Hi Jory, I have a couple of comments. What you are reviewing is the "Purist", this was the originally designed watch by pilot(s) back in the early 1950's, production in 1953. You might have forgotten to mention that this Purist is also capable of tracking two time-zones, enabled by having both the dial and bezel in a 24-hour format. From what I understand, the GMT (4-hand) version of this watch and this 3-hand version both use the same Sellita based GMT movement, but for the Purist version, the hour hand is detached from the 12-hour wheel and reattached /exchanged with the hand of the 24-hand wheel, thus enabling it to traverse the watch face once every 24 hours. Btw, if the date window design is an issue for you, it was for me, consider the Airman No1 Purist in the 40mm size (also just 1000 pieces produced in the re-issue). I love mine. Back in the 50's they were often quite close to numeral indices on the dial. On some old versions, they had a cyclops which covered most of the indices. One last interesting design element to mention is the long pointed tail on the hour hand. This is used as a reference to the corresponding hour in 24 hrs or 12 hrs. (relative to where the hour hand is pointing)
Warning as an owner. You must retrain your brain from telling time by hand position to actually reading the dial. That said my Airman and Combat Sub are the most wearable watches in my collection. Like wearing air.
I feel the same way about these. The Airman No. 1 is love/hate for watch reviewers but the noon or DC-4 would make better “contemporary” choices and deserving of their own reviews. My Combat Subs are my favorite every day watch.
@@robertsacknoff952 I sold a double 12 40mm last year and have great sellers remorse. Currently looking for the “right” one. Prices are getting ridiculous.
I have an Airman Based 22 as my travel watch. It's a fantastic piece with a ton of history. If you are looking for your first GMT piece, you can't go wrong with one. Not to mention extremely affordable when found on the gray market
The Glycine Airman was the most popular watch among helicopter pilots during the the VietNam war. It Was also the first GMT watch when it was introduced in 1953, one year before Rolex GMT.
Is the purist with a 24 hr hour hand? If so I can't believe you didn't mention that at all during the video! A true 24 hr movement is quite rare in the watch world and deserves mention.
Is not a true 24h movement. From my understanding Glycine uses the seconds minutes and in the Purist the 24h hand as hour hand. Selitta designed it originally as second timezone hand as on the Rolex GMT Master. If you look closely on the Pins in the middle their is enough space for an additional hand between the minute and the 24h hour hand. Nonetheless, love mine every second since I got it 👍
@@thorsten9437 then it must mean you can mod it and add an extra hand. I'm looking for the green variant and the non-purist is all sold out. What if I just added a hand?
I have several Glycine Combat subs in the 42 variants and think they are great quality watches for the money. For an automatic swiss movement, how thin the are, and the curved lugs they are very wearable. On the downside, the straps they come with aren't great but gotta cut costs somewhere and that's an easy replacement to whatever strap you want.
Just an interesting point, the 40mm version of this watch makes good use of the extra dial space by making the dial look a little less busy and the date window is not cut off - as well as being a bit more of a wearable size as I feel the 36mm does wear pretty small.
Inherited my Great Grandfathers original Airman he wore in the Air Force. Thought about getting a reissue to wear and not worry about it but the prices have gone crazy.
Airman's are my introduction to the "hobby". Truly an icon. I own a dc-4, a lumed dial gmt, and a worldtimer. Keepers in my book!! Would like to get my hands on a "chief" one day.
I have owned a Limited Edition Vintage Airman V (#68 of 150) for a decade of everyday wear. It is a beautiful watch with a rich pilot history. My only issue is that I can no longer find the original rubber wrist straps having broken four from some hard use. I was heart broken when Glycine was absorbed but such is the business world. Great, comfortable watch.
A while back, I picked up a Glycine GL071 DC-4. If you like tool watches, this one is awesome. 42MM, 4-handed GMT with Dauphine hour and minute hands, better centered red date with a magnifying cyclops, for middle-aged eyes! Sapphire crystal, skeleton case back with a decorated ETA movement.Not a 24 hour purist model so the hands go around twice every 24 hours. Has an interior 12-hour scale and 24 hour bezel so you can actually track 3 time zones. Yes, I do travel and use a GMT watch! My favorite complication. Also put mine on a nice stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet. So cool and retro. The fun thing about an airman is if someone recognizes it on your wrist, they know you are a collector. Most people do not realize that the Glycine Airman was the first GMT wrist watch in 1953. Rolex came out with the Pepsi GMT Master a year later in 1954! Always enjoy your reviews. Keep on telling time!
I got basically the same watch, but the GL0217 (which came with an olive green NATO instead of the black). I was thinking about putting it on a Milanese mesh, but went with the Strapsco beads of rice -- it's amazing, and I highly recommend the look.
That’s really funny. I bought myself an olive green Cordura strap that I do alternate with. Was also seriously considering the beads of rice instead of the Milanese bracelet! I am sure your watch with The beads of rice bracelet looks amazingly cool!
I've always liked the Airman but it's usually on the larger side and a 24-hour dial, which needs getting used to it, so never felt right for me. Until I found out about the Airman Double Twelve. A 40mm case, 12-hour dial with similar design. It's not a purist GMT but it was exactly what I wanted. Absolutely love my Airman Double Twelve.
Cut "6" - perhaps they could rotate the "6" 90 degrees so it is readable to the viewer looking at the watch and rotate the "18" on the opposite side. There is adequate real estate between the edge of the dial and the date window to fit a full-size "6" in there. Problem solved and a neat transition between the numerals across the top and those across the bottom. Good vid. Keep at it!
@@armedbrit493 Agreed. It's a very symmetrical and simple dial, and the date window is just better at 6 o'clock like Omega did on more recent versions of the Aqua Terra.
As far as the invicta influence they released the air fighter in 2014, and that things gaudy as heck I don't think we can blame the designs on anyone else
I have the Airman Base 22 and love the watch. It came with a NATO strap which I prefer so I can swap bands on occasion. The Safire crystal has taken several blows to seat belt buckles and other metal objects with no damage. However I have managed to pop the outer bezel off by glancing blows but so far have found it twice. Cranking down the bezel crown is a must. My date window doesn’t cut into the six but the window is white with black numbers while the bezel is black and grey with white numbers. Making it look a little like an afterthought as well.
