Victorinox’s latest timepiece is the Victorinox Air Pro, a pilot-style watch capable of tracking 3 time zones, a worldtimer track, and it’s housed in a 43mm stainless steel case. It’s available in a few options, one of them being this new slick bracelet. The case is extremely similar, if not the same as used on the Journey models, the new Diver Pro and Inox, but this one adds a 2 o’clock crown to rotate the internal 24-hour time bezel, ย and it has a polished fixed external bezel. It’s available with a black dial in a stainless case (shown), as well as a blue dial, a black dial in a full black DLC case, and a black dial with black DLC bezel and crowns. Beating inside is a Sellita SW330-2 automatic movement. Those other versions are only available with a rubber strap and retail for $1700. This model comes on the stainless bracelet as default and retails for $1900.
Specifications
43mm Stainless Steel Case
51mm Lug to Lug
22mm Lug Width
12mm Thick
203 Grams
Pilot Style GMT
Track 3 Timezones
Sellita SW330-2 Movement
Sapphire Crystal Front
Sapphire Crystal Back
New Stainless Bracelet
Optional Rubber Strap
Swiss Made
Price as Reviewed $1900
https://www.victorinox.com/en-US/Products/Watches/Men's-Watches/Air-Pro-Automatic/p/242004/
The Victorinox Air Pro is quite an intriguing watch, with a busy dial layout, dual crowns, and that blocky case design. The case, as I stated earlier, is borrowed from other models, and this seems to be the new strategy for VSA, using the same case for almost all of their lineup. There are different schools of thought on this, of course. It can keep manufacturing costs down, and at the same time, the brand is creating brand recognition, as the more of this case design they put out there, the more it will become synonymous with Victorinox.
There is a downside, though. Because many of these models are using the same case design, collectors and watch enthusiasts may be hesitant to purchase multiple models. Even though each model has its own unique features, such as crowns, bezels, and dial features, many of the other elements are shared between these models beyond just the case, such as the hour and minute hands.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like this case design, and even though it has a blocky and thick look about it, the entire case thickness of this Victorinox Air Pro is only 12mm thick! That’s measured from the case back to the top of the dial crystal. The vertical brushing and that fixed bezel give the impression that this is a thicker case, but in the world of 200m watches with an exhibition case back and a GMT automatic movement, this is a pretty thin profile. The crowns are prominent on this new Air Pro as well, with the 4 o’clock crown controlling your main hour and minute hand, as well as that yellow arrow GMT hand, and the 2 o’clock crown operates the bi-directional internal bezel, which rotates to set another timezone.
If you are someone who loves to travel and prefers to use an analog watch to track time zones, well, the dial of this Victorinox Air Pro certainly has a lot of functionality. The internal bezel has 24-hour time, the most inner track of the dial has 24-hour time, and then you even have a world time track as well. The dial itself has a radial texture, and the colors used here allow for distinction between everything going on, but of course, with this many things happening on a dial, it can be a little overwhelming. Once you get the hang of setting it all up, though, you should be able to see all your time zones easily. The bottom of the dial has a date cutout as well, but they opted for the 3 date cutout, which I think, when you have a dial this busy, a single date display would have sufficed.
For the most part, the Victorinox Air Pro has a rugged finish to it, with the top and sides of the case being satin brushed, and the crown grips are actually blasted with brushed tops. The one area that deviates from this is the fixed bezel. For some reason, they went with a high-polished bezel, and I just don’t think it works with this style of watch, especially since the only other area that has any polished areas is the edges of the bracelet links. The little rider tabs are blasted to match the crowns and the inset bracelet links, but I feel it could have been reversed, all blasted with polished tabs, for a more cohesive look.
Another area that puzzles me is the etching of the Swiss Army knife on the exhibition case back. This is part of the new design ethos for VSA, and many of these new models have this etching on the back, whether it’s a solid or exhibition case back. My issue is not with the etching of the knife itself; rather, it inhibits the view of the SW330-2 movement. The whole point of the exhibition back is to see the movement, so why then place something on the crystal to block the view?
Getting back to the dial, how does it look in the dark? Well, in low light, it’s not exactly impressive, but when you are in complete darkness, the lume does glow fairly well. It’s just that you can see areas where the lume application isn’t perfect and slightly spotty at times, but in complete darkness, it does glow well, and it should be readable for at least 4-5 hours.
My favorite aspect of the new Victorinox Air Pro is undoubtedly this bracelet. The main links are brushed rectangular bars, and the inner connector piece is brushed. At a glance, it reminds me of a vintage spiedel stretch bracelet, but trust me, this bracelet is all modern. Links are held together with friction pins instead of screws, but the bracelet itself attaches via a new push-button quick-release system.
This push button is new for VSA, but I have seen this type of quick release on a few other brands, and attaching the bracelet is fairly straightforward, though I have had some issues removing it, having it take me quite a few attempts with multiple button pushes to get the ends links off. This is a pro and a con at the same time. It can be aggravating and tricky to remove the bracelet, but when it’s clicked in, it’s not going anywhere, as it’s an extremely solid connection.
The clasp is basically a dual deployant with a safety latch over it, and there are no microadjust holes or half links, though the bracelet links are on the small side.
When on my 7 1/2 inch or 19.05cm wrist, I find the Victorinox Air Pro to be comfortable, and I do love how the new bracelet looks and feels. With a 43mm case, large crowns, and a 51mm lug to lug, this is an imposing watch on the wrist and something to keep in mind if you have a smaller wrist than mine is that the end links do not drop right down, they extend out, so on smaller wrists, this will make the overall length almost 55mm. While anyone can wear any watch they want, regardless of size, I feel this watch was built with a larger wrist in mind. The bracelet can easily fit up to an 8 1/2 inch or 21.59cm as well. If you have a smaller wrist, one of the other models with the rubber strap may be a better option.
While I don’t travel often and really do not need to track multiple time zones, and while I typically prefer a much simpler and cleaner dial, I will admit, there’s something about this Victorinox Air Pro that I really do dig. It reminds me of the Citizen Promaster Blue Angels watches I used to wear, probably going back to the 90s, as they always had a lot of them in the Zales department store, and well, I thought they were the coolest watches I had ever seen.
This VSA Air Pro is a solid watch, though, with a great build that you would expect from Victorinox, and the new bracelet is a game-changer for this style of case. And I imagine we will see it show up on other VSA models in the future. I would love to see a version of this bracelet with a dive-style clasp with a ratchet extension. $1900 is not cheap these days either, and at that price, there are a lot of choices, but a lot is going on with his one and a lot of functionality as well.
I've been an avid watch lover since the age of 7. Watches are not only my hobby but a passion. My favorite style used to be dive watches, but field or non bezel watches have been growing on me. When I'm not reviewing watches I am either cooking or with family and friends.
