather nato. currently running at -4 spd.
My wife and I have a bucket list goal of visiting all seven continents. We're starting with Europe next summer and I plan to get an Airman to be my travel watch as we check off each continent.
Lets just be clear, Glycine Airman came out before Rolex GMT did, making it the first dual time watch. Glycine Airman released in 1953 as you mentioned, but the Rolex GMT Master came out in 1954
Glycine Airman watches are really Great I added an Airman 42 GMT World Timer Automatic to my collection this year... Gray / Blue dial..Sapphire Crystal with Exhibition back...Very functional cool piece and able to track 3 different time zones..!!!
Great predestination, I have the glycine #1 Airman from when in Vietnam and still have this watch. Its' never been serviced and thou I don ware it all the time it still keeps perfect. The only problem I've found that is sending it for service to Glycine (Invicta) in the Netherlands to have oiled and replace the crystal since there were some scratches. They test all watches that come in for repair and found no problems and said they had no parts. I've tested the accuracy to my Glycine Combat Sub GL 0087 purchased last year and that watch has not missed a beat and still keeps perfect time. The only thing I have to get I guess is some Poly-watch to take the scratches out of the crystal.
Thanks Bruce, I'm a fan of Glycine. I think they offer cool military looking pieces such as the Combat and Airman at a very reasonable price. The vintage looks make them that much more attractive. As far as the dial goes, most people out of the US actually use the 24h clock so there isn't much of a problem there.
Awesome watch. I'm looking at the Airman 42 "Purist" (ref GL0068) for my next piece. Funny how they fit all 24 numbers on the smaller dial, but only even numbers on that 42 mm.
The 1atm water resistance really put me off, so I ordered the older airman 18 gmt with 20atm water resistance instead (hopefully coming by next week). But otherwise this is a brilliant watch
You made the right decision for practical everyday wear. I can wear my no.18 even swimming, i have to take my no.1 off just to wash hands, doing dishes, can't be remotely near water or even get caught in light rain. I like it aesthetically but it's more a display piece now as it too damn fragile and POA to take care of.
I always liked the Airman, it's like a piece of affordable horology. I instead picked up the Airman 18 purist - 24 hour dial, sapphire, 200m and 39mm. Not as authentic but more wearable.
What is the function (if any) of the thin pointy back extension of the hour hand? It doesn't seem to have any function other than to confuse you when reading the time!
If you can’t get the hang of 24 hr time reading, the small pointer indicates what time it is in 12 hr format.. The Hong Kong New York comment is what the bezel is for.
Question: when you pull out the crown to the first position, can you move the hour hand independently like you can do with the gmt hand on a standard ETA 2893 movement? I can’t find the answer to this anywhere.
The bi directional is so that you can set the GMT hand to GMT with the bezel in the normal position. Then depending on what time zone you wanna see, you move the bezel either left or right yo represent time zones in plus or minus GMT
@ Dylan S Oh come on know, Invicta as even said nothings gonna change meaning Glycine will still be an independent company. I bet if any other company bought them you'd be singing another tune. I never understood this hate for Invicta? Yes, some of their watches are over the top and can be gaudy but their not the only ones who make oversized watches. Diesel comes to mind. I'd rather wear a 50mm Invicta than one of these overpriced fashion watches.
coco martin Invicta will be in charge of marketing and distribution, however manufacturing will continue as it always has, at the original 100 yr old facility in Bienne Switzerland.
@ThisnThatPackRat someday you'll understand that your invictas are shit and will regret that you bought invictas. That day will only come if you continue to be successful and get yourself a Rolex and along the way you'll get all the answer to your silly questions
@@dukeviper8385 this is simply not true.. i like watches that have storys attached to it and are original in what they are. i own a rolex and some other more expensive pieces but thats not the point in collecting and admiring watch history. Just sounds like you are the guy buying ss sub and thinking hes a watch lover. The airman is true history so why isnt the reissue? Omega is owned by the swatchgroup (sure not invicta haha) but the speedmaster is still the watch it was back in the 60`s... it will be forever part of spacetraveling as the airman will always be the first gmt out there.
I love Glycine.. for all the reasons you mentioned. great history and a distinctive GMT style. I mean there are SO many GMT Master homages out there, there is never mistaking a Glycine Airman design. It's also predates the GMT Master to hit the market with a GMT watch for consumer market. Lots of great things for the brand and this particular design.
