Hands On Review of the Atmoss Watches SR-01 Everyday Pilot
The slide rule bezel has long been a hallmark of pilot watches across the industry. The tool is a staple of more expensive brands, most notably the Breitling Navitimer, but Warrick Bettany had another idea for a watch that utilizes a slide rule that doesn’t require his clients to sell their kidneys to obtain it. With a history of flying low-tech planes himself, and the desire to be able to make a number of calculations quickly and efficiently, Warrick created Atmoss Watches - a more economical alternative to a Slide Rule, while still getting the same utility. Introducing the brands inaugural offering, the SR-01 Everyday Pilot watch.
The watch measures in at 41mm with a really refined 316L brushed stainless steel case. I found myself pleasantly surprised with the construction of the case considering this was the brands first watch. It was well made, wore well, and included a slightly domed sapphire crystal that gave the case a nice thickness of just 10.5mm. Considering the watch uses a Miyota, it’s pretty rare to find a steel case this thin in this price point. In fact, the attention to detail in most all facets of the SR-01 impressed me, though the case was definitely a major highlight.
Moving onto the dial and bezel, this is where the real utility came into play for me. The watches utilizes both rings of a slide rule, one on the bezel, and one on the chapter ring on the outer perimeter of the dial. This many numbers crammed together in a close proximity can feel overwhelming and complicated, but in the case of the SR-01, we’re incredibly coherent. This, and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, really comes down to the fonts and the indexes being used (yes, fonts are important). The simple and legible font makes the slide rule easy to pick out at a glance, and even utilizing the bi-directional bezel didn’t muddy up the readout. It felt utilitarian, and that’s not an insult by any means. This is a purpose driven watch, with a focus on usability in small, low-tech aircraft and the dial and bezel are a testament to someone who took the time to design something useful. And I loved it.
The watch comes in 3 flavors - A simple white dial with blue hands (which was my favorite), a black dial with black bezel, and a slate grey dial and bezel model. The black was a lovely composition for a more uniform look, but I found myself reaching for the white dial the most. It’s a simple colorway but I enjoyed the splash of color of the heat blued hands and red accents, and it simply worked better for me.
Inside the SR-01 is the Japanese Miyota 9039 - a 24-jewel automatics and hand wind movement. While it’s not really a special movement by any means, it keeps the cost down, is still a workhorse, and isn’t loud. It features a modest 42-hour power reserve and with the sapphire caseback, the watch still offers 100 meters of water resistance. The watch comes with both an engineers strap, and an FKM rubber strap. Typically I would prefer a bracelet, but I found myself wearing the rubber more often on this watch. It just felt more natural.
Overall I had a lot of fun with the Atmoss SR-01 Everyday Pilot’s watch. While I’m not a pilot myself, this is definitely something that would scratch an itch in any affordable collection. I appreciate seeing developers of these microbrands taking a tool Watch approach without it being a simple money grab for something everyone else is producing. Warrick has created a proper affordable slide rule tool in a wrist watch. That’s really something cool. Currently, the watches’ Kickstarter has launched, and purchasers now can pick up the Atmoss SR-01 at an early bird price of $395 USD. The price will be increasing by about two hundred dollars on the full launch, so while we normally wouldn’t push Kickstarter’s, this one feels like a no-brainer both in utility and value.