I had the Airman 18. It has all the best modern Airman qualities. 38 mm, tapered date window, 24 hour dual time, 200m water resistance and screw down dual crowns.
That's the first mention of a Vario strap I've heard on a mainstream channel. I'm wearing one right now, the pistachio Harris Tweed leather strap on my Seiko SNK805, and I love it so much.
I'm currently wearing my DC-4 reference GL0072 and I love it way more than the GL0159. The GL0072 is built in a proper 24 hour movement where the hour hand will only go around the dial once per day, which I prefer. All the Arabic numerals are facing the same direction, and there's a magnifier over the date window. The GL0072 also has both crowns screw down, and it's water resistant to 20 bars instead of just being splash resistant. The crystal on the GL0072 is sapphire and the exhibition case back is mineral crystal. IMO the GL0072 is infinitely better than the GL0159.
Having brought the flipping of the Arabic numerals to my attention, when going around to the 18th numeral? 17 was where I expected it, 18 seems to be a bit (to paraphrase Heath Ledger's Joker ) just ahead of the curve. I can appreciate that it is an iconic timepiece. can certainly not be classified as a "must have" in my collection. Great review!
Great review and Nice Watch. I purchased Glycine AIRMAN 44 GL0156 from Costco a month ago. They have two different models. I much prefer the look of the Costco watch although it is not limited S/N. With the Costco watch I I like the signed crown, the fact that the date window does not look like an after thought and the watch is Sapphire crystal front and back plus it is a rounded watch on the sides ver. squared sides
Glycine made the very 1st GMT 1953, and then Rolex released the GMT master in 1954😮, interestingly enough, a lot of people think the Rolex was the 1st to produce a GMT. any who great video
Bought A Glycine Combat with the high beat sellitta movt fron Joma Shop for 350$,then I found out about the Invicta connection.solid watch,but I had reservations,then remembering the price I paid realized that I had a good value purchase.Since I am an old geezer I appreciate that the lume goes all night long.All together a good purchase.
I have the GMT Base 22 version with ETA movement, sapphire crystal , screw down crown, date at 6 (but not cutting it), and 200m WR and I love it. Also , you tell the time the traditional way by the position of the hands. You could get those few years back for a song, very underrated. Not anymore .....
GL 0161 purist 1 36 mm in off white in my collection. It's vintage without the hassle of vintage. The 36 mm wears larger than expected. Glad I went with the original size. The no 1 is as close to the original as possible. There is a GMT version for people who cannot handle the 24 hour reading.
I really wish they would use that font on all their watches as well as their classic logo without the wings. I would also like to see the combat sub in 38 or 39 mm.
@@armedbrit493 I have the 42 as well and my wrist is almost 7 in., but I prefer smaller watches. I also have their 36mm combat 6 moonphase. That looks and feels a lot better. They would do well by tapering their bracelets and using screws to adjust.
I have the World Timer GL0061 which does have the threaded crown, is water resistant to 100 meters, and the date window is very well done. I like the less busy dial with only 12 hours indices.
40mm versions - no issues with the date window. Can't figure out the pricing, though. I picked up a GL0251 for USD520 plus GBP100 tax/duty but the same watch is now selling at more than double that and is CHF1925 (USD 2140) on Glycine's website. It runs at c. +1.0 - 1.5 seconds per day - not bad. I am a bit of an old codger, so I need my glasses to read the time. As for the 24-hour dial, it's easy enough until I have polished off a few beers. Having said that, I can use it as an excuse for getting home late.
Hi, Jory, I enjoy my 36mm cream dialed Airman as well. The example in your review belongs to the No.1 Purist 36mm (released in 2017, limited to 1000 each, in black and cream dial, standard and GMT). The first No.1 edition was released in 2014, which has the engraving of No.1 on caseback. The bezel and watch case has a shiner polish and up to 10 atm water resistance.
Jory, please don't let your Invicta hate cloud your vision. In this case you certainly haven't. I own a silver dial airman and a black (grey) combat sub. But are wonderful. I expect to add the golden eye combat sub soon. These are well specd, thin, comfortable, reasonably priced sports or tool watches. If there has been any negative impact from the parent, I haven't seen it yet!
Same. I have 5 invicta pro divers and never can understand why so many hate. Most people I come across love my watches and I generally get no crap from anyone.
I have a Glycine Airman, bought last year. I think the finish is much better. The handset is different, and much smarter in my opinion. The date window at 3 doesn't cut into the numbers and I believe it has a sapphire crystal. It also has the glycine logo at 12 and the text 'world timer' at 6. It also has a screw down crown and a display caseback. Overall I think it looks much better.
I got the Base 22 Purist with the blue stratosphere dial with a smooth sweeping ETA 2893 movement. It is uniquely purposeful and an absolutely underrated gem.
I like this watch, the 24 hour complication is super cool too. I think they released a vintage model with a cyclops over the date window which looks Moore like the original. Torn between this and Vostok 24 hour model.
I have the Glycine Airman Purist with the vintage "AM/PM" dial that's less busy than your model and has a cleaner date window by a vertical '6' that's intact. Mine does have sapphire and also have a see-thru caseback.
I was with you until the definitive "best thing Invicta...". As much as I love the Airman for its history, I gotta tell you, I picked up a GL0278, and while I have some issue with the handset looking homage-y, the rest of the watch is completely their own AND it's 12mm with 20ATM water resistance. There is little doubt this is a very solid piece. I did immediately get rid of the strap and put it on a PVD fine-mesh bracelet, but the Goldeneye is strangely, as TGV said, understated, even with the bling of the gold. It's like the PVD counteracts the gilding. While you can argue it's well oversized at 46mm, like you, I have a 7.5" wrist and don't have an issue pulling off the 50mm lug-to-lug because they're extremely short lugs AND there are two sets of holes so you can strap nearly anything to it. In other words, this 46mm wears better than my Orient Sun and Moon 4! You might check out the Combat Sub range...there's some awful colorways, but there are plenty that are really solid.