I used to want the Airman No.1. The most true to design and scale to the very first and original Glycine Airman from the late 50's. But, it WAS very expensive before.. often around $2k, even used.. cause they were pretty rare. HOWEVER, thank god for Mass Drop. They have a lot of Glycines at probably the best prices and they have had these No.1's available for very good price about just under $600. I was so tempted to get it, but, I had bought an Airman No.1. You usually also get a very nice wooden box with that, too, as opposed to the standard black leatherette ones from Glycine.
The Airman is a great series from Glycine. I've owned 3, but my last I was most happy with was the Airman 18. at 39mm. The previous 2 were 42mm. I think 39mm is a very great size for a GMT watch.. especially when most are no smaller than 40mm, often 42mm and even larger. And, you can't deny Glycine's ability to keep their watches so thin. I think barely 10mm thick on the Airman 18, and even on some of the larger versions at 42mm, I don't think they exceed 12mm thick.
The Airman No.1 is best for that very true to vintage Glycine Airman design and feel. I appreciate the red date disk. HOwever, I am glad I got the Airman 18 instead. 36mm is a bit dainty, but ok, and the 40mm is maybe better because it has a more full dial without having the date window cut out part of the outer track. But, in either 36 or 40 versions of the Airman No.1, they are sadly only 30m WR. That's why I enjoy the Airman 18 as it could very well be a dive watch with 200m of WR. Additionally, the 39mm case with the chunkier dual crowns just looks cooler and easier to operate than the smaller ones on the No.1.
For me, I rarely need 3 time zones or more, let alone even 2, really. As such, the pursist 24-hour version is the best Airman configuration for me. It's most intuitive to use, I think, as well. In either local or alternate timezone, it's easy to set and clearly see what is AM & PM hours. And, the neat trick about the 24-hour movement and dial with these particular style hands are the extended back end of the hour hand.. it acts as a pointer to corresponding 12-hour equivalent time if the hour hand is actually pointing at a time after between 1200 & 2400.. easy peasy military time translation on the dial if you're not accustomed to reading a 24-hour dial and movement.
It's just a cool and interesting alternative movement than your standard 12-hour ones for a change.
Some have complained about QC.. maybe the hands weren't exactly lined up correctly to read precisely on the hour and/or minute. IDK? I've never experienced that with any of the 3 Airmans I've ever owned.
I can say the movement they use is very good. Always very consistently accurate with my usage. I think no more than +2 or +4 seconds per day. And, the handwinding action of all my Glycine Airmans is perhaps the smoothest I've ever felt. I can barely hear and feel the wind.. it's so buttery smooth.
The 24-hour rotating bezel is proper! It's bi-directional and has a good and correct 48 easy but solidly affirming clicks so you can set at half-hour offsets for those oddball timezones that have that. I love the 2nd crown that locks the bezel in place. You really don't need it as it clicks into place very well without budging, but the added security is good. PLUS, I like that it gives the overall watch a classic "WEEMS" pilot style look to the watch akin to the Omega CK2129 which JLC and Longines also made similar WW2 pilots watches back in the day.
Forget any stigma with the Invicta purchase. It has absolutely no negative effects to the quality and origins of the watch. Still made in Switzerland with very high quality, imho. If anything, it's given Glycine some backing to continue to produce the watches, perhaps expand their market as well as perhaps now being able to keep their watches at an even more affordable cost new.
For just a couple of niggles:
I agree about the weak lume. namely the dots.. the hands are decent, but kind of near useless without the dots as references.. you could get away with it if the dial was a 12-hour dial, but with the purist 24-hour version will be too difficult to rely on hands only glowing in the dark..the space between 24 numbers is too tight to decipher just by 2 hands as opposed to a 12-hour dial and movement like they have in their 4 handed GMT version of the 3 handed double twelve version of the Airman line. Sadly, that was one of the main reasons I decided to sell my Airman 18. I love good lume and if it's not done well or complete, it's a REAL BUMMER. In such cases, I'd much prefer no lume at all than to have half-ass lume application that just disappoints any expectations I might have had.
