The Rolex Air King

Rolex gained a well earned reputation among professionals with their robust range of tool and sports watches. Rolex as a brand was a well respected and sought after timing tool among commercial and professional users before targeting the luxury goods market when a large number of Swiss watchmakers were going broke - the brand's reputation aided the transformation.

I would choose the Air King Reference 116900 as a daily timepiece despite not being a huge fan of a number of Rolex timepieces for reasons of style - that's personal taste.

For me, the Air King is simple yet robust, the 40 mm 904L stainless steel oyster case of the modern Air King is borrowed from the Milgauss demonstrating plenty of anti-magnetic properties.

The Air King was introduced in 1945 with possibly the 5500 reference of the late 1960s as the most recognisable timepiece of the series, although at 34 mm I would expect to be a little small for my tastes.

Unlike the aviation inspired Breitling Navitimer range with a specific purpose of utilising the radial slidewheel for calculations, the dial of the Air King is simple and uncluttered. Modern commercial aircraft are computer controlled rendering such a tool redundant.

The dial of the Air King resembles a cockpit instrument aesthetically. Similar to the 5500 reference, the 3, 6 and 9 markers are Arabic with the remaining hour markers running in multiples of 5 to give the instrument look.

The italic Air King naming logo has been moved from the upper dial to the lower dial, similar to the 5500 reference, no date is displayed. The smooth angled bezel is similar to the Explorer design, I have always hated the fluted bezel design and love the smooth angled bezel.

The chronometer certified automatic 3131 movement, similar to the Milguass is fitted with the paramagnetic blue parachrom hairspring ensuring magnetic fields do not disrupt the performance of the timepiece.

The movement is COSC certified to -2/+2 precision and would via a bidirectional self-winding perpetual rotor. A screw-down crown and screw-in case back ensure 100 metres water resistance of the oyster architecture with a scratch resistant sapphire crystal.

The new Air King is closer to the Milguass with a redesigned dial than the older references of the 1950s and 1960s, I like the Milguass but always hated the lightning bolt second hand. Whilst not a true aviator's timepiece, I really like the dial of the Air King and the case of the Milgauss.

I appreciate many people really dislike the dial design. My choice of a Rolex is the Air King, I like the new Milguass with the exception of the second hand so the Air King is closer to my tastes.