I have one with a 42mm dial and in white. It's a superb watch, especially when I bought one from Jomashop for $380. Interesting, the date window on my Purist doesn't overlap the "6". The crown on mine is threaded, unlike yours
I have almost the same Glycine but I have the 40mm version of the Airman1 (GL0163) which has a date window that does not cut into the 6…and is limited to 1000 pieces and has a Glycine leather strap and a Glycine buckle…I love the design and quality soooo much as I like vintage design and the 24hour layout is great and different 🥰 glad you came to the same conclusion 🤩 edit: and I have the GL293 movement which is an ETA 2893-2 movement
I like it! I had a Glycine Combat 6 in 36mm for a little while. It was a nice watch; sapphire crystal, Sellita SW200. It was kind of uninspiring, though. The indices were applied & the lume was not good.
One of the coolest watches I bought was a glycine airman 18, with the gradient blue dial. But I made the fatal mistake of buying the 12 hour version with the GMT hand, so I sold it. Had I bought the purist version, I would likely still have that watch. The 24 hour markings on the dial, though somewhat cluttered, make for an amazing easy read. With the 12 hour version I kept accidentally reading the wrong time.
Almost 20 minutes and not even a word of the fact that the Glycine Airman pilot watch was the very first automatic wristwatch in space and was even exposed to the harsh outer space environment during the Gemini XI mission in 1966. Due to the open design of the Gemini capsule, during Richard Gordon's spacewalks, Pete Conrad's Glycine Airman was exposed to space!
I was thinking about buying one, and I have an vintage airman 2000. Compare the two, the new one just seemed to have poor workmanship. The 6 cut off at the 3 o’clock date display was the reason. My vintage one 6 is not cutoff, only the tick marks have been deleted. There is even a white outer marker around the date display. Also I’m not a fan for Invicta watches.
There are many other models. You have a PURIST model and an older one. Mine has a different handset, no problem with date window. It’s also sapphire with a better movement and crystal back at 42mm and the logo has the wings over the name. It’s the straight wings, not the flying wings so it’s about 3 years old. I wish I could send you a pic of mine. All your concerns would be alleviated. This is a great watch and you’ve shorted the brand and watch.
Great classic, but... minute hand is missaligned vs second hand. When second hand hits index 24, minute hand is still somewhere in the middle between minute indexes (see at appr. 3:56 or at 9:43 in the movie). I owe Airman GMT and I spotted similar problem with mine. When I set minute hand exactly at 12, the hour hand does not exactly point the hour index. There is slight shift. It's a little shame, especially for quite expensive, limited edition. Is this a sort of Invicta's contribution to the brand?
It's an issue with the GMT portion of the ETA/Sellita movements that they use. The purists stick the hour hand on the GMT hand gear in the dial stack, delete the GMT quickset and don't attach a true hour hand. But ETA/Sellita GMTs generally have this issue -- I have it on my DC-4 and even my Tag Heuer Carrera Twin Time.
I have the Airman DC4 and love it. The weird 6 numeral issue is absent but a cyclops takes it’s place in the ring for criticism and abuse. All of the 24 hour numerals have a horizontal orientation on the DC 4 which makes reading it a bit easier. My only gripe is the crown and stem. The crown is small and the stem is wobbly and the position engagement feel is not the best. Haptic feedback is not this crown and stems best trait. All that said it’s fun to wear and a great conversation piece even with non watch nerds.
I own several Glycine watches, they are a great bang for the buck. Yes, Invicta watch group owns Glycine but Glycine was allowed to continue to operate as an independent company.
I have two pre-Invictas. If Glycine was allowed to continue as an independent company why do the new ones I see now have the Invicta "wings" logo on the watch faces instead of the Glycine crown?
Time telling is evolving .We now have smart watches, Mobil devices.. Fortunately we are not giving up on history and heritage. The purist is one to own..Thanks for sharing !🙂
It is powered by modified Selita SW300 which is a clone of ETA 2892. So yes, it is a GMT movement. In fact, the airman comes in 2 versions...GMT and the purist. Both uses the same movement. The GMT version have 4 hands while the purist would have 3 hands. Some may argue the purist is a de-tuned version of the GMT in that they slap the hour hand onto the GMT hub. In theory, I think you can convert one version into the others by swapping hands. Although, I have not seen a documented case of such conversion. One thing to mention about hour hand on the airman is its unique design. The counterbalance portion or tail end of the hour hand is much longer than most hour hands. Its function is to point at the AM time equivalent. For example, when the hour hand is pointing at 18 o'clock, the tail end would be pointing at 6 o'clock. Another great Glycine watch is the DC-4. It is also available in GMT and purist form.
I loved the look of this watch, but my GMT version never lined up correctly and the movement would stop at random. Even after repair under warranty. Very sad. Went with the Combat Sub in the end.
Please correct me if I’m wrong. I believe it is a GMT watch, on that watch the hour hand should take 24hrs to complete a cycle around the dial. Isn’t that the case on that model?
Everything you didn’t like about the watch is why I got the Airman Base 22 - GL0213. It has all the good points, but with a better date window, proper GMT hand and all the amazing heritage of the Airman. The ⏱👨⚕️
One thing that I really don't like about the dial design is that the minutes hand points to hour markings around the outside and the hour hand points to the inner ring of minutes markings. I'm sure that if you were wearing this watch for any reasonable length of time, you'd get used to it, but that just seems a bit weird to me. (Perhaps swapping the hand lengths, so that the hands have the number they're supposed to be pointing at, at the tip of their point? More like gauge dial, than a watch dial, but it's already an unusual mechanism, so why not?) Perhaps a better solution to the 6/9 ambiguity could have been resolved by having the 6 upright, which would also solve the awkward "cut in half" 6 problem, because this numeral is half as wide as it is tall. Also put the "18" upright as well, just for consistency.
Jory, there's a whole bunch of different versions of the Glycine Airman, some of which look and operate differently to this one. This particular one has an acrylic crystal and no WR to speak of. It's also what is referred to as the "Purist" model, since it mimics the original functionality of the earliest Airman watches going back to 1953. Back in the day, Glycine used customized movements to get this functionality. On these modern versions, the purist watches are an ETA 2893-2/SW330-1 powered watch which has been modified to remove the GMT hand and disable its quickset function and have the hour hand sit in place of the GMT hand (which was why you had to go counterclockwise to adjust the date). Since its not a big deal for Glycine to leave the movements un-modified, they often have two versions of each design/colorway that they make -- a GMT (where the movement operates as per usual for these GMTs) and the purist. I picked up a DC-4 GMT model (GL0217) around the holidays last year to go with my prior Glycine watch, a Combat Sub (GL0076). It has a totally different, very 50s-vibe design with a dauphine handset and numerals on the dial which all face vertically on the dial. I stuck it on a Strapsco beads of rice bracelet and haven't looked back (to the detriment of the other watches in my collection). Right now, it's currently the favorite watch in my collection. It's really also the perfect vacation watch -- multi-time zone, sapphire, 200m WR, and not so expensive that if something bad happens you are gutted inside. Glycine makes great watches for the money, regardless of their Invicta group owners. When Invicta bought them out, they promised not to change how Glycine makes their watches, and so far, for the most part, they seem to be holding true to that promise. I agree 100% with you that Glycine makes the best watches out of the entirety of the Invicta group.