I also wished Glycine would offer a bracelet option for their Airmans. They usually look better on a leather strap or NATO, but they can look pretty nice on a metal bracelet and I usually like to always have a bracelet option available for all of my various watches in my collection. Only like one or two Airman's I think were sold with a bracelet option.. not enough.
I have an Airman 42 Blue / Gray dial on a Glycine bracelet...Very Nice. !!👍
@@donrossi1603 my first Airman was also a Purist with gradient blue to black dial and came with bracelet. But, sadly, my gripe is the smaller versions such as the no. 1 and 18 like I have, 40mm and below, usually do not have that option. Also, similarly disappointed is most glycine combat subs also do not include bracelet options. A select few do, but not usually in the variant I want.
Pining this comment, very well done
is this ad or actual comment? I see Glycine airman below $400 everywhere these days.
@Nathaniel's Phone already did, under $300
I served in the Marine Corps and saw action in Vietnam. Back in those days I flew choppers. My watch of choice was the Glycine Airman.
This is a late reply to your comment, but I own a vintage Glycine Airman, dated to 1964. Do you know if your Airman watch had radium paint on the hands and dial or tritium paint? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
My days in the Marine Corps, my favorite watches were Glycine and Benrus. Another favorite of those of us who served in Vietnam was the Seiko 6105.
truly in love with mine. just got myself an Airman 18 purist with blue degrade dial last year, immediately swapped the leather strap with a thin brown leather nato. currently running at -4 spd.
My wife and I have a bucket list goal of visiting all seven continents. We're starting with Europe next summer and I plan to get an Airman to be my travel watch as we check off each continent.
Lets just be clear, Glycine Airman came out before Rolex GMT did, making it the first dual time watch.
Glycine Airman released in 1953 as you mentioned, but the Rolex GMT Master came out in 1954
That one would be a grail acquisition for me, too! Great review!
Such a great watch, really like this model as it’s really close to the original.
Glycine Airman watches are really Great I added an Airman 42 GMT World Timer Automatic to my collection this year... Gray / Blue dial..Sapphire Crystal with Exhibition back...Very functional cool piece and able to track 3 different time zones..!!!
Great predestination, I have the glycine #1 Airman from when in Vietnam and still have this watch. Its' never been serviced and thou I don ware it all the time it still keeps perfect.
The only problem I've found that is sending it for service to Glycine (Invicta) in the Netherlands to have oiled and replace the crystal since there were some scratches. They test all watches that come in for repair and found no problems and said they had no parts. I've tested the accuracy to my Glycine Combat Sub GL 0087 purchased last year and that watch has not missed a beat and still keeps perfect time. The only thing I have to get I guess is some Poly-watch to take the scratches out of the crystal.
Thanks Bruce, I'm a fan of Glycine. I think they offer cool military looking pieces such as the Combat and Airman at a very reasonable price. The vintage looks make them that much more attractive. As far as the dial goes, most people out of the US actually use the 24h clock so there isn't much of a problem there.
That is a good point
If I was spinning out the nose on this watch I would want every hour to have a loom pip
What a beauty! You always get thr good stuff Bruce! :D
I just purchased the 36mm last night, 1-26-20, and I agree with all you say!
Sean
Hope Glycine will understand that if they make this piece in a regular edition, it will be a success.
It makes me wonder if the same number of people would buy or not.
A gorgeous piece.
Great watch, but why does this reissue feature only 1ATM WR, whereas other models have 20ATM WR?
Got only one watch - and its the Airman Base 22, 24 hour version. Absolutely love it. Classy, historic, timeless.
That sure is a very cool watch. Just ordered the 40mm version!
Subscribed!!! Great vid thank you!! Love the watch. Might get it.
Awesome watch. I'm looking at the Airman 42 "Purist" (ref GL0068) for my next piece. Funny how they fit all 24 numbers on the smaller dial, but only even numbers on that 42 mm.
The 1atm water resistance really put me off, so I ordered the older airman 18 gmt with 20atm water resistance instead (hopefully coming by next week). But otherwise this is a brilliant watch
You made the right decision for practical everyday wear. I can wear my no.18 even swimming, i have to take my no.1 off just to wash hands, doing dishes, can't be remotely near water or even get caught in light rain. I like it aesthetically but it's more a display piece now as it too damn fragile and POA to take care of.
