When it comes to tool watches, German brands are renowned for creating outstanding products that are durable, legible, and typically offer great value. As a result of owning and reviewing numerous German watches, I have become an avid fan. While I have spent considerable time with watches from other German leaders such as Sinn, Damasko, Mühle Glashütte, this was my first experience with Hanhart watches.
Although many know this brand for its classic pilot watches, Hanhart's PRIMUS line, with its openly modern versions, is actually the most popular and best-selling. Over the past few months, I had the opportunity to test the brand's latest model - the Hanhart Desert Pilot Dark. Limited to just 100 pieces, this model is a darkened version of the Desert Pilot, accompanied by a custom-made folding knife from Austria.
For those unfamiliar with the brand, Hanhart traces its history back to its founding in the Swiss town of Diessenhofen in 1882. Twenty years later, the brand moved to Schwenningen, the epicenter of German watchmaking. The brand gained notoriety in a rather unexpected way, making a name for itself by producing affordable mechanical stopwatches in the 1920s. These stopwatches became an integral part of sporting events worldwide, and now, nearly a century later, the brand still produces its mechanical stopwatches almost entirely in-house.
In the late 1920s, the brand leveraged its experience in stopwatch production to release pocket and wristwatches, and in 1938, it launched its first chronograph, the Calibre 40 (the progenitor of the PRIMUS line). Over the subsequent decades, Hanhart produced a wide range of watches, but its primary focus remained on chronographs. The Hanhart Desert Pilot Dark belongs to the line of technical mechanical chronographs PRIMUS - a line that is absolutely modern yet retains some classic Hanhart design features, such as the red chronograph button. So, without further ado, let's dive in.
To start, let's take a close look at the watch case because it truly is something special and unique. The 44mm watch with a slim bezel looks as large as it does on paper. However, look at the lugs, and you'll notice they articulate, moving from 50 to 55mm, meaning they conform to the wrist and will be comfortable for a wider range of wrist sizes than you might initially assume. My wrist is relatively small - 6.75 inches, but I had no issues with comfort or wearability.
Yes, these are large watches, and they look and feel that way, but they are not uncomfortable or cumbersome. That said, they are not the kind of watch you can tuck under a cuff, as the case height is 16mm, largely due to the thick automatic chronograph movement Sellita SW510. The watch is equipped with sapphire crystal with anti-reflective coating, a sapphire exhibition case back, and water resistance of 100 meters.
Unlike the non-limited version, the Desert Pilot Dark has an extremely hard black DLC coating, giving the watch an aggressive aesthetic; however, the DLC has a slight sheen, making the watch less utilitarian or tool-like than it might appear with a matte finish. But I must admit, I'm curious how a matte finish would look. Note: It is impossible to miss the bright red anodized aluminum button at the “4 o’clock” position and the small red marker on the bezel at the “12 o’clock” position.
Although this story may be apocryphal, legend has it that a pilot's wife used her red nail polish to coat the pilot's button to always remind him of her. It's a beautiful, romantic story. But the bright red reset button also had a practical purpose. If you see a bright red button, you tend to pause before pressing it, and pilots on missions tracking fuel consumption were the last to want to accidentally press the reset button. Nevertheless, the bright red anodized aluminum chronograph button has become synonymous with the brand, and personally, I really like it.
Moving on to the dial, Hanhart uses the same sand-black color scheme as in the non-limited Desert Pilot model. The markers and numbers are bold and very legible; you won't have trouble reading the time or tracking elapsed time on the chronograph. By the way, the minute and hour hands are also skeletonized, allowing you to see the registers even when the hand passes over them. If you're worried about the lack of luminescence, do not worry. In fact, Hanhart uses black Super-LumiNova coating on the hands and hour indices.
Just keep in mind that the glow will not be as bright and long-lasting as Super-LumiNova C3 or BGW9. Personally, I think this sacrifice is worth it because the color scheme would be completely disrupted by using white hands and luminescent markers. At the “6 o’clock” position, there is also a white-on-black date window. This is one of my small gripes. Given that Hanhart did such a great job with the color on this watch, I would have liked them to use color-matched sand numbers instead of standard white ones.
