Titoni Airmaster
Titoni Airmaster
Titoni is a brand I have covered here a lot, and for good reason, they produce a great watch and I am always willing to review a model from the independent Swiss brand. This one, the Titoni Airmaster, has many variants that bear the same model name, and while similar they are not all identical. In this latest version, there are 6 colorways available, this dark navy blue and red, a standard black and a few two-tone ones, a two-tone with rose gold, and even a Tiffany blue shade (though they do not call it that of course). This 40mm case is paired with a Sellita SW200-1 automatic movement, a 5-link bracelet, and a Roman Numeral dial, with a starting price of $1,125.
Specifications:
40mm Stainless Steel Case
47.5mm Lug to Lug
9.70mm Thick
21mm Lug Width
146 Grams
5 Link Stainless Steel Bracelet
Sapphire Crystal
Sellita SW200-1 Movement
5 ATM Water Resistant
Price $1,125 USD
https://www.titoni.ch/en/collection/gents-watches/airmaster.html
This Airmaster series, with how many different versions (there are versions with completely different dials, some with diamonds, different crowns, etc), seems to be a popular model for Titoni, though I must admit, I have never seen anyone posting one on social media and the forums. Even with their new manufacture movement, the T10, which I talked about in my review of the Seascoper 600 (which I still think is my pick for my favorite review watch of last year), Titoni just does not have a real presence in the United States. Where do they have a huge presence? Well, I am sure they are popular inside of Europe, but they are huge in China. Like really huge. I will link this article from Europastar.
So with 100,000 watches produced a year (and that was a figure posted in 2019), why is Titoni not more popular here in North America and elsewhere? Well, it seems they just don’t market here. You can go online these days and easily order direct from the Titoni website, but they do not have a single dealer in the United States, and usually, if you have no dealers, you don’t do a lot of marketing there. The same seems to be the case with Certina, another brand that just does not have a real presence in the United States, but we watch enthusiasts really wish they would.
Now I have no issue saying that the Titoni Seascoper 600 is easily my favorite watch from Titoni, and for many reasons. This Titoni Airscoper, probably wouldn’t show up on my radar, but in fairness, I am just not a dress watch or business casual type of guy. This watch has a great build quality as all Titoni watches do, but the very thin case, the diamond style crown, the abundance of high polish on the case, and the bracelet links, it is just not my style. That said, I can still appreciate what is for the most part a very beautiful and well-made watch.
The one thing that does strike me as odd, and it may be just this color option that I chose to review, is the dial just seems to clash a little with the rest of the watch. The case and bracelet say dress watch and class to me, but the dial, even with the Roman Numerals and thin indices, just seems to fall flat. There is no real shine or pop, something that an enamel or sunburst dial would surely have. Instead, this dial is matte finished, and in just the right lighting I can see what I believe to be very fine vertical brushing, and it just seems out of place. The navy blue dial is very dark and can look almost black at times and the red brand and model name do look cool I must admit, but compared to the other colorways, I think this one may be a miss, at least for me.
If you are like me, you are probably thinking that Airmaster sounds like it would be a pilot watch. I knew just from one look at this Titoni Airmaster, that this was no pilot watch, so why the model name as such? Well for that we turn to the case back, which depicts a picture of a sailboat, I am going to copy directly from the Titoni website about the case back and this sailboat.
“The case back is stamped with a sailing boat inspired by the power of air. It is a quiet companion for anyone who embraces adventurous voyages.”
For me, this design, the 5ATM water resistance, no screw-down crown, and just a very thin and flashy case just doesn’t scream adventure, so whatever the reason for the name, the case back does look pretty good.
Under the case back is the SW200-1 and even though I am not sure of the correlation between the case back and the reasoning for the name of Airmaster, I do love a nice stamped case back with some good artwork as opposed to an exhibition case back. That said, I did misspeak about the movement not being decorated. I still can not confirm it is Elabore or Top, (I would guarantee they would state if it was top), but as shown below from the factsheet on the Titoni website, the movement does have an 18k gold Rotor with some engraving, and is regulated in 4 positions and of course has a 40-hour power reserve.
Titoni Airmaster Movement Datasheet
I do have to say, even though the Titoni Airmaster 5 link bracelet has a little more high polish than I prefer, it is of course a beautiful and well-crafted bracelet, that uses friction pins to keep the links together, which keeps the bracelet secure while also easy to size. It also has something I did not expect. A regular push button clasp, not a dual deployant as most would expect. This clasp is as usual, very nicely finished, and while it only has one micro-adjustment hole, it is by far my preferred style of clasp, even for a watch such as this, compared to the depolyant. On my 7 1/2-inch wrist, there is still some room left, so I would say this will fit up to an 8-inch wrist, and the bracelet links really just drape across the wrist and the entire watch is extremely comfortable.
When it comes right down to it, this watch is obviously not for me, but I can understand why it would be so popular, as many watch folks, especially those in other countries, have different tastes than me. Also, this is a very thin watch, and with that comfortable 5-link bracelet and push-button clasp, this is a watch you can easily wear every day. Again, for myself, I need a screw-down crown and at least 100m of water resistance to have a watch be a daily wearer, but depending on what you do on the daily or if those things are just not a concern, I can see this being a great watch to wear to the office, especially some of the other dial colors and the two-tone versions which dress this piece up a little more.
Regardless, the Titoni Airmaster is a well-made watch, and being right around the $1100 mark, it won’t break the bank like say a Tag or Rolex, etc. And Titoni has now been making watches for 100 years, so they are no slouch, so if this one isn’t for you, maybe check out their website to see what else they offer, as I think many who are hesitant to try one would be pleasantly surprised once they got it in hand. That’s all for this one, thank you to all, be sure to check out the video and be sure to leave a comment either here or on Youtube.