I’m with you on the date window. It would have been much better if they had put it at the 6 o’clock position, or the 12 o’clock in this case. I prefer the 4-hand variety such as the GL0246 but overall I think Glycine consistently punches above their weight. From what I have seen by their present offerings they haven’t been tainted by the association with Invicta. I have two Combat Subs and neither of them seem “homage-y.” Instead they are very much their own watches in my opinion. Thanks Jory!
I really want the 42mm non-purist version of the Airman...but sadly in 2022 it seems they are essentially non-existent unless you are willing to pay scalper prices. On the 42mm the date window doesn't clip into the indices.
Love the Airmen, I have a "modern" styled one the blacked out Dlc Glo153, it has a threaded main crown and sapphire crystal, love the "vintage" style tho
Overall, great review of a great watch! Minor point but as long as you asked for comments about it... regarding your not liking the flipped numerals starting with the "7" in part because, "when you have a 6 and the numerals are flipped it could be a 9..." Well, given that the "6" is preceded by a "5" in the same orientation as the "6" and is followed by a "7" (albeit, flipped) and not by a "10", any confusion should be exceedingly short-lived! BTW, there was an earlier non-numbered/non-Limited Edition of the 36mm No.1 released in 2014 (i.e., pre-Invicta). I have the white dial version of this earlier 36mm No.1 release (Ref 3944.2), and at least mine does indeed have "Airman No.1" engraved on its non-display case back, even though apparently the more recent, numbered limited Edition you are reviewing, does not. There actually were various other differences between the two No.1 releases, e.g. 10 ATM for the earlier version vs 1 ATM for the numbered LE version (and interestingly, there even were some minor differences - other than just dial color - between the white dial and black dial versions of the earlier No.1 release, such as the number and shapes of the lumed markers inside the 24hr main dial.) Some of the other differences between the earlier and the LE releases... The LE was released in both 36mm and 40mm size versions (with the 40mm's date window not cutting off the "6") - and the LE was released in both Purist (24hr main hand, two time zones) and GMT (12hr main hand, 24hr GMT hand, three time zones) versions, whereas the earlier non-LE was just released in the 36mm version (and I believe only in a Purist version).
Interesting, I was looking at the GL0303 which is a 40mm case and the date window doesn't intersect the 6 - I think I'm going to pull the trigger on it!!
What happened to the Airman? I have a base 22 and a black Airman. Was thinking about getting another one but it seems impossible to fine one right now.
They reissued 8 different models, all limited to 1000 units, Purist model 1) 36 mm black 2) 36mm white, 3) 40mm black, 4) 40mm white. GMT model 5) 36mm black 6) 36mm white 7) 40mm black 8) 40mm white.
Sorry for the noob question but does the bezel rotate? Would think that if it had the extra crown with the little thing that bites down on it to keep it in place that we would have seen Jory rotate it so we got a sense of it.
Iconic watch! But is in great need of a modern redesign… the dial is too busy. Lugs need to be curved in to 20mm width. … and yes that date window needs an upgrade.
Hi Jory, I have a couple of comments. What you are reviewing is the "Purist", this was the originally designed watch by pilot(s) back in the early 1950's, production in 1953. You might have forgotten to mention that this Purist is also capable of tracking two time-zones, enabled by having both the dial and bezel in a 24-hour format. From what I understand, the GMT (4-hand) version of this watch and this 3-hand version both use the same Sellita based GMT movement, but for the Purist version, the hour hand is detached from the 12-hour wheel and reattached /exchanged with the hand of the 24-hand wheel, thus enabling it to traverse the watch face once every 24 hours. Btw, if the date window design is an issue for you, it was for me, consider the Airman No1 Purist in the 40mm size (also just 1000 pieces produced in the re-issue). I love mine. Back in the 50's they were often quite close to numeral indices on the dial. On some old versions, they had a cyclops which covered most of the indices. One last interesting design element to mention is the long pointed tail on the hour hand. This is used as a reference to the corresponding hour in 24 hrs or 12 hrs. (relative to where the hour hand is pointing)
Warning as an owner. You must retrain your brain from telling time by hand position to actually reading the dial. That said my Airman and Combat Sub are the most wearable watches in my collection. Like wearing air.
I feel the same way about these. The Airman No. 1 is love/hate for watch reviewers but the noon or DC-4 would make better “contemporary” choices and deserving of their own reviews. My Combat Subs are my favorite every day watch.
@@robertsacknoff952 I sold a double 12 40mm last year and have great sellers remorse. Currently looking for the “right” one. Prices are getting ridiculous.
I can see how that could be pretty confusing!
@@chasfoster9895 prices have almost doubled, I think I missed my window.
Yes I agree and especially when its dark and looking only at the lume... should have lume the numbers maybe?
I have an Airman Based 22 as my travel watch. It's a fantastic piece with a ton of history. If you are looking for your first GMT piece, you can't go wrong with one. Not to mention extremely affordable when found on the gray market
The Glycine Airman was the most popular watch among helicopter pilots during the the VietNam war. It Was also the first GMT watch when it was introduced in 1953, one year before Rolex GMT.
Yeah, these watches are absolutely legendary.
The airman has been to space.
I have “The Chief” purist version and love it. The date window doesn’t cut the six marker and the movement is one of the most accurate of my watches.
Is the purist with a 24 hr hour hand? If so I can't believe you didn't mention that at all during the video! A true 24 hr movement is quite rare in the watch world and deserves mention.