Technically speaking, I live in semi-arid rangelands, not a desert, but we get white sage, prickly pear cactus, and scorching temperatures often associated with deserts. Despite spending a lot of time in the field during summer, I never think about matching my watch to the environment. Nevertheless, I must admit that I truly felt the Desert Pilot was made for the landscape. And it should come as no surprise - as Hanhart's managing director Felix Wallner explained to me, Hanhart uses the PRIMUS line as a “playground for colors, but we always kept them close to nature.”
The Desert Pilot Dark watch is equipped with the automatic chronograph movement Sellita SW510. This is a cam chronograph movement that uses a 60-second central second hand, a 30-minute register at the “3 o’clock” position, and a running seconds hand at the “9 o’clock” position. The movement operates at 28,800 bph and has a power reserve of 48 hours.
Normally, I don't dwell too much on the straps that come with watches, as they can be easily swapped out for any other that you prefer. However, in the case of the Desert Pilot Dark, I must note that this 24mm strap perfectly complements the desert sand-colored dial, and the texture of the textile strap along with the folding clasp (also with DLC coating) create an excellent combination. While I'm sure it would be interesting to try these watches on different straps, it's hard to imagine a better aesthetic combination.
I cannot conclude this review without mentioning the knife that comes in the set. In a conversation with Wallner, I asked him why Hanhart decided to include a knife in the set, and the answer was simple. The Desert Pilot Dark is a bold, masculine watch, and it seems fitting to include a “cool guy” knife in the set (this is my description, not his). For this, Hanhart teamed up with Austrian knife maker Harald Stallegger (aka Aquarius) from Vulkanus. The result is the Vulkanus Hornet - a folding knife with an 8 cm D2 steel blade (hardness 61 HRC), equipped with a liner lock and moving on ceramic ball bearings. The knife is easy to disassemble and clean and comes with a belt sheath.
Although I haven't tested this knife for bushcraft durability and the like, I have taken it out for fieldwork several times, and it certainly got the job done. There may be people who would prefer to do without the knife and slightly reduce the price of the watch itself, but personally, I like when brands add something extra to such limited editions to make them a little more special. And frankly, it's a great knife that I enjoyed carrying in the field instead of my usual Chris Reeve Small Sebenza or Spyderco Techno 2 (for knife enthusiasts).
So who are these watches for? I see the Hanhart Desert Pilot Dark as well-suited for those looking for a large, well-thought-out chronograph with a color scheme and aesthetic you won't find elsewhere. If you want a vintage chronograph, you can certainly find several in Hanhart's lineup, but the PRIMUS is meant to be unapologetically modern. The articulating lugs mean the watch will fit more wrists than the 44mm diameter might suggest, but you still need to be in the market for undeniably large watches.
Let's hope that someday Hanhart offers the PRIMUS line in 39-40mm versions. If the size and design cues work for you, and especially if you find yourself spending time in desert (or desert-like) environments, the Desert Pilot Dark makes an excellent field companion. Throw in the Vulkanus knife, and you're on your way to a well-equipped field kit. The Hanhart Desert Pilot Dark is limited to 100 pieces, priced at 3,090 euros (including shipping and 19% VAT). For more detailed information, be sure to visit the brand's website.
Essential Details
>Brand: Hanhart
>Model: Desert Pilot Dark
>Price: 3,090 euros including shipping and 19% VAT.
>Size: 44mm width, 16mm height, 50-55mm lug-to-lug.
>When and where to wear it best: Long days spent in the field.
>Friend we’d recommend them to first: An outdoor enthusiast looking for a large, reliable chronograph with a unique desert-inspired aesthetic.
>Best characteristic of the watch: Distinctive color scheme and excellent readability; I also like the articulating lugs that allow larger watches to be worn on a wider range of wrists.
>Worst characteristic of the watch: Despite the articulating lugs, it is still a large watch, and I wish they offered it in a smaller diameter version.