That looks like the "Purist" model not the GMT
I would love to have one, so bad.
Where can I purchase this watch in chicago?
I always liked the Airman, it's like a piece of affordable horology.
I instead picked up the Airman 18 purist - 24 hour dial, sapphire, 200m and 39mm. Not as authentic but more wearable.
Nice!
I'm so gonna get the 3 time zone 42 mm automatic version. awesome watch.
How was the original vintage strap?
What is the function (if any) of the thin pointy back extension of the hour hand? It doesn't seem to have any function other than to confuse you when reading the time!
e.g your hour hand shows e.g Hong Kong time and the back shows New York
If you can’t get the hang of 24 hr time reading, the small pointer indicates what time it is in 12 hr format.. The Hong Kong New York comment is what the bezel is for.
The Glycine came out a year before the Rolex GMT Master
Question: when you pull out the crown to the first position, can you move the hour hand independently like you can do with the gmt hand on a standard ETA 2893 movement? I can’t find the answer to this anywhere.
Pug Henry The hour hand on the purist version is the GMT hand
So cool.
What model is this? I have the REF. 3944.2 in 36mm and it is 100 meters water resistant not 1 atm
Dru Wallace you got the pre-invicta version. The new ones only have 1atm resistance which is a bummer
The original design is perfect. I wish they reissue it
Do they have a steel bracelet for this?
Love the intro
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Like this with GMT version
I see a second crown. What's it for?
3 o'clock crown is for the regular watch functions; setting time and date.
4 o'clock crown is for clamping down on the bezel to fix it in place.
Marc Hendrawidjaja yes I see it now. I apparently missed the beginning of the vid.
What is the point of a bi - directional bezel?
You can move it either way. Not used for timing so no need for one way
@@BruceWilliams, thanks
@@BruceWilliams, what is the bi - directional used for?
The bi directional is so that you can set the GMT hand to GMT with the bezel in the normal position. Then depending on what time zone you wanna see, you move the bezel either left or right yo represent time zones in plus or minus GMT
@@delafrontera1, thanks 👍
What's your wrist size man?
Man, I wish this wasn't an LE... Would have been at the top of my buy list when I have money if it was still available. :(
Ive always liked these, it's just a shame they got bought out by invicta...gross
Buyouts happen to a lot of good companies
@ Dylan S Oh come on know, Invicta as even said nothings gonna change meaning Glycine will still be an independent company. I bet if any other company bought them you'd be singing another tune. I never understood this hate for Invicta? Yes, some of their watches are over the top and can be gaudy but their not the only ones who make oversized watches. Diesel comes to mind. I'd rather wear a 50mm Invicta than one of these overpriced fashion watches.
1 atm... i would care more about the watch than my life itself if i was wearing it
Its 100m water resistant
Dru Wallace so why it is written 1atm in the back ?
@@mikedru2912 it's 1atm.
10meter.
I have airmans, 42, 18, no.1 .
Can't even wash my hands with the no.1. Beautiful but not practical.
Too much blather and not enough info on how the GMT function works.
Start your own watch channel and show me up. I dare you
It is not a gmt watch, or it would have 4 hands. You could read and educate yourself in less time than it took to show your ignorance.
...detailed explanation just listed above: "PURIST vs. GMT"
lost me at limited and acrylic.
Glycine is not the same company anymore they are now owned by Invicta this is more Invicta than a glycine
coco martin Invicta will be in charge of marketing and distribution, however manufacturing will continue as it always has, at the original 100 yr old facility in Bienne Switzerland.
@ThisnThatPackRat someday you'll understand that your invictas are shit and will regret that you bought invictas. That day will only come if you continue to be successful and get yourself a Rolex and along the way you'll get all the answer to your silly questions
@@dukeviper8385 sure, ya sure rattle on .
@@dukeviper8385 this is simply not true.. i like watches that have storys attached to it and are original in what they are. i own a rolex and some other more expensive pieces but thats not the point in collecting and admiring watch history. Just sounds like you are the guy buying ss sub and thinking hes a watch lover. The airman is true history so why isnt the reissue? Omega is owned by the swatchgroup (sure not invicta haha) but the speedmaster is still the watch it was back in the 60`s... it will be forever part of spacetraveling as the airman will always be the first gmt out there.