He says 12:40PM at the begginig ... hands show 40 mins past midnight. He would be a lousy submarine captain :)
@@docnele that threw me off, too😂 I was looking for comments on it
Is not a true 24h movement. From my understanding Glycine uses the seconds minutes and in the Purist the 24h hand as hour hand. Selitta designed it originally as second timezone hand as on the Rolex GMT Master. If you look closely on the Pins in the middle their is enough space for an additional hand between the minute and the 24h hour hand. Nonetheless, love mine every second since I got it 👍
@@thorsten9437 then it must mean you can mod it and add an extra hand. I'm looking for the green variant and the non-purist is all sold out. What if I just added a hand?
You can get a Vostok with a 24 hour movement
I have several Glycine Combat subs in the 42 variants and think they are great quality watches for the money. For an automatic swiss movement, how thin the are, and the curved lugs they are very wearable. On the downside, the straps they come with aren't great but gotta cut costs somewhere and that's an easy replacement to whatever strap you want.
Just an interesting point, the 40mm version of this watch makes good use of the extra dial space by making the dial look a little less busy and the date window is not cut off - as well as being a bit more of a wearable size as I feel the 36mm does wear pretty small.
Inherited my Great Grandfathers original Airman he wore in the Air Force. Thought about getting a reissue to wear and not worry about it but the prices have gone crazy.
Airman's are my introduction to the "hobby". Truly an icon. I own a dc-4, a lumed dial gmt, and a worldtimer. Keepers in my book!! Would like to get my hands on a "chief" one day.
42 mm are sweet, 44 is getting large, but they are pilot's watches, so acceptable
I'm actually wearing the GMT version of this watch right now and it does have a flat saphire crystal, and a threaded crown. I love it.
The Airman No1? Maybe another Airman model. There are many models with sapphire and screw down crown, but not the Airman No1.
Love that you finally reviewed a Glycine! I'd love to see what you think of my Incursore.
I have owned a Limited Edition Vintage Airman V (#68 of 150) for a decade of everyday wear. It is a beautiful watch with a rich pilot history. My only issue is that I can no longer find the original rubber wrist straps having broken four from some hard use. I was heart broken when Glycine was absorbed but such is the business world. Great, comfortable watch.
Absolutely underrated watch! 👏🏻
A while back, I picked up a Glycine GL071 DC-4. If you like tool watches, this one is awesome. 42MM, 4-handed GMT with Dauphine hour and minute hands, better centered red date with a magnifying cyclops, for middle-aged eyes! Sapphire crystal, skeleton case back with a decorated ETA movement.Not a 24 hour purist model so the hands go around twice every 24 hours. Has an interior 12-hour scale and 24 hour bezel so you can actually track 3 time zones. Yes, I do travel and use a GMT watch! My favorite complication. Also put mine on a nice stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet. So cool and retro. The fun thing about an airman is if someone recognizes it on your wrist, they know you are a collector. Most people do not realize that the Glycine Airman was the first GMT wrist watch in 1953. Rolex came out with the Pepsi GMT Master a year later in 1954!
Always enjoy your reviews. Keep on telling time!
I got basically the same watch, but the GL0217 (which came with an olive green NATO instead of the black). I was thinking about putting it on a Milanese mesh, but went with the Strapsco beads of rice -- it's amazing, and I highly recommend the look.
That’s really funny. I bought myself an olive green Cordura strap that I do alternate with. Was also seriously considering the beads of rice instead of the Milanese bracelet! I am sure your watch with The beads of rice bracelet looks amazingly cool!
I've always liked the Airman but it's usually on the larger side and a 24-hour dial, which needs getting used to it, so never felt right for me. Until I found out about the Airman Double Twelve. A 40mm case, 12-hour dial with similar design. It's not a purist GMT but it was exactly what I wanted. Absolutely love my Airman Double Twelve.
Cut "6" - perhaps they could rotate the "6" 90 degrees so it is readable to the viewer looking at the watch and rotate the "18" on the opposite side. There is adequate real estate between the edge of the dial and the date window to fit a full-size "6" in there. Problem solved and a neat transition between the numerals across the top and those across the bottom. Good vid. Keep at it!
I'd go date window at the standard 6 position and possibly delete a numeral.
@@armedbrit493 Agreed. It's a very symmetrical and simple dial, and the date window is just better at 6 o'clock like Omega did on more recent versions of the Aqua Terra.
I have this watch with a white dial and a brown letter band and I absolutely love it. It looks vintage classy.
As far as the invicta influence they released the air fighter in 2014, and that things gaudy as heck I don't think we can blame the designs on anyone else
I have the Airman Base 22 and love the watch. It came with a NATO strap which I prefer so I can swap bands on occasion. The Safire crystal has taken several blows to seat belt buckles and other metal objects with no damage. However I have managed to pop the outer bezel off by glancing blows but so far have found it twice. Cranking down the bezel crown is a must. My date window doesn’t cut into the six but the window is white with black numbers while the bezel is black and grey with white numbers. Making it look a little like an afterthought as well.
I have that model and personally love it. My only 24 hour watch and it is pretty unique in that respect.
Many models have also the upper threaded crown. I have a GL0223, which comes also with a 200mt water resistance, love it wiith a nato strap
Really enjoyed the b-roll at the beginning! Nice touch, cheers to whomever helped with the editing.
I agree with the date window feeling like an afterthought! Still, a pretty watch to look at, and doesn't look that busy to me.
I had the Airman 18. It has all the best modern Airman qualities. 38 mm, tapered date window, 24 hour dual time, 200m water resistance and screw down dual crowns.
Watching you review the airman while wearing my airman. Awesome! My absolute favorite watch. Hands down.
That's the first mention of a Vario strap I've heard on a mainstream channel. I'm wearing one right now, the pistachio Harris Tweed leather strap on my Seiko SNK805, and I love it so much.
Hi Jory I agree the date window is annoying my OCD! I think the dial would be better with no date complication.
I'm currently wearing my DC-4 reference GL0072 and I love it way more than the GL0159. The GL0072 is built in a proper 24 hour movement where the hour hand will only go around the dial once per day, which I prefer. All the Arabic numerals are facing the same direction, and there's a magnifier over the date window. The GL0072 also has both crowns screw down, and it's water resistant to 20 bars instead of just being splash resistant. The crystal on the GL0072 is sapphire and the exhibition case back is mineral crystal. IMO the GL0072 is infinitely better than the GL0159.
