Glycine
airman pilote gmt weems - Vintage Full Set

Pilot watch vintage military-style Glycine Airman, first-generation model. A GMT automatic watch with date display and a 24-hour time format dial. This 1960 model features a GMT hand indicating the time zone, readable via a rotating bezel. The bi-directional bezel is adjusted to the desired time zone using a Weems-style bezel locking mechanism.

This watch reflects the transition era of the 1950s toward day/night instrument readability in jet cockpits, with luminous tritium-painted numerals that meet Military Watch specifications for air forces.

Manufactured by Glycine, it offers resistance to dust and splashes. Equipped with the AS 1701 movement, its compact 37 mm size made it ideal for early female test pilots. Its features, ruggedness, and reliability also earned it wide use among pilots during the Vietnam War.

This late 1950s GMT watch became extremely popular in aviation circles and was the favorite of many military pilots (USAF, USNAVY, USMC). So beloved, in fact, that many servicemen bought and wore it in place of their issued watches—it’s common to spot the Glycine Airman in numerous archival photos.

A telling anecdote of this passion: NASA astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad insisted on—and obtained permission to—wear his cherished Airman 1 during the Gemini 5 space mission (he was also equipped with the Omega Speedmaster chronograph). This iconic pilot’s watch would go on to thrive in both civilian and military aviation. Used by many instructors and test pilots, both male and female, it even overtook the Breitling Navitimer (see the full story here) and became the timepiece recommended by AOPA (the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in the US).

This model would evolve in the following years into the Glycine Airman Special and Airman Special SST, the latter of which you can discover in more detail here.