A World War II Horological Legend
Gallet Flying Officer Chronograph / Credit: Expertissim
Gallet is a brand that doesn’t get much mention these days, despite being an ancient company, whose origins go back to the 15th century. If anything, it is remembered for its pilot watches. Among them is one of the foremost pilot watches of the Second World War, the Gallet Flying Officer.
The Gallet Flying Officer Chronograph was a chronograph wristwatch especially designed for pilots and commissioned by then-Senator Harry Truman in 1939. It is rumoured that Léon Gallet, the head of the company at the time, was friends with Truman, and contacted him directly to see if he was interested in purchasing Gallet’s new chronograph for the US military. What made the Flying Officer Chronograph so special was that it was part of Gallet’s first water resistant chronograph series and one of the first wristwatches to combine the chronograph function with a rotating bezel to work as a world timer.
Gallet ‘Flying Officer’ advertisement
The timepieces were eventually procured by Truman for the military and donned by members of the United States Air Force during the Second World War. Gallet also made a special edition exclusively for the Tuskegee Airmen, the African American only group of pilots in the Air Force during the Second World War, to match their planes. This special edition was called the ‘Red Tail’ Flying Officer Chronograph and was red, silver, and black. What’s most interesting is that only one of these rare models is known to have survived today – and Gallet themselves didn’t even know about its existence until a user on Watchuseek contacted them after having found it in their grandfathers’ possession!
Although Gallet may not be widely recognized today, it is a truly special watch company, not only for its long history – potentially more than 500 years – but also for the special place their tool watches held during World War II, with Truman himself wearing a Flying Officer Chronograph several times during his term as president. Perhaps a nod to Gallet and his old friend Léon.
By: Andres Ibarguen