Having brought the flipping of the Arabic numerals to my attention, when going around to the 18th numeral? 17 was where I expected it, 18 seems to be a bit (to paraphrase Heath Ledger's Joker ) just ahead of the curve. I can appreciate that it is an iconic timepiece. can certainly not be classified as a "must have" in my collection. Great review!
Gotta say, 3 minutes into the video, that lume is damn impressive. You can see it glowing every time your hand's shadow covers the dial.
I love my Base 22 version. It’s nearly impossible to find a 24hr purist nowadays.
Great review and Nice Watch. I purchased Glycine AIRMAN 44 GL0156 from Costco a month ago. They have two different models. I much prefer the look of the Costco watch although it is not limited S/N. With the Costco watch I I like the signed crown, the fact that the date window does not look like an after thought and the watch is Sapphire crystal front and back plus it is a rounded watch on the sides ver. squared sides
I had this watch, 24 hour and numbers drove me crazy. I had to sell it. I did buy the 12 hour version and loved it since.
Glycine made the very 1st GMT 1953, and then Rolex released the GMT master in 1954😮, interestingly enough, a lot of people think the Rolex was the 1st to produce a GMT. any who great video
I have the airman gmt and I'm wearing it now. I really enjoy mine. My crown is a screw down crown.
Bought A Glycine Combat with the high beat sellitta movt fron Joma Shop for 350$,then I found out about the Invicta connection.solid watch,but I had reservations,then remembering the price I paid realized that I had a good value purchase.Since I am an old geezer I appreciate that the lume goes all night long.All together a good purchase.
I have the GMT Base 22 version with ETA movement, sapphire crystal , screw down crown, date at 6 (but not cutting it), and 200m WR and I love it.
Also , you tell the time the traditional way by the position of the hands.
You could get those few years back for a song, very underrated. Not anymore .....
have this watch and it's absolutely one of the favorites in my collection
GL 0161 purist 1 36 mm in off white in my collection. It's vintage without the hassle of vintage. The 36 mm wears larger than expected. Glad I went with the original size. The no 1 is as close to the original as possible. There is a GMT version for people who cannot handle the 24 hour reading.
I have both DC-4 models with 200m water resist, screw down crowns and 42mm size that I like very much.
I really wish they would use that font on all their watches as well as their classic logo without the wings. I would also like to see the combat sub in 38 or 39 mm.
I've got a 42 and it wears smaller than what you'd expect. For me anyway, YMMV.
@@armedbrit493 I have the 42 as well and my wrist is almost 7 in., but I prefer smaller watches. I also have their 36mm combat 6 moonphase. That looks and feels a lot better. They would do well by tapering their bracelets and using screws to adjust.
I have the Airman SST “Pumpkin” which is a true GMT with an ETA. It’s an amazing watch and gets some nice comments.
I have the World Timer GL0061 which does have the threaded crown, is water resistant to 100 meters, and the date window is very well done. I like the less busy dial with only 12 hours indices.
40mm versions - no issues with the date window. Can't figure out the pricing, though. I picked up a GL0251 for USD520 plus GBP100 tax/duty but the same watch is now selling at more than double that and is CHF1925 (USD 2140) on Glycine's website. It runs at c. +1.0 - 1.5 seconds per day - not bad. I am a bit of an old codger, so I need my glasses to read the time. As for the 24-hour dial, it's easy enough until I have polished off a few beers. Having said that, I can use it as an excuse for getting home late.
Hi, Jory, I enjoy my 36mm cream dialed Airman as well. The example in your review belongs to the No.1 Purist 36mm (released in 2017, limited to 1000 each, in black and cream dial, standard and GMT). The first No.1 edition was released in 2014, which has the engraving of No.1 on caseback. The bezel and watch case has a shiner polish and up to 10 atm water resistance.
Jory, please don't let your Invicta hate cloud your vision. In this case you certainly haven't. I own a silver dial airman and a black (grey) combat sub. But are wonderful. I expect to add the golden eye combat sub soon. These are well specd, thin, comfortable, reasonably priced sports or tool watches. If there has been any negative impact from the parent, I haven't seen it yet!
Same. I have 5 invicta pro divers and never can understand why so many hate. Most people I come across love my watches and I generally get no crap from anyone.
the sharked has been jumped... www.shophq.com/Product/glycine-46mm-jason-taylor-combat-sub-swiss-made-automatic-bracelet-watch/679-285
I have a Glycine Airman, bought last year.
I think the finish is much better.
The handset is different, and much smarter in my opinion.
The date window at 3 doesn't cut into the numbers and I believe it has a sapphire crystal.
It also has the glycine logo at 12 and the text 'world timer' at 6.
It also has a screw down crown and a display caseback.
Overall I think it looks much better.
I really enjoy my Combat Sub, it's a cracking watch. I wish I was able to streach to an Airman, but it's a start.
I got the Base 22 Purist with the blue stratosphere dial with a smooth sweeping ETA 2893 movement. It is uniquely purposeful and an absolutely underrated gem.
The GMT model is the Airman DC-4 Automatic GL0071. It's 42mm, has 20 ATM of water resistance, and a screwdown crown.
I like this watch, the 24 hour complication is super cool too. I think they released a vintage model with a cyclops over the date window which looks Moore like the original. Torn between this and Vostok 24 hour model.
I have the Glycine Airman Purist with the vintage "AM/PM" dial that's less busy than your model and has a cleaner date window by a vertical '6' that's intact. Mine does have sapphire and also have a see-thru caseback.
I was with you until the definitive "best thing Invicta...". As much as I love the Airman for its history, I gotta tell you, I picked up a GL0278, and while I have some issue with the handset looking homage-y, the rest of the watch is completely their own AND it's 12mm with 20ATM water resistance. There is little doubt this is a very solid piece. I did immediately get rid of the strap and put it on a PVD fine-mesh bracelet, but the Goldeneye is strangely, as TGV said, understated, even with the bling of the gold. It's like the PVD counteracts the gilding. While you can argue it's well oversized at 46mm, like you, I have a 7.5" wrist and don't have an issue pulling off the 50mm lug-to-lug because they're extremely short lugs AND there are two sets of holes so you can strap nearly anything to it. In other words, this 46mm wears better than my Orient Sun and Moon 4! You might check out the Combat Sub range...there's some awful colorways, but there are plenty that are really solid.
I have one with a 42mm dial and in white. It's a superb watch, especially when I bought one from Jomashop for $380. Interesting, the date window on my Purist doesn't overlap the "6". The crown on mine is threaded, unlike yours
I have almost the same Glycine but I have the 40mm version of the Airman1 (GL0163) which has a date window that does not cut into the 6…and is limited to 1000 pieces and has a Glycine leather strap and a Glycine buckle…I love the design and quality soooo much as I like vintage design and the 24hour layout is great and different 🥰 glad you came to the same conclusion 🤩 edit: and I have the GL293 movement which is an ETA 2893-2 movement
Heading to qvc to pick one up
The strap complements it well. I like the bezel and dial hands. I don’t like the dial face. It does look very busy.
Own a seiko flightmaster and the busy blue face is fantastic. To each to their own though.
I like it! I had a Glycine Combat 6 in 36mm for a little while. It was a nice watch; sapphire crystal, Sellita SW200. It was kind of uninspiring, though. The indices were applied & the lume was not good.
One of the coolest watches I bought was a glycine airman 18, with the gradient blue dial. But I made the fatal mistake of buying the 12 hour version with the GMT hand, so I sold it. Had I bought the purist version, I would likely still have that watch. The 24 hour markings on the dial, though somewhat cluttered, make for an amazing easy read. With the 12 hour version I kept accidentally reading the wrong time.
Almost 20 minutes and not even a word of the fact that the Glycine Airman pilot watch was the very first automatic wristwatch in space and was even exposed to the harsh outer space environment during the Gemini XI mission in 1966. Due to the open design of the Gemini capsule, during Richard Gordon's spacewalks, Pete Conrad's Glycine Airman was exposed to space!
I have never seen one in person, but would love to have a chance to try one on!
I was thinking about buying one, and I have an vintage airman 2000. Compare the two, the new one just seemed to have poor workmanship. The 6 cut off at the 3 o’clock date display was the reason. My vintage one 6 is not cutoff, only the tick marks have been deleted. There is even a white outer marker around the date display. Also I’m not a fan for Invicta watches.
There are many other models. You have a PURIST model and an older one. Mine has a different handset, no problem with date window. It’s also sapphire with a better movement and crystal back at 42mm and the logo has the wings over the name. It’s the straight wings, not the flying wings so it’s about 3 years old. I wish I could send you a pic of mine. All your concerns would be alleviated. This is a great watch and you’ve shorted the brand and watch.
Great classic, but... minute hand is missaligned vs second hand. When second hand hits index 24, minute hand is still somewhere in the middle between minute indexes (see at appr. 3:56 or at 9:43 in the movie). I owe Airman GMT and I spotted similar problem with mine. When I set minute hand exactly at 12, the hour hand does not exactly point the hour index. There is slight shift. It's a little shame, especially for quite expensive, limited edition. Is this a sort of Invicta's contribution to the brand?
It's an issue with the GMT portion of the ETA/Sellita movements that they use. The purists stick the hour hand on the GMT hand gear in the dial stack, delete the GMT quickset and don't attach a true hour hand. But ETA/Sellita GMTs generally have this issue -- I have it on my DC-4 and even my Tag Heuer Carrera Twin Time.
Airman 36 NO1 GL0158 actually has the GMT movement. I have the Airman 40 NO1 GL0164, 40mm case, white dial, GMT, limited edition.
Hey Jory! Great video! gutted that missed your live broadcast last week!! have a Good Friday!
I love this watch, and would love to have one.
I concur absolutely with your every assessment.
Word.
Always attracted to this watch, the 24 hr functionality is cool
Really fine review Jory. Good on you!
I have the Airman DC4 and love it. The weird 6 numeral issue is absent but a cyclops takes it’s place in the ring for criticism and abuse. All of the 24 hour numerals have a horizontal orientation on the DC 4 which makes reading it a bit easier. My only gripe is the crown and stem. The crown is small and the stem is wobbly and the position engagement feel is not the best. Haptic feedback is not this crown and stems best trait. All that said it’s fun to wear and a great conversation piece even with non watch nerds.
Have a DC-4 and 100% agree with you. Love the watch though.
I own several Glycine watches, they are a great bang for the buck. Yes, Invicta watch group owns Glycine but Glycine was allowed to continue to operate as an independent company.
Agree, I have an Airman and Combat Sub. Fantastic quality for the price…..purchased both at Costco.
I have two pre-Invictas. If Glycine was allowed to continue as an independent company why do the new ones I see now have the Invicta "wings" logo on the watch faces instead of the Glycine crown?
Time telling is evolving .We now have smart watches, Mobil devices.. Fortunately we are not giving up on history and heritage. The purist is one to own..Thanks for sharing !🙂
It is powered by modified Selita SW300 which is a clone of ETA 2892. So yes, it is a GMT movement. In fact, the airman comes in 2 versions...GMT and the purist. Both uses the same movement. The GMT version have 4 hands while the purist would have 3 hands. Some may argue the purist is a de-tuned version of the GMT in that they slap the hour hand onto the GMT hub. In theory, I think you can convert one version into the others by swapping hands. Although, I have not seen a documented case of such conversion. One thing to mention about hour hand on the airman is its unique design. The counterbalance portion or tail end of the hour hand is much longer than most hour hands. Its function is to point at the AM time equivalent. For example, when the hour hand is pointing at 18 o'clock, the tail end would be pointing at 6 o'clock. Another great Glycine watch is the DC-4. It is also available in GMT and purist form.
I loved the look of this watch, but my GMT version never lined up correctly and the movement would stop at random. Even after repair under warranty. Very sad. Went with the Combat Sub in the end.
0:52 Did the time teller just get the time wrong? The watch says 12:40 am and he said pm….
Please correct me if I’m wrong. I believe it is a GMT watch, on that watch the hour hand should take 24hrs to complete a cycle around the dial. Isn’t that the case on that model?
Yes. I should have clarified in the Ep. This isn’t an independent quickset GMT that most are used to.
Everything you didn’t like about the watch is why I got the Airman Base 22 - GL0213. It has all the good points, but with a better date window, proper GMT hand and all the amazing heritage of the Airman. The ⏱👨⚕️
Cool watch. I'm selling my Glycine right now. Brand new, never worn. GL0142 pre Invicta logo.
One thing that I really don't like about the dial design is that the minutes hand points to hour markings around the outside and the hour hand points to the inner ring of minutes markings.
I'm sure that if you were wearing this watch for any reasonable length of time, you'd get used to it, but that just seems a bit weird to me.
(Perhaps swapping the hand lengths, so that the hands have the number they're supposed to be pointing at, at the tip of their point? More like gauge dial, than a watch dial, but it's already an unusual mechanism, so why not?)
Perhaps a better solution to the 6/9 ambiguity could have been resolved by having the 6 upright, which would also solve the awkward "cut in half" 6 problem, because this numeral is half as wide as it is tall. Also put the "18" upright as well, just for consistency.
8:40 I would glance at that and think "yup, almost 2 o'clock." That would take some getting used to.
Love this watch, the only downside for me is the date window.
For me the 1 atm.
Jory, there's a whole bunch of different versions of the Glycine Airman, some of which look and operate differently to this one. This particular one has an acrylic crystal and no WR to speak of. It's also what is referred to as the "Purist" model, since it mimics the original functionality of the earliest Airman watches going back to 1953. Back in the day, Glycine used customized movements to get this functionality. On these modern versions, the purist watches are an ETA 2893-2/SW330-1 powered watch which has been modified to remove the GMT hand and disable its quickset function and have the hour hand sit in place of the GMT hand (which was why you had to go counterclockwise to adjust the date). Since its not a big deal for Glycine to leave the movements un-modified, they often have two versions of each design/colorway that they make -- a GMT (where the movement operates as per usual for these GMTs) and the purist.
I picked up a DC-4 GMT model (GL0217) around the holidays last year to go with my prior Glycine watch, a Combat Sub (GL0076). It has a totally different, very 50s-vibe design with a dauphine handset and numerals on the dial which all face vertically on the dial. I stuck it on a Strapsco beads of rice bracelet and haven't looked back (to the detriment of the other watches in my collection). Right now, it's currently the favorite watch in my collection. It's really also the perfect vacation watch -- multi-time zone, sapphire, 200m WR, and not so expensive that if something bad happens you are gutted inside.
Glycine makes great watches for the money, regardless of their Invicta group owners. When Invicta bought them out, they promised not to change how Glycine makes their watches, and so far, for the most part, they seem to be holding true to that promise. I agree 100% with you that Glycine makes the best watches out of the entirety of the Invicta group.
I’m with you on the date window. It would have been much better if they had put it at the 6 o’clock position, or the 12 o’clock in this case. I prefer the 4-hand variety such as the GL0246 but overall I think Glycine consistently punches above their weight. From what I have seen by their present offerings they haven’t been tainted by the association with Invicta. I have two Combat Subs and neither of them seem “homage-y.” Instead they are very much their own watches in my opinion. Thanks Jory!
Highly recommend reviewing the DC-4 or Noon. For combat Sub... some of the colorways aren't Rolex homage at all. Like the GL0076.
I have the DC-4 (GL0217) and the GL0076. I love them both, but the Airman is my favorite between the two.
You'd think for that much money, they would sort out that date window. Otherwise looks good.
I was lucky to find an Airman 18 blue degradé dial: 40mm makes it more legible, sapphire front and back and with 20 bars I'm safer.
I really want the 42mm non-purist version of the Airman...but sadly in 2022 it seems they are essentially non-existent unless you are willing to pay scalper prices. On the 42mm the date window doesn't clip into the indices.
Love the Airmen, I have a "modern" styled one the blacked out Dlc Glo153, it has a threaded main crown and sapphire crystal, love the "vintage" style tho
Overall, great review of a great watch! Minor point but as long as you asked for comments about it... regarding your not liking the flipped numerals starting with the "7" in part because, "when you have a 6 and the numerals are flipped it could be a 9..." Well, given that the "6" is preceded by a "5" in the same orientation as the "6" and is followed by a "7" (albeit, flipped) and not by a "10", any confusion should be exceedingly short-lived! BTW, there was an earlier non-numbered/non-Limited Edition of the 36mm No.1 released in 2014 (i.e., pre-Invicta). I have the white dial version of this earlier 36mm No.1 release (Ref 3944.2), and at least mine does indeed have "Airman No.1" engraved on its non-display case back, even though apparently the more recent, numbered limited Edition you are reviewing, does not. There actually were various other differences between the two No.1 releases, e.g. 10 ATM for the earlier version vs 1 ATM for the numbered LE version (and interestingly, there even were some minor differences - other than just dial color - between the white dial and black dial versions of the earlier No.1 release, such as the number and shapes of the lumed markers inside the 24hr main dial.) Some of the other differences between the earlier and the LE releases... The LE was released in both 36mm and 40mm size versions (with the 40mm's date window not cutting off the "6") - and the LE was released in both Purist (24hr main hand, two time zones) and GMT (12hr main hand, 24hr GMT hand, three time zones) versions, whereas the earlier non-LE was just released in the 36mm version (and I believe only in a Purist version).
Nice review, I like the less is more type delivery. But miss ur Vigor!
Keep up the great reviews!
Interesting, I was looking at the GL0303 which is a 40mm case and the date window doesn't intersect the 6 - I think I'm going to pull the trigger on it!!
What happened to the Airman? I have a base 22 and a black Airman. Was thinking about getting another one but it seems impossible to fine one right now.
They reissued 8 different models, all limited to 1000 units, Purist model 1) 36 mm black 2) 36mm white, 3) 40mm black, 4) 40mm white. GMT model 5) 36mm black 6) 36mm white 7) 40mm black 8) 40mm white.
Sorry for the noob question but does the bezel rotate? Would think that if it had the extra crown with the little thing that bites down on it to keep it in place that we would have seen Jory rotate it so we got a sense of it.
I did rotate it. Did you watch the episode?
I wish I could find the 36mm purist handset and white dial for sale somewhere for a decent price….. extremely hard to find
Ain't selling yet😀.
Iconic watch! But is in great need of a modern redesign… the dial is too busy. Lugs need to be curved in to 20mm width. … and yes that date window needs an upgrade.
I have the airman 42 gmt and this model has the threaded crown, I think it's a pretty decent watch.
Fantastic review! Are the indices applied or printed?